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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > MacBook Air & LaCie Little Disk, Design by Sam Hecht

MacBook Air & LaCie Little Disk, Design by Sam Hecht
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zeekay
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Mar 12, 2008, 05:19 PM
 
I have just bought a MacBook Air. Now, I would need an external, portable HardDisk (ca. 250GB) for backups, transfers, libraries. With "portable" I mean powered by the single USB port of the MacBook Air.

-> Is there any drive, which works with the MacBook Air and doesn't need an extra power adapter or USB hub?
-> Does the "LaCie Little Disk, Design by Sam Hecht" work that way?

Thanks for your help!
     
Cold Warrior
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Mar 12, 2008, 05:59 PM
 
There are a number of fully USB-powered drives. The MBA actually has an above-spec power feed, necessary in order to support the external superdrive.

For example, the Western Digital 160GB Passport is fully bus-powered.
     
fisherKing
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Mar 12, 2008, 06:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
There are a number of fully USB-powered drives. The MBA actually has an above-spec power feed, necessary in order to support the external superdrive.

For example, the Western Digital 160GB Passport is fully bus-powered.
just be sure..i have several lacie and iomega portable drives (fw AND usb); they need TWO ports on a macbook to mount; i tried the iomega on a macbook air at the store, and it's single port DID NOT power the drive...
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
Cold Warrior
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Mar 12, 2008, 06:33 PM
 
Some drives do need two ports. Buyers need to pay attention to the specs. Also, some notebooks are underpowered (not the MB or MBP).

The one I referenced, however, needs only a single port for power -- assuming that the notebook isn't under-powering its ports due to poor or deliberate engineering.
     
mduell
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Mar 12, 2008, 07:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
The MBA actually has an above-spec power feed, necessary in order to support the external superdrive.
Is the above-spec power available to other devices? I don't think so.
     
Cold Warrior
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Mar 12, 2008, 08:30 PM
 
As far as I know, it's not available to other devices. Whether this is because Apple has some way to lock them out or -- more likely -- because no one is going to build to a unique port on a unique, small niche computer. But that doesn't prevent properly spec'd devices from drawing the normal USB 2.0 current to power themselves, e.g. the drive I've previously mentioned.
     
jogi
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Mar 13, 2008, 03:46 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
As far as I know, it's not available to other devices. Whether this is because Apple has some way to lock them out or -- more likely -- because no one is going to build to a unique port on a unique, small niche computer. But that doesn't prevent properly spec'd devices from drawing the normal USB 2.0 current to power themselves, e.g. the drive I've previously mentioned.
And where do you base the above? It is about current -> power. Any device that asks it gets it.

I have a:

-> Lacie portable 160 gb firewire + usb and it did not work with the Macbook pro 15". It works fine with the Air.

-> 320 gb WD Passport which works perfectly with the Air. Both only require 1 USB port to run and no external power.

-> Lenovo CD - DVD recorder from my work laptop that did NOT work on the MBP without external power. Works fine in the Air.
     
Simon
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Mar 13, 2008, 03:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
Is the above-spec power available to other devices? I don't think so.
Of course it is. The device will get whatever it asks for as long as that doesn't exceed the max power of the MBA's USB port. Therefore it's also no surprise that some devices that do not work on a single MBP USB port work well with the MBA's USB port.
     
ort888
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Mar 13, 2008, 02:13 PM
 
I was going to buy an enclosure for the 160 gig 2.5 inch drive I just removed from my MacBook. Is this power problem something I'm going to run into if I buy one of these cheap enclosures? Does the enclosure or the size of the drive have more to do with it?

Can anyone recommend a 2.5" enclosure that they know works on one port?

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mduell
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Mar 13, 2008, 02:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Of course it is. The device will get whatever it asks for as long as that doesn't exceed the max power of the MBA's USB port. Therefore it's also no surprise that some devices that do not work on a single MBP USB port work well with the MBA's USB port.
What compliant USB device is going to request more than the USB spec allows expecting that the company that made the USB host might allow for such a thing?
     
desertmac
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Mar 13, 2008, 04:15 PM
 
To the OP:

1. The picture of the LaCie Little Disk looks like it has a port for a power supply. That suggests that it would may not be able to do USB without power.
2. I have a WD 80gb HD for my MBA and it works as advertised, drawing power only from the USB port.
MBP 15" 2.4 Ghz 4Gb
MBA 13" 1.6 Ghz 2Gb
     
zeekay  (op)
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Mar 13, 2008, 05:54 PM
 
Thanks for your advice, guys.
I have just ordered a Western Digital Passport 320GB.
     
ort888
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Mar 13, 2008, 05:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by desertmac View Post
1. The picture of the LaCie Little Disk looks like it has a port for a power supply. That suggests that it would may not be able to do USB without power.
I have an old Firewire bus-powered drive and it has the option of using a power adapter or not. I don't think the existence of a power port means that it won't be bus powered.

My sig is 1 pixel too big.
     
bcaslis
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Mar 14, 2008, 02:00 PM
 
I've used the western digital passport 320GB USB 2.0 drive with the MBA on the single USB power no problem. Fires right up and works fine. You can get at best buy for $249.
MacBook Pro 17" 2.4 Ghz, 4GB ram, 200GB 7200rpm HD
     
mduell
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Mar 14, 2008, 06:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by bcaslis View Post
I've used the western digital passport 320GB USB 2.0 drive with the MBA on the single USB power no problem. Fires right up and works fine. You can get at best buy for $249.
Ouch, Newegg has it for $180.
     
   
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