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kimndave

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 29, 2008
10
0
Hello all,

My mid-2011 iMac has become quite sluggish so I'd like to add an external SSD drive and utilize it as a boot drive for increased speed. I realize adding one internally would be much, much better, but I'm adverse to opening up my iMac. As its a mid-2011 model, the usb ports are all 2.0. I currently have a Kanex thunderbolt to usb 3 and esata adapter and have a usb hub connected to that with three external hard drives connected to the hub.

I'm looking at two options (although I'm open to other suggestions):

Transcend 256GB SSD Thunderbolt - attached to the second, open Thunderbolt port. ($160)
or
Samsung T3 Portable 250GB SSD USB 3.0 - attached to the USB hub which is attached via Kanex adapter to a Thunderbolt port. ($105)

Will I see a decrease in speed if I choose the Samsung as it would be connected, along with other drives, to a hub and through an adapter?

Thank you!
 
Last edited:
I just noticed the thread regarding the $49 Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter from Apple. Would this work with USB 3.1 drives and provide an additional option? If so, would this adapter coupled with a Samsung external SSD with USB 3.1 be the best (greatest speed) choice?

Thanks!
 
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