Comments on: USB 3.0 – USB, The Next Generation

By: Mike McEvoy

Mike McEvoy — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:44:01 +0000

@Ricky — Yes, the backward compatibility is a “must have.” Thanks for stopping by.
–Mike

By: Ricky

Ricky — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:31:04 +0000

Thanx for the information regarding the USB 3. I will wait for a while before upgrading my lappy. Good to hear that it is backward compatible.

By: Mike McEvoy

Mike McEvoy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:02:53 +0000

@Gail GrowMap – Glad you found the USB 3.0 info useful. It will be interesting to see how quickly this new specification gets rolled out; both to computers and to external devices. I’m looking froward to it and I think people will find it much more beneficial then they first realize. Thanks for stopping by.
–Mike

By: Mike McEvoy

Mike McEvoy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:40:44 +0000

@Tony — You raise a great point regarding compatibility between USB 3.0 and older USB devices. While I have not had a chance to do any hands-on testing at this point the USB 3.0 specification and the initial reviews state that USB 3.0 is fully backwardly compatible with the earlier USB standards. So connecting an older USB 2.0 external hard disk drive or printer will work just fine when connected to a USB 3.0 port — they will just run at the older USB 2.0 speed.

The actual physical connector for USB 3.0 has not changed from earlier USB versions. However to get the faster data transfer rate when connecting a USB 3.0 device to a USB 3.0 enabled computer you will also need to use a new type of cable. The newer cables for USB 3.0 include a few extra wires which allow for faster data transfer and other functionality specific to USB 3.0.

So the short answer is USB 2.0, 1.1, 1.0 devices will have no problems connecting to USB 3.0 ports on new computers. They will just run at the slower speed.

One area I’m really looking forward to USB 3.0 is with flash memory drives. Current drives are painfully slow with large amounts of data. Hopefully USB 3.0 will prod manufacturers to significantly speed up these useful little drives.

USB 2.0 is the limiting factor for data transfer with an external HDD not the speed of the drive (unless of course you have an older slower HDD). . If you take the same drive from an external enclosure and install it as an internal HDD you will be able to read and write data faster to the same HDD.

Yes, 2010 should bring some very exciting changes in the technology world as newer technologies like USB 3.0, 802.11n, Windows 7, faster CPUs and cheaper RAM along with the evolution of social media and the web in general gallop ahead at a rapid pace. Thanks for stopping by.
–Mike

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:44:39 +0000

I wonder how quickly the new USB 3.0 format will take off? I know that over the next year, all new motherboards will undoubtedly switch to the new format, but so many of us are left with USB 2.0 devices that we are unlikely to throw away in a hurry.

The change in speed from USB 1.0 to USB 2.0 was nothing short of amazing, but for many devices a tenfold increase won’t make that much difference, only when it comes to large amounts of data, in particular movies or music, or bursts of data.

I wonder how this will affect my external USB Hard Drives. Is the speed of data transfer right now limited by the speed of the drives, or by the USB 2.0 standard? If it’s the drive speed, then USB 3.0 won’t make any difference, however solid state drives are getting more popular and cheaper.

I think the next coupel of years could be very exciting as regards technology and what is available for us to spend our money on.
.-= Tony´s last blog ..Movie Night Blues Revisited =-.

By: Gail @GrowMap

Gail @GrowMap — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:37:31 +0000

Thanks for letting us know 3.0 is now available. I suggested in my SU review that will be sent to Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook that anyone who wants to take advantage of the new speed should start ensuring any new purchases of PCs or peripherals they make be USB 3.0 only.
.-= Gail @GrowMap´s last blog ..MEME: LinkLuv to My Fav Bloggers Favs =-.

By: BunnygotBlog

BunnygotBlog — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:02:50 +0000

Great to hear this! Thumper is looking into buying a new one.
.-= BunnygotBlog´s last blog ..Sleeping With Your Business Partner =-.

By: Dennis Edell

Dennis Edell — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:52:27 +0000

Very cool info, thanks for the heads up. Also quite happy to hear about the backwards compatibility.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Blogging Halted Here – Don’t Despair, This Is A Good Thing! =-.

By: Mike McEvoy

Mike McEvoy — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:10:28 +0000

@Eren McKay — Glad you found this helpful. If you are looking to buy a new computer in the next couple months you may not find many with USB 3.0 but by the 2nd quarter of 2010 the selection will be greater.

Another option is to use a USB 3.0 adapter or card. PCI cards for desktop computers will be arriving in the next month or two (Asus is actually shipping one now) and adapters for laptop and notebook computers should be arriving in Q1 2010. But with portable computers it’s always a bit more elegant to have the hardware built-in rather than hanging off the side;-) As USB 3.0 enabled computers and devices roll out I’ll be doing follow up posts so stay tuned.

By: Eren Mckay

Eren Mckay — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:24:49 +0000

Thanks for telling us all about this because I’m thinking about buying a computer and now I’ll only buy it if it has the whole USB 3.0 technology.
I’m so glad I read this before going out and purchasing a new computer.
Awesome!
All the best,
Eren
.-= Eren Mckay´s last blog ..Carrot soup recipe with yummy sweet potato =-.