Sonnet Two-Port USB 3.0 Adapter Cards ($50)

Sonnet Technologies Inc. introduced its first USB 3.0 host controller cards – Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe and USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 – for Windows desktop and notebook computers, respectively.

These latest additions to Sonnet’s wide selection of PCI Express and ExpressCard/34 adapters deliver faster performance when used with drives equipped with the USB 3.0 interface, yet support USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices for expanded backward compatibility.

SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) is the next generation of the immensely popular USB interface, offering an up to 10x increase in data transfer speed over Hi-Speed USB 2.0, the decade-old interface found in practically every computer sold today. While handy, USB 2.0 is not well suited for supporting external storage devices, limiting their data transfer speeds to approximately 30 MB/sec, even when they are capable of speeds of 125 MB/sec and faster. Sonnet’s Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe and USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 adapters open this bottleneck to better support the speed potential of modern hard disk drives and solid state drives (SSDs).

Both host controllers feature two USB 3.0 ports. The easy-to-install Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe desktop computer card features a PCIe interface for maximum performance, while the plug-in USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 adapter works in notebook computers with either an ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 slot. Both cards support Windows 7, Windows Vista®, and Windows XP.

Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe (part number USB3-E) and USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 (part number USB3-2P-E34) are available now with the suggested retail price of USD $49.95 each.