Review: Connecting External IDE/SATA Drives via USBNow's USB 2.0 Adaptor
Don Bradbury tries some simple connectivity options for bare external drives
| Product | USB 2.0 to IDE and SATA Cable, product VE328 |
|---|---|
| Company | USBNow |
| Web | www.usbnow.co.uk |
| Price | RRP £20.90 incl postage |
| We like | Quick and easy setup; versatile. |
| We don't like | Desk space needed for the assembly. Poor on-CD manual |
| Rating | 8/10 |
| Requirements | Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, and Mac OS |
Many PC users will have spare 2.5" and 3.5" hard disks, and perhaps DVD drives, that they would like to test for serviceability, check what's on them, copy some files to or from them, perhaps use as system drive backup devices, or ghost to them working drive images.
There are several options for such connectivity, in addition to actually mounting the drives within the machine of course. There are disk caddies and docking stations, or there's the option for bare cabling with built in interfaces. The latter is what we're looking at here. It may not be a pretty setup, but what this option lacks in sophistication it makes up for in terms of versatility and quick and easy connectivity.
In any event, it's not meant to be a permanent arrangement, nor should it be. Drives laid out on thermal insulators, such as most desktops, are susceptible to overheating after prolonged running. In their design environment, within a PC cage, the heat is conduced away via the metal casing, aided by the air movement induced by the fan. On the desktop it's mainly by convection.
USBnow's USB2.0 to IDE & SATA Cable product, ref VE328, includes all you need to connect directly an IDE or SATA drive to a USB 2.0 port. When you've done that, you're away. Check the disk with a virus scan (recommended for second-hand drives - we found two on a rescued 2.5" disk), simply check it's integrity using the OS's facilities, repartition it perhaps, format it if you need to, and so on, all with minimal hassle, because it's directly recognised by the computer as an external USB drive, just like any other you may add.
Setup and Drivers
The included drivers will be of interest only to Windows 98se users, but the mini-CD setup disk that's included in the pack has information on detecting, Fdisking, and Formatting a new drive. There's not much help concerning attachment of the cabling to drives, but then none should be necessary as it's pretty obvious what you have to do. It's hardly possible to make a wrong connection because of the pin arrangements. That's just as well as the oriental touch seen in the on-disk manual lacks most of the niceties of the English language.
A 2.5 inch IDE drive should need no external power to drive the disk; the 44 pin connector carries everything, and the 500mA provided by a USB port should be adequate. A 3.5 inch IDE disk, on the other hand, needs external power, so besides the 40 pin adapter for this there's a power supply for it in the pack. CD drives use a 40 pin connector, and a dedicated connector for SATA drives in also included in the pack.
The triple connector adapter for IDE and SATA drives carries a red USB power LED and a green IDE Busy LED. The latter should flicker when the drive is active, and that's all the adapter needs to convey what's happening.
Support is offered for Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, 2003 and Mac OS. There's no mention of Vista, but it ran fine on our Vista laptop.
In conclusion
For those with an interest in making quick connections to bare IDE and SATA drives, this pack from www.usbnow.co.uk brings everything to bear to enable forays into external bare drive manipulation with the minimum of fuss. As we said, it's not pretty, but it's quick and it works. A worthy addition to a PC techie's workshop.
