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maxx9photo · Mar 15, 2009, 03:05 PM

I read too many bad reviews on using griffin eSata card with MBP, anyone would recommend another option?

amazing · Mar 16, 2009, 01:19 PM

I've got 2 different esata cards. Both are problematic with my MBP.

I think the problem is how loose the cards are in the slot: The stiff esata cables are especially stiff in side-to-side motion, with the result that both the card and the connectors move. Eventually the card disconnects. I've been thinking of how to verify this, namely stabilizing the card by poking a toothpick in one side. Given how dumb that sounds, I haven't tried it.

If you use the esata card with the laptop on a desk, totally stationary, using an external keyboard, I suspect you'd be OK. That's not how I use my MBP, so haven't tried this.

My recommendation: get a fw-800 case instead.

amazing · Mar 16, 2009, 10:21 PM

Just tested a newly received HD. Tried the trick of stiffening the esata card with a toothpick to make sure the card couldn't wiggle, and had a very hard kernel panic while trying to clone the laptop via esata. Needed a hard restart.

This is with the OWC card that is natively supported by Leopard. No drivers needed.

The same HD is now cloning just fine via USB, just about done, with no problems.

Others have speculated that the problematic behavior of esata cards in MBPs is Apple's fault. I'm beginning to agree.

gudrummer · Mar 19, 2009, 12:58 AM

I have a Sonnet Tempo Pro card,costs a pretty penny but it's been working flawless since day 1.Using with a Lacie 4Big Quadra,no problems,extremely fast.

amazing · Mar 19, 2009, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by gudrummer

I have a Sonnet Tempo Pro card,costs a pretty penny but it's been working flawless since day 1.Using with a Lacie 4Big Quadra,no problems,extremely fast.

Do you use it stationary on your desk or do you use it on your lap? Are you using it for Time Machine, do you copy GBs of files?

I've got 3 separate esata drives, 2 separate esata cards (Best Connectivity and Apiotek) and 3 different cables. The hard crashes have happened with all combinations. Even just sitting there, no copying or files open, a message may pop up saying the drive was ejected "illegally." When connectivity is lost when copying, say, 52 GB of files, it's pretty disastrous.

xlr8yourmac.com has reports of the same problem, though some people report being trouble free (though one person who was happy with his card reported 3 hard crashes in 3 months, or some such thing--I wouldn't be happy with that--perhaps a different definition of "being happy?")

All in all, having never had anything like that problem with years of firewire, I heartily recommend firewire...

gudrummer · Mar 23, 2009, 02:10 PM

Well,i work with video editing,so i usually transfer hundreds of GB at times and need to work with them for long hours.Haven't had any crashing problems,but i cannot put the computer to sleep,wich isn't a big deal for me,my laptop's been turned on for the last 3 months anyway.I never used it on my lap,my external drive won't let me move much and don't use time machine.

amazing · Mar 23, 2009, 02:44 PM

glad to hear it's working for you.

I don't use my laptop on a desk, so I theorize that the stiff esata cables are constantly wiggling the expresscard. Don't know if that's the problem or not, but it really does consistently give me kernel panics. Here's the xlr8yourmac.com webpage, some people have good experiences, others not:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/...d_reports.html

jay3ld · Mar 25, 2009, 04:27 PM

Does this only occur with certain cards or eSata cables then? From what I read, it sounds like it is just the stiffness of the eSata cable. I only have about 3 inches of space from my macbook pro to the wall next to it on the left side.

I recently have purchased a new 1 TB external hard drive. I was doing research but havn't found anything on seeing if I could do a dual boot off it (It would be nice). I also plan to have 4 paritions, with 1 being for storage and the other from time machine backups of my main hard drive on my macbook.
It has eSata capabilities. Now eSata would be a lot faster than USB 2.0. After reading this topic, I am not sure though if I want to go with this route (It is like the 300 mb wireless+n connection I can't use, because that is making my apple router crash).

My 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2007) is usually stationary. I don't often take it from the desk. But now that I have a brand new battery that gives me almost 4 hours off a charge, I just might

. When I do take it, I disconnect any other hard drives and unplug the master usb hub that comes into my macbook (I only use the left usb port and it goes to a hub, the right has my wireless mouse receiver).
Is there any issues with using eSata and removing it from time to time when I go mobile?

olePigeon · Mar 25, 2009, 04:52 PM

Have you thought about using FireWire 800 instead of eSATA?

jay3ld · Mar 25, 2009, 06:41 PM

My Hard drive only supports USB 2.0 or eSata

amazing · Mar 26, 2009, 12:19 PM

If you've only got 3 inches on the left side, one inch of that will be taken out by the expresscard sticking out. And yes, the esata cables are very rigid. As I've mentioned, I definitely fixed the expresscard rigidly in place by wedging it tight with a wooden skewer so that it couldn't wiggle around, and the cable itself fits tightly into the card.

Speculation is that either it's Apple's problem, or that certain expresscards don't play well with certain firmware on certain enclosures. I've got 2 enclosures from Macally, and a third enclosure from Kingwin. None of which escape having precipitated hard kernel panics.

Ultimately, you could buy the $20 card and try it, or you can use USB, or you can buy a fw-800 case and transfer the HD to it (probably voiding your warranty on the original external drive.)

yoketee · Apr 2, 2009, 08:43 AM

yes. gudrummer

sonnet eSATA card is very fast. recently sonnet produces the Express34 eSATA pro. This new card is able to go as fast as 200MB/s.

FYI: I have a customer bought 6 units of the pro card and the Fusion F2 1TB. He told me, he is in the Database business and he needs a super fast portable HDD and eSATA card to generates the database results instantly during presentation.

maxx9photo,
there are many eSATA card and cables around in the market.some cheap and some more costly. The expansive one comes with a catch to lock the cable to the connector. so the cable will not drop out easily. Therefore you have to check before getting one.

Simon · Apr 2, 2009, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by yoketee

FYI: I have a customer bought 6 units of the pro card and the Fusion F2 1TB. He told me, he is in the Database business and he needs a super fast portable HDD and eSATA card to generates the database results instantly during presentation.

He needs a super-fast external disk to query a local database quickly enough during a presentation? Sounds bogus.

olePigeon · Apr 3, 2009, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by Simon

He needs a super-fast external disk to query a local database quickly enough during a presentation? Sounds bogus.

What if he's demonstrating how fast his product works with large databases?

yoketee · Apr 8, 2009, 01:23 PM

i m waiting for his reply. I think in the next few days I will hear from him.
i will update it when he feedback to me