The LaCie eSATA Hub Thunderbolt series external drive has hit the market. First seen at CES 2012, the new drives give users the added flexibility of using its eSATA port to connect existing eSATA drives over Thunderbolt. LaCie say that the eSATA Hub will boost transfer speeds and will allow users to daisy chain the drive with other Thunderbolt peripherals.
The eSATA Hub is aimed primarily at Mac users and professionals in particular. LaCie also suggest that it will come in very useful for creative professionals and others who have already upgraded their Macs to versions without ExpressCard/34 slots, and can now make the most of previous eSATA purchases.
When daisy chaining, users can connect up to 12 eSATA drives (6 Hubs x 2 eSATA drives per Hub). This can be achieved while still maintaining full eSATA 3Gb/s speeds. LaCie also adds that a side benefit is less cable clutter, multiple connections can be replaced with a single cable thanks to the bandwidth of the Thunderbolt I/O.
The LaCie eSATA Hub Thunderbolt drive is available now through LaCie’s online store for $199.00.
