As reading and writing speeds of external hard drives, USB sticks and other mass storage media continues to increase, the storage capacity of these devices has also increased up to 3 terabytes. These factors are slowly but surely bringing the ten year old USB 2.0 standard to its knees. The newly developed SuperSpeed USB 3.0 technology offers even more advantages.
Overview USB 3.0
Ten times the transfer speed:
Unlike the USB 2.0 standard, which has only one pair of unshielded data lines, the USB 3.0 standard has two additional cable pairs. These cables are shielded and enable both simultaneous data transfer as well as a maximum transfer speed of 5 Gbit/s (in comparison: USB 2.0 = 480 Mbit/s).
USB 2.0
USB 3.0
USB 2.0 Hi Speed versus USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
Song/Pic
4 MB
256 Flash
256 MB
USB Flash
1 GB
SD-Movie
6GB
USB Flash
16 GB
HD-Movie
25 GB
USB 1.0
5,3 sec.
5,7 min.
22 min.
2,2 h.
5,9 h.
9,3 h.
USB 2.0
0,1 sec.
8,5 sec.
33 sec.
3,3 min.
8,9 min.
13,9 min.
USB 3.0
0,01 sec.
0,8 sec.
3,3 sec.
20 sec.
53,3 sec.
70 sec.
Simultaneous data transfer
With USB 3.0, data can be exchanged simultaneously in both directions between the PC and USB medium (bidirectional). This dramatically increases efficiency in comparison with USB 2.0.
USB cable with full power
Extra power cables are a thing of the past: thanks to effective power management, the maximum current strength has been increased from 500 mA to 900 mA, allowing the external hard drives to be operated using only the USB cable.
Compatibility with USB 2.0
The new SuperSpeed standard is backwards compatible, meaning that the USB 2.0 plugs can continue to be used with USB 3.0 connections. However, due to its size, the USB 3.0 plug is compatible only with the corresponding USB 3.0 interface. The USB 3.0 A plug has remained the same size, enabling it to be connected with all USB A connections.
USB Connector Type A
USB Connector Type B
USB Connector Micro-B
USB 2.0
USB 3.0
Accessories for USB 3.0
In order to take advantage of this new age in speed, the terminal device, the PC and the connection cable must be USB 3.0 compatible. Hama offers you a range of accessories to help you convert to the new standard:
Top quality connection
High quality USB 3.0 connection cables ensure that nothing stands in the way of reaching the maximum connection speed of 5 Gbit/s.
Even your home PC can be converted to take advantage of the new SuperSpeed standard. The USB 3.0 controller card is easy to install and provides two USB 3.0 interfaces.
If you would like to convert your serial ATA hard drive for external use, we recommend the robust "Mobile Life" hard drive housing, which is suited for both 2.5" and 3.5" hard drives. Includes USB 3.0 connection cable.
Hard drive adapter vs. docking station
Hama offers two different solutions for faster data exchange between your SATA hard drive and your PC or notebook. The hard drive adapter and the docking station have one thing in common: both solutions transfer data from hard drives of various sizes using the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 standard.
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