Hard drive adapter with eSATA

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Colonel_Panic

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
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I want to ditch my external drive enclosure and move to a straight adapter for 3.5"/2.5" IDE/SATA drives to cover all my bases. I found a few on eBay that use USB 2.0 but I'd like to have eSATA too so that I can use them in the future when I add the capability to my computer.

Can anyone recommend an adapter that does all of this?
 
Why ditch the external enclosure? What are you using?
 
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If you just want to be able to plug bare SATA drives into an eSATA port, you can get a cable for a few bucks that will do that. http://www.meritline.com/sata-to-esata-transition-cables-193---p-34966.aspx (The all-in-one adapter you linked will only do eSATA to SATA, not IDE.)

I got http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816014 (similar but without the eSATA) for $7 in a combo deal with a hard drive. It's worked great for everything I've tried. I also use the power brick for SATA drives hooked up to the eSATA port with a cable like the one above.
 
InvisiBill said:
The all-in-one adapter you linked will only do eSATA to SATA, not IDE.)
Click to expand...
I don't think you read it properly. The adapter I linked to does everything --->
- IDE to USB 2.0/1.1
- SATA to eSATA I/II
- you can connect 2.5", 3.5" and 5.25" devices
- can also connect two hard drives to the adapter at the same time and transfer data between them and/or between the computer
 
By the way, I was tempted to get this adapter myself because I have 2 IDE drives in my current set up. Today I purchased 2 SATA drives (1.5 TB each) and a Rosewill RX-358-S enclosure. I will connect one drive internally and use the enclosure for the other.

There is also a similar enclosure SABRENT EC-UEIS7 which can connect both IDE & SATA drives (3.5"and not 2.5") . I thought about getting this one but ended up buying the Rosewill even though it cannot connect any IDE drives. The reason being that when I get a new PC in the future, I will use my current setup with the two old IDE drives as NAS. If I want to connect the old drives to my new computer in the future, for this the new motherboard will surely have one IDE controller. And I can also buy IDE to USB cable if needed for $10 on ebay.

To conclude, I ended up buying the enclosure instead of the adapter because it offers more protection and has a 80mm fan. This is useful if one wants to keep the external drive running for longer periods.
Having said this the adapter I mentioned in my first post is also a good all in one solution but it is more useful for connecting drives temporarily to transfer data quickly. For a more permanent connection, a enclosure is preferable.
If I was in your position, I would get the Rosewill RX-358-S eSATA enclosure and also a $10 USB to IDE/SATA adapter (for connecting 2.5"/3.5"/5.25" IDE & SATA devices externally). http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-to-IDE-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f1eb3395

This way all your bases are covered and you get the best of both worlds (enclosure + adapter) for a total of $45. Having two separate devices gives you the option to connect multiple drives to your computer at the same time. If one device stops working for some reason, then this will also offer you more protection and redundancy. Hope this helps you in making a better decision :)
 
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tdigi said:
I don't think you read it properly. The adapter I linked to does everything --->
- IDE to USB 2.0/1.1
- SATA to eSATA I/II
- you can connect 2.5", 3.5" and 5.25" devices
- can also connect two hard drives to the adapter at the same time and transfer data between them and/or between the computer
Click to expand...

I meant that the eSATA was only applicable to SATA drives. Other than eSATA (and possibly having multiple drives on it at once, which I haven't tried), you can get the same thing for half the price or less. And $5 will get you two SATA-eSATA cables that would allow you to plug a bare drive into an eSATA port, which is basically all the adapter is doing for eSATA. You're paying quite a premium to have the SATA-eSATA integrated into the USB adapter.

If you already have an eSATA port on your PC, you can even use the eSATA bracket that comes with the RX-358-S for ghetto hookup of a bare drive to eSATA. Instead of plugging it into your mobo, plug it into the bare drive (which has the same SATA plug as your mobo), then use the eSATA cable to hook it to your existing eSATA port. I did that a few times until I found the nice SATA-eSATA cable.
 
pjkenned said:
Why ditch the external enclosure? What are you using?
Click to expand...

I realized that my storage drives are now being installed in my server, so the only time I use the enclosure is to install a drive in it briefly to transfer to or from. I also have a few IDE drives lying around, along with laptop drives, so I figured it was time for one solution to rule them all.
 
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