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"NewerTechnology USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter"
SUMMARY: How did we ever get along without it?
The good guys at NewerTechnology were nice enough to send a sample of their USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter to try out.
Key Features:
The adapter hub has two ports - one for the USB cable and one for an external power input, if needed:
In use I did not find it necessary - the USB port on the PC powered the adapter. The power supply is needed for 3.5" IDE and SATA drives - 2.5" drives are powered from the USB port.
I hooked up three different drives to test out the adapter - a 2.5" IDE, a 3.5" IDE and a 3.5" SATA drive. All the drives were recognized by Windows XP fairly quickly - about 15 seconds at most. If a drive is not recognized, pull the USB plug and re-insert - be a little patient but after a couple of minutes, if the drive is not recognized, re-inserting the USB plug should work.
No real surprises here - NewerTechnology's adapter performs in line with other external enclosures I've tested - external adapters are not data transfer power houses.
Universal Drive Adapters are about the most handy little gizmos I've seen - they address a real need for those of us blessed with a drawer full of older hard drives. If you routinely use multiple hard drives for various back-ups or need a second (or third) optical drive once in a while, this adapter will save a lot of time.
In short - IMHO a must-have.
Thanks again to NewerTechnology for sending this our way to try out. Street price about $25.
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