Panasonic AU-XPD3 ExpressP2 Thunderbolt 3 Drive

Description

The Panasonic AU-XPD3 ExpressP2 Thunderbolt 3 Drive is a compact, single-slot P2 card reader that takes advantage of a Thunderbolt 3 interface to download your expressP2 B-series memory card at up to 10 Gb/s, and up to 8.8 Gb/s with Thunderbolt 2 enabled computers (requires adapter). The AU-XPD3 is also compatible with expressP2 A-series cards, P2 cards, and when using an available adapter, microP2 cards are supported as well.

You can daisy chain up to six AU-XPD3 devices, which enables downloading multiple cards simultaneously. Daisy chaining will lower the top speed of each device on the chain, but transferring multiple cards at the same time will shorten the overall download process. The unit requires AC power to function.

Features

Transfer Speeds
You can daisy chain up to six AU-XPD3 units together to increase the transfer speeds as opposed to using a single reader. For example, daisy chaining two units together enable you to download from two cards simultaneously. Although the maximum transfer speed of 10 Gb/s will be reduced for each unit, since you are transferring from two cards simultaneously it is actually faster. Transferring from a single 512GB expressP2 B-series card takes about 7 minutes, and if you have one AU-XPD3, then it will take about 14 minutes to transfer from two cards, but when you daisy chain two units together the maximum speed of both units drops to about 8.8 Gb/s, enabling you to transfer a 512GB card in about 8 minutes. If you are transferring from two 512GB cards, each one will take about 8 minutes, but since they are transferring simultaneously you will be done much faster than if you were transferring the cards one at a time.

Connecting your device to a computer with Thunderbolt 2 capabilities will limit you to approximately 8.8 Gb/s transfer speed.

expressP2 B Series versus espressP2 A Series
The B-series cards support a transfer speed of up to 10 Gb/s and the A-series cards are limited to 2 Gb/s. The AU-XPD1, which is USB 3.0, is capable of transferring data from an A-series card at up to 2.4 Gb/s. The AU-XPD3 is designed and tuned for B-series cards, and can transfer data more than four times faster from a B-series card than an AU-XPD1.* To take full advantage of the AU-XPD3, you need a computer with full Thunderbolt 3 ports.