What is the point of an eSATA port if it doesn't supply power?

I guess I'm wondering what the benefit of an eSATA port is on a notebook if it doesn't supply any power. It seems all eSATA devices have an AC power cable. It would be nice if eSATA offered a powered port, otherwise it really limits its use.

I guess for a desktop replacement you'd have SATA speeds on an external drive for backup or whatever, but on the go, I don't see it being useful. The convenience of USB powered HDD's is excellent. Speed is ok for backup purposes, but it would be nice to have something faster.

Is there any intent in a future spec update, to add power to the eSATA port? If so, it would be a great boost in speed over USB. Otherwise, we're stuck with USB 2.0's speeds until when?

 

As an computer enclosure enthusiast, the only chassis that I know of that offers an eSATA power port is the Thermaltake SwordM.

I seriously doubt it. If we haven't seen it yet, there probably won't be.

USB 3.0 is on the horizon, (I think sometime in 2010), with speeds that rival eSATA... on the order of a 5GB/s transfer rate.

By the way, I couldn't help but notice... are you 2A3X3B? I was 2A373B for ten years before I got out.

 

I do recall an Engadget post within the last year describing an initiative for power over eSATA... I'll try to look for it. I too think there's little point in eSATA if it doesn't have power; one of the first things I look for in an external optical or hard drive is the lack of the need to use an AC adapter. The extra speed would be nice in some cases, but I just can't stand extra power bricks.

EDIT: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/sata-io-cranks-up-power-over-esata-initiative-not-a-moment-too/

 

2.5" eSATA HDDs take power from the USB port so they don't need an AC adaptor. Many recent notebooks include a USB / eSATA combo port so it is possible to have an eSATA + power plug and cable (so it only uses one port) even if the power has a separate connector on the HDD enclosure (needed in case the USB port doesn't provide enough power).

John

 

SATA/600 spec will introduce eSATAp, which is the powered version.

 

Sheer speed. USB 2.0 is slow while USB 3.0 isn't out yet and will still require a power brick for 12 volts. Even then 3.0 won't be faster that eSATA for native SATA drives simply because of the SATA-to-USB translation.

 

USB for power is fine with me, but I haven't seen any drives that come with this kind of adapter.

 

No, but I was always a combat aircraft nut. My vision was always too bad to even think of flying real aircraft, which deterred me. I should have joined the Air Force just to be around the planes and work on them. That would have been just as satisfying.

But thanks to laser surgery had my vision corrected to better than 20/20 a few years back. Then I got my private pilot's license, but just too old now.