[GRLUG] NOT LINUX - Thunderbolt

[Michael Mol]

On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:04 PM, Robar Philip <philip.robar at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Jun 13, 2012, at 7:17 PM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thunderbolt-performance-z77a-gd80,3205.html
>>
>> An interesting development, apparently
>> with coming availability to PCs and Linux.
>
> Note that Thunderbolt cables are expensive at $50 and no one expects them to get much cheaper in the near future.

$50 isn't a large amount to pay for something, as long as you take
good care of it and get good use for it.

>
> Also Thunderbolt peripherals are very expensive—even for a simple single external drive. Unless you’re a professional or a business is paying for your equipment you probably won’t be using Thunderbolt in the foreseeable future.

Monitors would be the first use case you'll see. Then chaining
monitors; imagine having one video port drive three monitors. It's not
going to add an incredible amount to the cost of the monitor.

Now consider that your computer will already have the port. My
particular imagined use case would be hooking two computers together.

>
> As a 2011 iMac owner I’m kinda screwed. No eSATA, no USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt is just way too expensive; leaving me stuck with Firewire 800/400 and USB 2.0.

You've still got gigabit ethernet. Most of the brand-new laptops I've
been looking at have 100Mb standard. Lord knows why.

>
> I had a brief glimmer of hope when I saw this article by USA Today, “Thunderbolt drive: Speedy alternative for Macs,” but after reading it I’ve decided that their writers are paid way too much. Quote:
>
>    The only problem: Thunderbolt drives were scarcely available,
>    and the ones that were in stock were extremely pricey.
>
>    Finally Seagate and Western Digital, which dominate the
>    hard-drive industry, have released Thunderbolt drives for
>    the Mac, and they truly are super speedy and affordable.
>
> Well, if you define “affordable” as just being grossly overpriced rather than ridiculously overpriced then maybe. For instance, Seagate’s Thunderbolt premium for their portable single drive is $150 (including the price of a cable). And the premium for their desktop model is $250.

Within two years, that'll be a lot cheaper. It's still very new.

> So for most of us Thunderbolt will just be a convenient way to attach multiple monitors.

For a little while. Everything comes down in price.

-- 
:wq