- 1. Win One of Three USB 3.0 Hard Drives!
- 2. Seagate GoFlex Slim 320 GB
- 3. Fantom Drives G-Force3 3 TB
- 4. BUFFALO DriveStation Duo 4 TB
- 5. Patriot Supersonic Magnum, Corsair Flash Voyager
1. Win One of Three USB 3.0 Hard Drives!
USB 3.0 is no longer some myth stuck between graphene-based CPUs and hologram projectors. It took a solid decade to get going, but the latest USB standard offers transfer rates up to ten time faster than USB 2.0, allowing larger external hard drives to send and receive massive amounts of data quickly and efficiently. Gone are the days when it would take half an hour to transfer your average 1080p rip of Toy Story 2 to your friends external hard drive. Precious minutes are saved, and you won't be shaking your monitor out of impatience anymore.
We're well aware that USB 3.0 didn't launch yesterday; in fact the standard has been around since late 2008/early 2009. That said, USB 3.0-enabled devices were very expensive for a while, and the adoption rate is/was considerably slow. Thankfully that period is over, as most USB 3.0 devices are nearly the same price, or within reasonable reach, of their USB 2.0 counterparts.
We've collected ten of the best USB 3.0 drives and accessories in one guide; from add-on cards and flash drives to enclosures and card readers.
What's better than buying a shiny new 3 TB external hard drive? Winning one from Tom's Guide and Newegg, of course! We have three prizes to giveaway, from brands including Fantom, Buffalo and Seagate. Be sure to enter the contest here, and we'll announce the winners in two weeks.
- 1. Win One of Three USB 3.0 Hard Drives!
- 2. Seagate GoFlex Slim 320 GB
- 3. Fantom Drives G-Force3 3 TB
- 4. BUFFALO DriveStation Duo 4 TB
- 5. Patriot Supersonic Magnum, Corsair Flash Voyager
- 6. Media/Card Readers: Kingston and Kuotech
- 7. Thermaltake BlacX Duet 5G
- 8. AZiO E377-U31
- 9. Bytecc USB 3.0 PCI Express Card
I am not even going to bring up the US resident bit. Oh wait, I just did! It would be nice for THW to have a contest in another country other than USA once in a while.
For that bit on usb flash drive:
"coworker or classmate PC (or Mac) will be fast and painless."
I thought Mac went the thunderbolt route so transfer speed is on usb 2.0 and it will be slow and painful. You can use a adapter but I am not sure if they are out yet and they will be chunky and destroy the sleek image of Mac.
For that bit on usb flash drive:"coworker or classmate PC (or Mac) will be fast and painless."I thought Mac went the thunderbolt route so transfer speed is on usb 2.0 and it will be slow and painful. You can use a adapter but I am not sure if they are out yet and they will be chunky and destroy the sleek image of Mac.
For Macs, it's "compatible" because you can format any of these drives as HFS+, and 3.0 devices work with 2.0 ports. To get the most out of a 3.0 drive, you need to PC for now.
-Devin Connors, Tom's Guide
I am not even going to bring up the US resident bit. Oh wait, I just did! It would be nice for THW to have a contest in another country other than USA once in a while.For that bit on usb flash drive:"coworker or classmate PC (or Mac) will be fast and painless."I thought Mac went the thunderbolt route so transfer speed is on usb 2.0 and it will be slow and painful. You can use a adapter but I am not sure if they are out yet and they will be chunky and destroy the sleek image of Mac.
Mac has a sleek image?