HD Connection Kit

[jackz]

Does a good kit exist to connect and power 2.5 and 3.5, Sata and IDE HD's to your laptop for backup or recovery?

What do you recommend?

 

[NickCat11]

You mean something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

 

[jackz]

You mean something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

Nice price, ones that include a power supply and from a reputable source are thin on the ground over here:

One from lindy.ie for the equivelent of $ 62.90

 

[NickCat11]

Wow that's a bit pricey

 

[iptech]

You'll need an external power supply if you're going to attach 3.5" drives but for 2.5" a single USB port is usually enough to power the drive & controller, but get one with a dual USB connector so you can draw the power from 2 USB ports if need be. It's also worthwhile getting one with PATA 3.5", PATA 2.5" and SATA connectors, most I've seen/used have these. For desktop/bench use a SATA dock is well worth the investment.

IMHO Lindy products are quite pricey and you can find identical devices, albeit apart from the branding, available elsewhere for much less.

 

[NickCat11]

The one I mentioned in my link comes with an external power supply, its shown in the other pictures. It's the full package. I have one and it works great. I actually just looked up a SATA dock that iptech recommended. Here's the link for one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707170...I'm getting myself one today

 

[NickCat11]

Actually just found it cheaper here http://www.amazon.com/Esata-Sata-External-Dock-Adapter/dp/B001IOPIRM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1252097662&sr=8-1

 

[NickCat11]

Dang, that sucks. I just ordered mine off of Amazon. It should be here tomorrow. Were they dead right off the bat or did they fail later on?

 

[OfficerLahey]

i have:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/Shar...Adapter-Inc-Rubber-enclosure-for-Drives-25-35

not sure if scan ship to ireland? i grabbed mine from overclockers awhile back but can't find it on the site anymore, it's also on amazon for around £30 odd.

that shipped with a 4-pin molex adapter for 3.5in drives and it powers laptop drives via usb.

haven't had a problem with it so far!

 

[jackz]

Cheers guys, uk based suppliers usually ship to Ireland so I will check out scan and amazon.

 

[Protocol16]

I actually carry two of these, as a backup. Some people need 1 for the old, one for the new and you can just copy between the two. Takes FOREVER if you're attempting to do a large drive with MP3's, etc though.

The last HHD I had to use this on was my wife's computer a week ago. She ended up getting a new 500GB drive and it took about 45 mins to select and back everything up to the new drive (she keeps EVERYTHING in her profile, so it was easy - if that had been my laptop, it would have taken all day). Then, I spent another 20 minutes fighting with Windows 7 since I was too lazy to set things up right the first time. At least it was my wife and not a customer... Live and learn.

 

[Sevdog]

I use this one from Cables2Go. Has worked perfectly and is always a lifesaver.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3249952&CatId=3770

 

[Larry Sabo]

I use this one from Cables2Go. Has worked perfectly and is always a lifesaver.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3249952&CatId=3770

I notice it says "works with any SATA hard drive from 80GB to 500GB". I have had a Vantec version almost identical to the one cited and it, too, says it currently supports "up to 500GB." Just bought another almost identical unit by Vantec recently and it makes no mention of a capacity limitation.

The store from whom I bought it says they have used them (original version) all the time and have never encountered a problem copying drives larger than 500GB. Curious to know if anyone has in fact found a problem with drives over 500GB.

 

[TimeCode]

I use this one... http://www.frys.com/product/5437099?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG and I love it. It comes with the power supply, it just isn't shown.

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

i have:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/Shar...Adapter-Inc-Rubber-enclosure-for-Drives-25-35

not sure if scan ship to ireland? i grabbed mine from overclockers awhile back but can't find it on the site anymore, it's also on amazon for around £30 odd.

that shipped with a 4-pin molex adapter for 3.5in drives and it powers laptop drives via usb.

haven't had a problem with it so far!

we use that for small jobs.

for larger backups and recovery work we have 2 drive caddies (one ide 1 sata) like http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=48412 attached to our test rig as saves a hellava lot of time over usb.