eSata has a maximum transfer speed of 300MB/s, so it’s a good future proof upgrade path from USB 2.0. However, there are some limitations that eSata has at the present time. Firstly, it is nowhere near as common when compared to USB. Secondly, specifying a “powered” eSata further limits things. Not only are powered eSata ports less common, there is confusion if a port is even powered or not.

In an attempt to clear up some of my own confusion, I called OCZ and ask if they knew which products had powered ports. Unfortunately, after asking around, no one I talked to knew of anything currently available. They recommended calling a manufacturer and asking them directly.

Now, I don’t really blame OCZ at all for releasing the Throttle when there aren’t many products that can take full advantage of it. Sort of a chicken and egg problem. Personally, I think powered eSata is going to become very popular, unless of course there is a failure in some distant marketing department.

And on to the reason I think powered eSata is going to become popular. The performance of the Throttle.

Testing:

• Acer 8920 laptop

• Dual core 2.4ghz

• 4GB Ram

• 2X 320GB hdd

• ExpressCard eSata adaptor

The Throttle also gets around the problem of not having a powered eSata port, simply by plugging it into a USB port as well. If it is plugged into the eSata first, then the USB, it is smart enough to only identify itself on the eSata bus, and you aren’t left with 2 drives showing up and no idea which is the “slow” version. They also assured me that there is no loss of speed with this method, so anyone with an older setup isn’t disappointed.

Normally when a product advertises a maximum speed, they have a little disclaimer that says “Theoretical top speed, you mileage may vary”. OCZ decided to put a number up that is actually *lower* than the top/burst speeds I was able to produce. I actually had to redo my real world tests a couple of times because I didn’t have the performance monitor window up right away, and the transfers were already finished before I could record the speeds. Even speeds over USB are very fast, bouncing off of a limit of one sort or another.

Conclusion:

You could say it’s a simple evolutionary step for thumb drives, but I think it’s a welcome one. There is of course the talk of USB 3.0, with speeds up to 400MB/s, however it will be some time before the hardware to use that is available, let alone common. As it stands, every new computer has sata ports, which are easy enough to convert into eSata.

There is no denying the speed you can have here and now. Not to mention for $30 (8GB), it’s only about $8 more than a regular 8GB usb drive, that for 3X the performance. If you don't mind carrying a USB cable (that is used for practically all external 2.5" drives as well), you aren't going to be able to find anything faster in this size, or price range.

Update 5-14-09: OCZ Announces Bundle Deal with Throttle eSATA drive and MSI's Powered Port Motherboards

OCZ and MSI are bringing enthusiasts the easy way to get the most out of their Throttle eSATA drives! If you're in the market for an outstanding and speedy storage drive and want to get the most out of the eSATA interface, look for the new packaged deal to get the best of both worlds. (Click here for Details)

 

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