I love this idea ^^ Though it's probably cheaper to get a cheap enclosure and simply not screw it shut...

Bobly

Wow. $42 for that? It might be handy if you're working in tech support and you frequently need to re-image disks. But for that much money, the average user would probably be better off getting a removable hard drive rack, or external enclosure. Or one of these things.

greenbot

*they're

knowles

If the drive doesn't work right away, do you have to blow on it like you did w/the old NES games? Do they come with the plastic sleeves also?

Git Em SteveDave

@phoenix:

[www.directron.com]

~$15 on sale if you do some searching (we use these a lot, just wish they had a firewire version as well)

discounteggroll

just a shame they cost so much

Gonzie

I would buy this if it was a SATA connection, and not USB. It makes a difference when you spend a lot of time imaging drives for a business.

sammyc53

@okcomputer360:

Not true. SATA is hotswap. For sure. Look it up.

sammyc53

shipping on that thing is a b*tch.

contro

@ MISTERLEE

id love to take those ide drives off you hand --- makes a great cheap nas with just about any old 500mhz and freenas program and a few pci to ide cards

DM

DIGITALMADDOG01

@knowles: Good eye! Surprised Adam hasn't seen it, yet.

misterlee

Sharkoon DriveLink. Connect any 2.5"/3.5" IDE or SATA internal drive using a USB 2.0 connection. Bought one a few months ago, works like a charm! Cost about $40 in the UK, and is not bulky at all, just a set of plugs arranged around a single connector, with a power supply. Works in Windows and OS X, but in Win you also get some software for a "one-button backup"... Pretty good deal if u ask me..

[www.sharkoon.com]

Constantinos

Sharkoon DriveLink. Connect 3.5/2.5" IDE or SATA drives via USB 2.0. No block, no enclosure, just the connector with the usb cable and a power supply. Works like a charm, priced around the same $40 in the UK.

[www.sharkoon.com]

Constantinos

SATA only? Sigh...

IDE has been banished from my case, and the "loose" external doesn't appeal to me.

ry_ry

soo.... does anyone know of a cheap simple gadget to get IDE drives hooked up to USB?

fuzzymuffins

Somebody once told me that changing the orientation of a hard drive (EG from horizontal to on its long side) after a long time of working in one orientation will very likely screw up the bearings. Don't know if it's true, sounds reasonable though. And I'm pretty sure connector-side down is not an often used orientation :-D

Wouter

@Git Em SteveDave: No, you tap the left side of the unit with your pointer finger three times.

archeomason

Argh - SATA only. At my old job, we had a sled like this for every other tech that supported IDE drives and had an adapter for SATA drives. I wish I could find one of THOSE again. :)

phoenix

@misterlee:

I was thinking the same thing... Once I read this is only for SATA HDDs.

BigDASH

Have we already advanced so far in computers that SATA drives are "old"? Sheesh, I still have stacks and stacks of IDEs that I would LOVE to put into a hotswap dock similar to this.

misterlee

deja vu? or am I going crazy

discounteggroll

@greenbot: Sata is not hot swap-able and requires a reboot, thought everyone should know this before they get a system freeze via a sata hot-swap,

okcomputer360

Why not just use an internal hard drive enclosure? The price seems about the same, they're in stock all over the place (hint: newegg), and I bet they'll protect and cool your disks better than the docks you've highlighted. On top of that, firewire is often available on enclosures. This seems like a really cool idea, but it looks like the docks take up too much space for my taste.

ploof

Does anyone really have many SATA drives lying around unused? All my old drives are PATA (aka old IDE, wide-plug ribbon cable). SATA is fairly new by my measure. In fact the computer I just bought last week doesn't even have SATA AFAIK.

If something like this took PATA drives, it'd be very useful.

krom

@DIGITALMADDOG01: Sounds tempting, but I already have plans in place for my old drives for a JBOD setup with FreeNAS as well. Thanks, though =D

misterlee

I gotta say, I really like darkpaladin's idea. Why pay $40+s/h on a rare vertical dock when if you really need the hot-swappable feature.. just get a regular external enclosure and gut it.

As a bonus, get an eSATA one instead of USB for a speed boost.

ahawks

Uh, all internal enclosures (even the 10 buck ones) will do this for you. . .You just take the innards out of the case.

darkpaladin79

[www.newegg.com]

New egg has literally dozens of devices (called external enclosures) which serve essentially the same function. They are cheaper in price and offer better functionality. The fact that the device mentioned in this article doesn't cover most of the drive is probably dangerous.

mherlihy

Positive +1 for the Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU available at NewEgg.

Consider also the Wiebetech USB DriveDock [www.wiebetech.com] which supports both SATA and IDE/PATA internal hard drives (both 3 1/2 and 2 1/2" drives) to a PC via USB 2.0, but with a much more utilitarian design.

Mthree

I have got a external enclosure for $25 about 3-4 years ago. It even has a small fan attached. It has been used to save my friends neck a few times (recover data from their dead computer).

wwni60

@jeffeb3: I'm not sure why the hostility. We're not Gizmodo, and we're not making any money off this product. It's a cool gadget, and certainly fitting in the category of "stuff we like". Hopefully the offensiveness of the post can wear off, but if not we'll see about getting you your money back.

Adam Pash

Hey, if you go take the link listed and peruse the site, you'll find that they sell the Sony Rolly.

badfad

Way to drop the ball lifehacker. This is the worst product placement I've seen. Any ten minute search would find cheaper, more versatile products all over the web. I've been using the vantec one for years. Nothing new here.

jeffeb3

I work in a computer shop and what we do is we have this really neat USB to SATA, IDE, and Laptop drive connector that will plug into the USB ports, its not the fastest thing and it only works on USB 2.0.... we use a second power supply, one of the old school ones with an actual switch on it to give power to the drive, its mobile too, just pick up the power supply and USB connector and you have a connector that can connector to any type of drive on almost every computer and theres always space computers laying around that we can use too.

daybringer

The same thing by Thermaltake is at NewEgg for $32.
[www.newegg.com]

pinion

> Dock any internal hard drive in this USB dock to turn any internal drive
> into an external drive on-the-quick.

Well it's not *any* internal drive, is it? It's only SATA.

binkyhuckaback

I have to cast my vote with those who think this is an awesome idea! (albeit pretty geeky)

ACF

Seriously, stupid idea. (but it doest look pretty)

For the obvious tech support option, you can get a usb to IDE(both sizes) + SATA cable for less than $30AUD.

I got mine on ebay, sure it's got not enclosure or anything, but usually you just need to hook the drive up for testing, or copying off data. Since it's a cable, it's a nice handy sized cable that actually fits in your tool kit.

stepnet

unfortunately newegg doesnt seem to have the model with an esata connector

Swimming_Bird

@misterlee: exactly what I was thinking. bravo!
@stepnet: Here too. I'm a week away from just getting a new one from ncix.com.

lunchbox

@fuzzymuffins:
How about a USB-IDE connector? I got one with a small power brick that only has one molex power connector.
Check Ebay for "USB IDE" and you will find loads of them.
I use mine for connecting those old HDDs that have stuff on them but don't want in my machine all the time. Saves on putting them all in external enclosures when you can keep them in their ESD safe bags and just slap the two connectors on then business end of them.

PReDiToR

I have had an IDE to USB for a long time, but I just purchased this IDE/SATA to USB last month for $20. at: [www.emtcompany.com]

I saw the SATA dock thingie at "The New CompUSA" today. I'm not sure just how useful it really is. Looks like it would get a lot of dust in the contacts when there wasn't a drive in it.

Bob Brown

I suspect that like everyone else I have about ten IDE hard-drives (door-stops?) and no spare SATA's. A deal breaker.

zarathustra

This is my current favorite SATA/IDE -> USB2 connector. I've got abunchof these. They're small enough to always have one in my bag for sysadmin work.

I used to have lots of external enclosures but they're too much of a hassle to deal with if you work with lots of drives. I try to use enclosures for [semi-]permanent solutions, otherwise I love these little connectors.

remi

What a neat product -- I have some external enclosures, too, but I've never seen anything quite like that.

AlexJAnder

@sammyc53

Sata is not hot swappable. E-Sata is, but with limitations. Sata is truly not "hot pluggable".

chacon

Definitely a nice thing to have for the average joe, but the readership here will likely prefer the multi-interface IDE/SATA to USB2 plugs. The vantec one is on newegg for $16. $16 !

[www.newegg.com]

shk

Oh yeah... and Fry's has these in stock for $39.00 or so.

sbot

SATA IS hot swappable depending on the controller (Nvidia sata controllers support hot swap), and this thing supports hot swap for all practical purposes.

I've got one and can swap drives without rebooting, or even doing the "safely remove hardware thing" (Though you should make sure nothing is open if you're just going to eject the drive.)

I've got the sata/ide to usb cable as well but if you have a lot of extra sata drives lying around and plan to swap frequently, this dock is much more convenient than the cable.

sbot

I like the vertical idea, I'd probably even pay $40 for an IDE version.

I might have to gut an existing external enclosure so I can use my old IDE drives more often. I have about 1TB of IDE drives, and no "old" SATA drives lying around.

aduck

ARGH! SATA is too hot swappable. Actually, even IDE is hot swappable. I'm a tech, so I'm not basing this on theory, I've done it on a hundred rigs. Connect the data cable first, then power, then open device manager and scan for new devices. This will work on probably 90% of systems (yes, some will reboot). Almost all sata (esp. if you use the sata power connector) works fine.

lmathews

I've actually just written a post in my hebrew blog about mobilizing with a usb flash disk.

The USB deck is a nice gadget if you're changing drives often or fix them, but if you're traveling in the world i guess it's too big to carry around.

idof6

Hmmm, anyone out there know if this works well in Linux? as in does it register it as a removable usb drive. If anyone has had the chance to explore that, it would be awesome to know the outcome. I just don't want to put down the money and not have it work at all:P.

mrbones

External USB enclosures are dirt cheap - sometimes as low as 10 bucks. Even the really good ones (I like Galaxy metal Gear Box II) are less than 20.

What really concerns me is 1) are all SATA drives exactly the same in location of their connectors? DO all manufacturers use the same tolerances? Nothing like a bent/broken connector to trash a $200 hard drive.

and 2) Hard drives are very sturdy, but the electronics are very delicate. When a disk is spinning at 7,200 rpms - or 10K for the newest, they can build monster static charges and lots of exposed electronics. A case - computer or external - keeps your dirty mitts off the drive, and prevents you from splashing your Jolt Ultra on it.

imajoebob

Yeah, like everyone said you can get a hard drive enclosure for dirt cheap online or on ebay. This item is basically useless because of all the exposed parts.

wiretapstudios

You can find the BLACX at PCClub.com for $25.99 (After Rebate)I just got it and it works great, plug and play! no need to download anything...

Thermaltake 2.5" / 3.5" SATA to USB 2.0 Hard Drive Enclosure Retail N0028USU

PC Club Item No: A0011830
Manufacturer: Thermaltake

Price (Before Rebate): $35.99*

$10.00 Mail in Rebate (Click Here)
Valid 3/1/2008 - 3/31/2008

mlvds

I bought two of these docks in Japan and use them for making backups. I use Samsung 500 GB disks and get a an average transfer rate of 27.5 MB/sec. Afterwards I just pull out the disk and replace it with another, no wires to disconnect.

My experience is that a lot of hard drives get overheated in normal drive enclosures, a problem which is solved with this dock.

Im my opinion this is 'external hard drive 2.0' and I can recommend it to anyone.

_Art_

I bought one of these also just because I really like the idea of trayless hot swappable drives. Gutting a standard external enclosure just doesn't seem as slick, unless you're going for the crazy wires and circuit boards all over the place look.

For those that were hoping for eSATA, Firewire 400, and 800 connections, I found this link below:
[www.engadget.com]

Too bad it's $165!

mcdlt