XION XON-SAHDCB-USB 2.5-Inch / 3.5-Inch SATA HDD to USB 2.0 Docking Station - Retail (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For economical, personal mass storage, you can't beat the good old hard disk drive.There's a problem however when you run out of space in your computer case for more.Sure, you could pop open your case and disconnect the cable from your previous drive, unscrew it from the mounting brackets, and then do the same in reverse for the hard disk drive you want to put in, but that's tedious, and thankfully it's in the past now.

What this little gem does is take much of the hassle out of putting in a new drive or swapping any SATA hard drive.It will just show up as a generic mass storage device in windows, no need to install additional drivers.It's almost as simple as plug and play.*The transfer speed is quite good, reaching more or less 240 megabits a second (30 megabytes a second), which is half the advertised speed of usb 2.0, but still, a lot faster than I expected.The speed is easily fast enough to stream hd video content from the hard disk drive.

The only reasonable fault I could find with this product I could find was that inserting the drive wasn't so easy.I had to use quite a bit of force to get it to slide in properly.I would have preferred something that required less force but had a locking mechanism to hold it in place.Still, that would only make me take off half a star at most.There's also one more point which I'll mention below for people installing a new hard disk drive with this device, which is not really the fault of this device, but rather a fact of life for storage devices.

*If you are installing a brand new hard disk drive from this device, it's not quite plug and play. You're going to have to format the drive, I recommend doing a regular format and not a quick format as quick format from anecdotal evidence has been shown to produce more errors later on in the life of the drive.

Here's how I did it from Windows Vista:

1. Click The windows button to bring up the menu, right click computer and click "Manage"

2. Once the computer management window opens, on the left side you will see a vertical list of menu trees with labels.One of them will be storage, if the menu is not expanded already, double-click it, and then click on Disk Management.

3. Find your new disk drive, it should give some indication that it's not formatted, or does not have a partition.Right-click it and select format.

4. You can now enter a label for your drive if you so desire, and you could choose to quick format.I do not recommend that option for the reason stated above.Choose your preferences and then click ok.

5. If you did not choose quick format you will have to wait a while for the drive to format, on my new 640 gigabyte hard disk drive it took a few hours.Worth it in the long run.

6.Your drive should now be useable in vista! It should show up on your computer menu and work like any other hard disk drive in windows.

Click Here to see more reviews about: XION XON-SAHDCB-USB 2.5 Inch / 3.5 Inch SATA HDD to USB 2.0 Docking Station - Retail (Black)

Product Description:
USB 2.0 Transfer Rate Up to 480Mbps. Patent Design for mounting HDD within seconds and fit both 2.5-Inch and 3.5-Inch SATA HDD to USB 2.0 of your PC. Plug And Play feature ,Without Rebooting. Power On/Off Switch.

Get 50% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about XION XON-SAHDCB-USB 2.5 Inch / 3.5 Inch SATA HDD to USB 2.0 Docking Station - Retail (Black) now ?

Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock 100521233 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This dock is an optional accessory to the Seagate FreeAgent Go portable hard drive. You can also plug the FreeAgent directly to your desktop or laptop, but having a docking station certainly makes the set-up look much nicer, especially if you plan to leave it that way for regularly scheduled back-up.

It comes with a simulated leather case for the hard drive unit (there is no case included with the FreeAgent), so for not a lot more money you can have both the case and the dock.

Note that the dock uses two USB ports on your PC, one for power and one for data. There is a special cable provided for that purpose. If you choose to plug the FreeAgent directly to the PC without a dock, you need only one USB port which supports both power and data (a single-USB cable is provided with the FreeAgent). Don't get this dock unless you have two ports available.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock 100521233

Product Description:
The FreeAgent Go Accessory Pack transforms your FreeAgent Go portable drive into the perfect desktop solution. It includes the world's first docking station for a portable hard drive, allowing you to access your files with unparalleled convenience by simply popping the drive into the desktop dock. You'll never fumble for cables again!

Get 9% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock 100521233 now ?

Thermaltake BlacX eSATA USB Docking Station Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a great device for a bunch of reasons:
1.Backup. Using Acronis True Image 11 home, I can clone the drive in an hour. Put it off site and a bulletproof backup.
2. Reinstalling the operating system. I just reinstalled Vista (use it full time now that SP1 is out). I put my old Vista drive in the Blacx and could pull any info I needed right off the drive.
3. Booting different operating systems. I have three hard drives with different operating systems on them, Vista, XP , and Linux. I used to have them all in my PC but was afraid of a catastrophic failure (due mostly to me- I am a menace to my poor computer!). Now I can keep the drives out of the PC but insert and boot from them at any time. Just change the order of the boot hard drive in the BIOS.
4. Extra storage. Nice to be able to dump a bunch of older stuff into a drive. Keeps my boot drive clean and the access is there when I need it.
Cons? Not many. My WD drives run a little hot in the BlacX when booting from it. The power cord to the box is pretty short. You need to have an ESATA port on your PC (or in my case, and adapter and change the port in the BIOS).
Speed? On the ESATA, I notice NO speed slowdowns when booting from a drive in the BlacX in comparison to an internal SATA hard drive. They got it right with ESATA.
Clever engineering, works fine, easy to use, 5 stars.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Thermaltake BlacX eSATA USB Docking Station

Product Description:
PRODUCT FEATURES:Patented designRoHS complianceHot-swap capability for rapid multi HDDs access and exchangeSupports eSATASupports USB 2.0Compact docking station design maximizes heat dissipation and exhaust

Get 62% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about Thermaltake BlacX eSATA USB Docking Station now ?

StarTech USB to SATA IDE Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5in or 3.5in HDD UNIDOCK2U Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I ordered this docking station to use my old 2.5 inch SATA hard drive. I also had a requirement to recover my old crashed IDE hard disk. I need to try my hands on that(IDE recovery) to see whether it works!!!

The product arrive on time and was intact. The product includes power cords for US, UK and Europe. I plugged this docking station into my laptop running vista. The product was installed automatically as Vista has built-in drivers for it. I haven't tried this on Linux / Mac. But it should work (as the manufacturer claims that it does).

As soon as I docked my 2.5" SATA hard drive it was recognized and the partitions of hard drive appeared in "My Computer". I haven't bench marked the data transfer speeds but it is decent enough.

The docking station is a bit bulky, so the 4 stars!!! Overall I would recommend this product for anybody who want to use their old hard drives(SATA and IDE both) as spare drives for backup and restore. This can also be used if you are replacing your hard drives on your PC or if you are migrating from IDE to SATA.

The product doesn't include the IDE connectors and LP4 power cords. So 4 stars for that as well!!!

Suggested products along with this product: Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0 (1 PC)

Click Here to see more reviews about: StarTech USB to SATA IDE Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5in or 3.5in HDD UNIDOCK2U

Product Description:
The UNIDOCK2U HDD Docking Station delivers full, instant access to any 2.5" and/or 3.5" IDE or SATA hard drive without having to mount the drive in a computer, or install it in an external enclosure. Connected to the host computer through a single USB 2.0 connection, both an IDE hard drive and a SATA hard drive (SATA, SATA II, SATA III) can be connected to the HDD dock simultaneously - a convenient solution for migrating data from an IDE drive to a SATA drive or vice versa, or simply harnessing fast and simple access to the contents on both hard drives. The hard drive docking station provides the ideal solution for any laptop or desktop application, with support for plug and play hard drive installation on most operating systems to ensure easy hard drive swapping and convenient access to valuable data.

Get 42% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about StarTech USB to SATA IDE Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5in or 3.5in HDD UNIDOCK2U now ?

eSATA USB to SATA External HDD Dock for Dual 2.5 or 3.5in Hard Drive Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Having owned one of the Thermaltake BlackX versions of these type of docking solutions before, I was eager to try one of these new dual unit stations.

These are a pretty solid product and I found them much cheaper (by about 25% or so) on Amazon than Newegg. The only negative I have in comparing this to my last docking station is that the Thermaltake was a snug fit. The 3.5" drive felt very secure and stable in it. There was no room for wiggling.

This docking station is not as snug. In fact, once you've docked your drives in it, they can still wiggle if you nudge them. These do not detract significantly from the quality, but I would be more careful with placing them in an undisturbed area than before. If I had paid the full price Newegg and others were charging, it might be enough to make me return it and look for something with a tighter fit.

I would absolutely not hesitate to recommend this to someone looking to attach extra storage, backup drives, or even someone like myself who has a shelf full of 3.5" drives that they only occasionally need to retrieve something from. It beats the solution I had years ago with two or three dozen large isolated external cases with power adapters, fans, ribbons, USB cables...

Now... when does the triple and quadruple dock arrive?

Click Here to see more reviews about: eSATA USB to SATA External HDD Dock for Dual 2.5 or 3.5in Hard Drive

Product Description:
eSATA/USB to SATA External HDD Dock Adapter for 2.5/3.5" Hard Drive - "The SATADOCK22UE Dual 2.5/3.5"" Drive eSATA/USB 2.0 SATA HD Docking Station provides a convenient and efficient way to quickly access 2.5/3.5"" SATA/SATA II hard drive contents without having to open a computer case or mount in an enclosure. With double the hard drive capability of other docking stations, the SATADOCK22UE can be connected to the host computer through either USB 2.0 or eSATA - then, its just a matter of inserting the desired 2.5"" or 3.5"" SATA/SATA II drives (or combination of both) into an available slot on the docking station.A perfect solution for data recovery, drive imaging, software testing, or any environment that requires fast access to uninst

Get 24% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about eSATA USB to SATA External HDD Dock for Dual 2.5 or 3.5in Hard Drive now ?

Cavalry CAHDD Series USB Dual-Bay Dock 4 TB (2x2TB 3.5-Inch SATA Hard Drives) CAHDD3004T02 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Have had the captioned roughly 4 weeks now. Packaging and delivery OK.
installation a breeze,the related documentation was sufficient even for the newbie and detailed the difference between different RAID typws clearly.

No incidents so far and works perfectly with one caveat: It runs HOT!!
I put a fan on it to cool the two drives because the level of heat generation makes me uneasy and limits it's usability to within the house.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cavalry CAHDD Series USB Dual-Bay Dock 4 TB (2x2TB 3.5 Inch SATA Hard Drives) CAHDD3004T02

Product Description:
The Cavalry Dock is perhaps the easiest and most cost-effective way to consolidate the storage of any two hard drives (WD10EACS, or equivalent, included). This two-bay, hot-swappable USB 2.0 dock is perfect for lumping together your odd-capacity drives into one Spanning device; just insert any two 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA drives. Your new volume will be read as one drive with combined capacity when set to Spanning (BIG). And the BIG/JBOD settings are easy to change as well; just use the switch on the back of the dock. Your extra hard drives can finally be put to good use with this versatile dock. And with no clumsy cover to unscrew or disassemble, your hot-swappable drives are always accessible and well-ventilated, without a noisy fan. With the USB 2.0 interface and stable, compact base, the Cavalry Dock is perfect for your home or office desktop computer.

Get 13% OFF

Want to buy Cavalry CAHDD Series USB Dual-Bay Dock 4 TB (2x2TB 3.5 Inch SATA Hard Drives) CAHDD3004T02 at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Vantec NexStar NST-D100SU 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0 and eSATA Hard Drive Dock (White) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been buying Vantec external hard drive enclosures for several years nows, and they have allowed me to add terabytes of storage to my computers for video and audio files.When I saw this thing, I said to myself, Cool!

Vantec has designed the NST-D100SU in white plastic to make a toaster analogy, you know, the thing you put bread in and it pops up when it's done.Perhaps a better comparison is to an old 8-track tape player.Hard drives are about the size of old 8-track cartridges, and there were players that looked like this (but usually with a 1970's-looking wood grain).

In any event, you can now store a terabyte of information on an external hard drive and swap them out like 8-tracks.For people doing back-ups, testing or cloning hard drives, or who have massive data collections, this is great.

You stick a SATA hard drive down into the device until you feel it make contact and push down.You can't really do it wrong unless you try to.

Then you connect the device to a USB port on your PC or laptop, push on the big power button, and in a few seconds, your PC will see the hard drive.The only thing you have to do is the first time you use a new hard drive, you have to format it.I stay with one brand of hard drives, Western Digital, and I have its Data Lifeguard Tools already installed on my PCs.I start up the software, and it usually recognizes the new hard drive instantly, asks me if I want to format it, and the software sets it up in about 30 seconds.Once the hard drive is formatted, your PC will recognize it and assign it a drive letter.You can then copy to the new hard drive as much as you want.When you finish, remember to use the USB Safely Remove Hardware icon to remove the device.Then power it off by pressing the big power button and lift out the hard drive, and you're ready to slap in another one.

This will save you the cost of having to buy external hard drive enclosures at $35 a pop, especially if you are simply archiving data.I would suggest that you put your bare hard drives in the static-free bags they originally came in, or in Ziploc bags to keep out the dust.And then you will want to store the hard drives someplace where they won't be falling off a shelf or getting zapped by static electricity.

Even though I think this device is great, I only give it four stars for two reasons.The first reason is that it doesn't really replace a hard drive enclosure.An enclosure will protect your hard drive a lot more than this rather open device.The second reason is that you need to be careful to turn the power off before you remove the hard drive.I know I've been tempted to just yank it out first, but if you do that, you could be risking hard drive damage.

Otherwise, this is a great device if you have a need to swap out hard drive like 8-track tapes.With one terabyte hard drives now going for less than $200, I know I'm rethinking my storage strategy to copying all my CDs and DVDs to a hard drive.You could store 1400 uncompressed CDs or 250 DVDs (or a mix of the two) on a terabyte hard drive, virtually eliminating entire bookshelves of disks.For another $100, you could buy an INOI media player 3.5" INOi MH720 USB2.0 Digital A/V Ext SATA Media HD Case, which would then elminate the need for CD and DVD players, and you could have your collection all in the palm of your hand.It blows your mind!!!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Vantec NexStar NST-D100SU 2.5 Inch/3.5 Inch SATA to USB 2.0 and eSATA Hard Drive Dock (White)

Product Description:
The Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock is a complete and easy way to add or swap hard drives to your computer.It gives you the flexibility of connecting any SATA I/II hard drive to your computer via USB 2.0 or eSATA connection without opening up your computer case or installing into an enclosure.Simply just insert any 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA I/II hard drive into the NexStar Hard Drive Dock and you are ready to transfer, copy, or backup files.Quick and easy, the Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock is the perfect solution to access your hard drive in seconds.

Get 34% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about Vantec NexStar NST-D100SU 2.5 Inch/3.5 Inch SATA to USB 2.0 and eSATA Hard Drive Dock (White) now ?