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Criteria
Comments
Rating
- Speed Solid performance for both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0.
- Durability Seems sturdy, though I'm not planning to drop-test it.
- Portability A little too big for a pocket, though still easy to toss into a bag.
- Design and form factor Good size, nice Mac-centric design
- Noise Very little to speak of under normal conditions.
Detailed review
The dual-interface Buffalo Ministation Thunderbolt gets blazing speeds using both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. In informal tests, using USB 3.0 on a recent Samsung laptop and Thunderbolt on a Mac mini, I easily transferred a 1.7GB file in well under 20 seconds, compared to about 1 1/2 minutes using USB 2.0. A 1.1GB folder with about 500 files took about 17 seconds to transfer via USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, vs. over 2 1/2 minutes on USB 3.0.
The Ministation Thunderbolt is a great drive to get if you have a Thunderbolt-only Mac laptop, and its dual interface makes it easy to share files between a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac and a USB 3.0 Windows PC (though you'll need to create an NTFS partition to access the drive via Windows). And Buffalo has designed an attractive, sturdy, and well-priced drive (they even throw in a Thunderbolt cable, something Apple charges $50 for).
However, now that Apple includes USB 3.0 on its laptops, and given that very few Windows computers support Thunderbolt, owners of recent Mac laptops and Windows PCs looking for mobile storage may be better served by less expensive USB 3.0-only drives like the Seagate Backup Plus Portable, which is available in a 1TB version for about $109, vs. $250 for the Buffalo. Seagate also offers an optional Thunderbolt adapter for the Backup Plus, making it a more affordable, flexible option.
The Ministation Thunderbolt is a great drive to get if you have a Thunderbolt-only Mac laptop, and its dual interface makes it easy to share files between a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac and a USB 3.0 Windows PC (though you'll need to create an NTFS partition to access the drive via Windows). And Buffalo has designed an attractive, sturdy, and well-priced drive (they even throw in a Thunderbolt cable, something Apple charges $50 for).
However, now that Apple includes USB 3.0 on its laptops, and given that very few Windows computers support Thunderbolt, owners of recent Mac laptops and Windows PCs looking for mobile storage may be better served by less expensive USB 3.0-only drives like the Seagate Backup Plus Portable, which is available in a 1TB version for about $109, vs. $250 for the Buffalo. Seagate also offers an optional Thunderbolt adapter for the Backup Plus, making it a more affordable, flexible option.
good review!
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