Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA plus USB 3.0 Adapter

Kudos to Kanex for making a product such as this and kudos to Amazon for the speedy delivery. This product gives me a USB 3.0 slot to use for my 2011 Macbook Pro at home or even on the go. So far it works perfectly. It definitely extends the usability of my laptop since I suddenly gained USB 3.0 transfer speeds. Transferring massive videos and RAW photos for storage is now less of a pain. To me, the eSATA port is just an added bonus. The Thunderbolt cable is permanently attached. I only wish the cable was thicker. All in all I am very much happy with this purchase. For those with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 slots already built-in, it may only benefit you if you want to add another USB 3.0 slot or if you need the eSATA port.

I had purchased a 4-bay drive enclosure with USB3 and, like many others purchasing similar units, they all seem to have sporadic USB3 disconnects regardless of OS (I use a Mac) - I personally think the USB3 standard should have been taken for a test drive around the track a few more times, but that's not to debate here. Having tried a USB3 to eSATA adapter that was an utter failure, then found this product. This item was the perfect fit to use the eSATA connection on the box with Thunderbolt. I have a home server that is on 24x7 and this has been rock solid for me. There was, literally, nothing to do but plug the Kanex adapter in, hook up the external drive box with eSATA and everything just worked. This adapter has no drivers needed at all, is small, and pretty well built. I've not had a chance to try the USB3 port on this item, but I'm sure it will work great as well. My only suggestion for the next version is a standard Thunderbolt cable instead of the permanently attached one. Kanex could do this and include a short version which would allow users to purchase the length they need, if they need it. It's a small suggestion for an overall excellent product.

Works great other than the fact that I can't get the port replicator function to work with a eSATA dual HDD dock (Thermaltake BlacX duet). It works fine on my old PC and both drives show up fine, but only one drive is seen my both this adapter and my Akitio Thunderdock on my new retina iMac and Late 2011 MacBook Pro (w/o native USB 3.0). Both of my Thunderbolt adapters are supposed to support port replication, so I have no idea what's going on. I rarely use the dual dock anyway, so not a deal breaker for me. Other than that, both devices work great to allow for high speed transfer using eSATA and USB 3.0 external drives. The Kanex has fewer ports, but is my preferred adapter for the MacBook Pro since it doesn't require an external power brick, is much smaller, and easier to carry in a laptop bag and use on the go. The Akitio (version 1), has double the USB 3.0 and eSATA ports, includes FireWire for connecting to older drives and video cameras, but requires a power brick, is nearly the size of a paperback book, and isn't really convenient for traveling.

I used this to connect an external SSD drive to my 2011 iMac. Works well, had zero issues installing, and gave me a significant speed increase - not to USB 3 levels, but substantially higher. The only downside is that it disconnects when the computer goes to sleep. I was able to get to get 299 MB/sec write speeds and 356 MB/sec read speeds. Together with installing an internal SSD, it has given the computer a life extension of 2-3 years. Why buy a new iMac costing thousands when you can spend much less and extend the life of your existing one? Unless you really need the higher computing power or the higher screen resolution, these kind of upgrades are far more effective.

Great product. The most cost effective way to get eSATA on the Thunderbolt Display or a Macbook with Thunderbolt Support. A bonus is USB 3.0 on my Thunderbolt Display now, attached is a USB 3.0 Hub and I'm all set. Very fast, no problems with me unit. I'm very happen. I have 4x Seagate 5400rpm-5600rpm drives (I forget the exact specs) but I'm achieving 200MB/250MB read/write in raid 5 configuration, using BlackMagic for testing. Cons: Cable is a little short, doesn't feel strong or durable but I don't plan to move my display around all the time so not really an issue for me.

My Mac suffered water damage a year ago, while the system was mostly spared, the USB ports were rendered useless. After consulting with the Apple Store, they said that my Thunderbolt port still worked perfectly fine (and it does). The only problem there is that I can't sync my new iPhone 6 with my Mac (barring me from access to my music library), transfer USB data etc. without the USB ports. I managed to painstakingly get by (realizing there was—at the time—a $300 solution out there offered by Belkin). Then to my amazement, this inexpensive and (seemingly) well-reviewed thunderbolt solution struck the Internet. As soon as I saw it I clicked purchase, happy to regain my USB ports without the hassle and expense of a large hub. And then the package arrived... The instructions on the box and website said "plug-and-play." No need for additional drivers (on Mac), my OS met all of the requirements, so I should have been all set. Right? Wrong. I was a little alarmed when my Mac didn't first recognize the device but didn't panic. I repeatedly restarted, jingled the cable, even performed an SMC reset on my Mac. To be absolutely certain, I tried plugging it in to my roommates perfect-condition 2012 MacBook Pro...still nothing. I went online to read reviews, hoping there was something I was missing that could be solved with a piece of hidden knowledge. What I found was a string of complaints from people in the exact same circumstance, who had also tried contacting Kanex with very little luck. I didn't even bother reaching out to them, since they offer no phone support and no online support except a little comment box saying that someone will get back within 24-48 hours (according to several reviews, their responses were unhelpful). Let me be clear that I DID NOT contact Kanex support, solely because I could not find one positive review for their support process online and I was not going to wait 48 hours for someone to email me a useless answer. You would think for a product that is new and repeatedly malfunctioning that they would offer better support or at least a disclaimer addressing the issues. Regardless, I was willing to give Kanex the benefit of the doubt. This was the first time I had ever ordered a faulty product on Amazon.com, so I figured it was bound to happen at some point. I was still very hopeful to have the solution to my USB dilemma. I reordered via Amazon without hassle (which by the way was the only positive experience of this whole ordeal). My new KTU10 arrived earlier this evening. I went to open it, plugged and, again, no play. It didn't work. For a company repeatedly selling faulty hardware at a relatively moderate price point, this is a complete failure and arguably a scam. First instance can be brushed off as a "bad apple," second instance and something is clearly wrong with the overall product. I am livid, because out of sheer excitement and optimism, I spent countless hours trying to troubleshoot both devices (thinking I was doing something wrong). I don't prefer to spend my limited spare time writing product reviews, but my experience was so terrible that I was compelled to warn others NOT TO BUY THIS. At least I gained two things from this experience: Knowing to read the good AND bad reviews on all future purchases more closely and an ever-growing appreciation of the good people at Amazon.com for making this experience a little less painful. Consumer Reports and any other relevant consumer protection agencies should be notified about this product that is being sold on Amazon, at the Apple online store and other major retailers. I recommend that these distributors consider pulling the product to protect consumers and themselves from countless returns. PS-The Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock is now $199 on Prime (it was $299 last time I checked). I'm returning this piece of junk and going with a trusted name that has a decent reputation. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

Works great on my Macbook pro sept 2012 and mid 2011 with no usb3. It is truly plug and play, and the drive just shows up in the finder. There is nothing you need to know to use this, just plug it is and it works. It does run very warm, but for over a month, It has never given any problem what soever. I'm running massive final cut pro multicams on it of almost a TB in size running 3 clips of 4K video, and it can handle anything my usb3 devices can dish out. It always matches speed of my usb 3, even on my external SSHD. Screaming fast. Glad I bit the bullet and spent the $72.

This adopter worked immedeately on my 2011 Macbook pro to provide USB3 connections. To make it work on W7, which is on Bootcamp, I had to install USB3 driver, which can be downloaded from Kanex site. Finding a driver on their site requires some efforts. This point is not written on the instruction sheet that came with the adopter and not on their site. So, I put 4 stars instead of 5 for lack of descriptions. The data transfer rate from SSD in the computer to external SSD connected through this adopter is found to be 200 - 250 MB/sec, which translate, 12 - 15 GB/min. External drive that connected through this adopter can not be used for boot up. Some softwares do not recognize the external drive connected through this. 4/4/2017: I connected external eSATA drive today and found my macbook pro does not find the drive.

War erst skeptisch, weil wir als Filmproduktion einen etwas älteren maximal hochgerüsteten großen iMac in Betrieb halten wollten, der noch kein USB 3 hat. Aber der Kanex hält, was er verspricht, und das zuverlässig, wir betreiben damit fast ein dutzend externe Festplatten (neben Thunderbolt-HDs und Firewire-HDs), und alles funktionert so gut wie tadellos (durch den Mischbetrieb von USB 3, Thunderbolt und FW kann es schon mal vorkommen, dass eine von 14 Festplatten nicht gemountet wird (allerdings alle USB 3 schon), dann richtet das ein kurzer Neustart. Der Hauptvorteil - die Geschwindigkeit, ist sehr zufriedenstellend. Wir können den Kanex empfehlen.

I have a 27" 2011 iMac with first generation thunderbolt and USB 2.0. This little device gave me an alternative to buying an expensive doc with an unneeded Ethernet port. I have replaced hard drives in my computer and have an SSD running Windows 7 and a 4tb drive with 1tb used for MacOS X and 3tb used for a NTFS data drive for Windows. It was a pain in the neck to get this configuration working nice as each OS rather enjoyed fataly injuring the other during OS installation and partition configuration. This little device allowed me to create an external boot, prepare partitions from the external disk and do much needed OS mirroring prior to windows ow mac throwing a tantrum at the other! As for usability once it is all done, make sure you install the proper Windows 7 drivers, and in my case enjoy improved flexibility with USB 3 and eSATA 6gbps without having to buy a ridiculously expensive dock.

Muy útil para el problema de conexión usb que me daba el MacBook Pro.

This product is not working, i want to return it

tolto dalla scatola, collegato al MacBook ed all'HUB USB 3.0, e funziona perfettamente (come d'altronde dovrebbe). C'è da considerare che per n problema di sovra alimentazione avevo bruciato una delle due porte del Mac, e l'altra USB dopo l'aggiornamento a Sierra non veniva più riconosciuta. Ne ho approfittato per un upgrade. Imballo minimo e prodotto ben realizzato.