OK to just get a couple of USB C to USB A adapters, and reuse existing USB3 hubs ? ? ?

Or time to splurge for new USB C based hubs?

Also, old peeps wanna use wired, old school, USB mouse & kb; does it matter if they're lumped in w/ external drives (2 x HDD's + 1 full size optical) on same hub ? And does that factor into decision as to whether to reuse old hubs, or replace w/ new USB C gear?

Thanks.
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USBC hubs are super inexpensive and work great. Try one - maybe get it to match your colored iMac?

Which model iMac exactly? Older or newer drives?

I like to connect drives directly rather to a hub.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2021 03:33PM by btfc.

that depends on what you have.

I needed two UBS3 drives connected to my 2018 mini so I got a couple of USB3>USBC adapters. They work perfectly for these bus-powered drives.

My iMac needs a bunch of drives, a printer, scanner and TB2 stuff so I got a thunderbolt hub (so it can also handle thunderbolt devices).

....some people are not into hookups....they like long term....

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

It depends on the speed of the connection you need. The latest and greatest USB 3.1 gen2 is twice as fast as USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 gen1. So if you're moving lots of big files, then probably upgrade to gen2 hubs. Otherwise, adapters are fine.

Best way to hook up USB3 devices to new USB C M1 iMac?



USBC hubs are super inexpensive and work great. Try one - maybe get it to match your colored iMac?


This is how I'd roll.

A plug in hub if there is one, and keep cables and lengths to a minimum.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

It's a blue, mid-level ($1499) M1 iMac. Externals are 2 x USB HDD's w/ a TM drive, and a partitioned drive w/ old, emergency, backup data on one partition, and mostly virtual machines on the other partition of the second HDD. Also, a full size optical drive is in the mix. The two HDD's have wall warts, while the optical's enclosure has a builtin power supply. Only has 256GB SSD, coming down from 512GB on retired iMac. Pared down, should be ~165GB on internal, but may do even more housecleaning once everything is up and running.

There's really not much attached that I can think of that needs absolute speed.... just looking to avoid any "gotcha's" down the road. Will be happy to get the "Blue Angel" playing nice w/ the world, then worry about faster attachments as more stimulus checks roll in..... OK, OK, woulda opted for the 512GB SSD, but it was a long wait, where instant gratification was needed.

Sounds like a tossup between adapters vs. new hubs, so may go one of each to start, and see which solution, if any is better than the other.
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No gotchas.

Its just a different connection that's faster, but fully backwards compatible with any previous USB as long as you have the right cable, adapter or hub. Dont worry yourself with speeds, nothing you can buy will even reach the potential of the ports, and vice versa.

You have come this far, sounds like it would be a great time to further consolidate drives? =)

Ideally, if everything fits on your internal, just one large external for TM.

If not, then a simple 2 drive setup:

1) internal with day to day stuff
2) external with everything else
3) big TM drive to backup 1 and 2
4) optical
5) one port left for KB, plug mouse into KB.

For many of my clients, I recommend a Seagate Hub drive. Has 2 powered USB hubs on the front. I have an 8 TB one myself. Its my TM drive, and has a couple of smaller bus powered data drives for sharing some files to clients.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Quote
Buzz
It's a blue, mid-level ($1499) M1 iMac. Externals are 2 x USB HDD's w/ a TM drive, and a partitioned drive w/ old, emergency, backup data on one partition, and mostly virtual machines on the other partition of the second HDD. Also, a full size optical drive is in the mix. The two HDD's have wall warts, while the optical's enclosure has a builtin power supply. Only has 256GB SSD, coming down from 512GB on retired iMac. Pared down, should be ~165GB on internal, but may do even more housecleaning once everything is up and running.

There's really not much attached that I can think of that needs absolute speed.... just looking to avoid any "gotcha's" down the road. Will be happy to get the "Blue Angel" playing nice w/ the world, then worry about faster attachments as more stimulus checks roll in..... OK, OK, woulda opted for the 512GB SSD, but it was a long wait, where instant gratification was needed.

Sounds like a tossup between adapters vs. new hubs, so may go one of each to start, and see which solution, if any is better than the other.
==

You need adapters AND at least one dock.

Find one you like and looks nice is all my point. These are not $300 Thunderbolt docks. You can get great docks for $30 and have 4 or more USBA ports etc.

Buzz,

If I were to buy a dock, I'd want a powered model. I've used non-powered docks on a slew of machines over the years and in the end, they only cut it for low power items like a mouse or keyboard or items that had their own power supply. Anything that was bus-powered caused agita. Even USB pen drives. Just food for thought based on my experience.

Robert