Plug-and-Play SATA HDD Rack
I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time. This is something that will change lives forever. It’s a USB 2.0 rack for 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA harddisk drives. Akihabara News uploaded a video of it in action.
It takes advantage of SATA’s hot-swapping support and offers a very convenient and well-designed dock for your HDD. It lets you slot a HDD in and access the files on it without having to undo any screws or unplug anything. Essentially, it’s like a drive…for harddisk drives! External USB disk enclosures are not uncommon, but this really makes it so much more convenient.
I shall get one of this and never buy another DVD+R again. I can just buy more HDD and use them like floppy disks! LOL. US$47 from GeekStuff4U.
[ Via Akihabara News ]
October 19th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Sweet ! I think I’m going to get one. 2 things though…it looks somewhat “naked” and a wee bit unsightly…and I was wondering if dust will be a problem without coverings of any kind. Right now I’m using an external case to house my 3.5.
October 19th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Damn. 50 bucks for a USB drive for a HDD. Quite steep.
October 19th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
the HDD looks pretty unprotected…
October 19th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Now only if I could find a way to shrink-wrap an anti-static bag around the hard drive leaving only the SATA & power connectors exposed
October 19th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I rather buy multiple casings with 50 green bucks though. But the design’s really nice.
October 19th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Omg. It is like SGD $80+ for that. Not a bad idea though, kinda nice to have one.
Knowngni maybe you could try the kitchen plastic wrap. I once used it as a substitute for black tape when my UPS’s power cable got exposed. It worked pretty well and didn’t burn up.
Maybe someone should invent a casing for that device. But it looks like an oversized Sega Saturn on my desk though.
October 19th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
definitely gonna buy one. makes you feel like you’re slotting a game cartridge into an old console. brings back memories, no?
October 19th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
I like it :)
Congratulations of stopping using DVD I done two years ago really usefull :) now I have a collection of almost 1TB disk space 60% filled :D
when the time for new HDD come I will think about that offer again :D
October 19th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Definately a meh. It may look “good”, but its only USB 2.0. You are watching your anime not yer drive. Wake me up when it is eSATA.
October 19th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Well it should be GeekStuff4U jacking up prices as usual. I wonder how much it retails for in Japan.
Anyway I find USB 2.0 to be pretty decent, since it’s not going to be a system drive anyway. At least it’s faster than backing up 50 GB on DVDs.
October 20th, 2007 at 12:37 am
This could be convenient. But then, even my lappie hardisk is not even pass the half way mark
October 20th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Ok that looks schweet. Now if only I had enough money to get one of those, or any piece of hardware for that matter… orz
October 20th, 2007 at 9:25 am
It’s looking pretty cool.. Reminded me of a memory card slot for PS console. But how will you keep the HDD when it’s not in use? Letting it stay like that is out of question.
October 20th, 2007 at 10:39 am
fucking. brilliant.
YES. WIN.
October 20th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Wow, thats a good idea. I’d expect someone to make that already though.
Anyway cool, I might buy one later on.
October 20th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I have a dry cabinet for my camera which has plenty of space for HDD too.
October 20th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
hmm… putting some drying agents in might be an idea..?
October 20th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
the design is kinda like Ipod’s dock…hehe.
anyway, there have been something like this before. But it require you to place the dock in your Casing of your cpu like CD rom. then you place your harddisk on a board then push the board in to the casing then it will connect it.
but it is not USB ^.^
October 20th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Wow, this looks like a very useful device indeed!
October 20th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Darkmirage,question,is it really wise to leave an HDD out like that? From what I see in that image the back is showing a lot. o_o
October 20th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Huh, that is fine. It’s not like a normal computer case is airtight anyway.
It may be bad for your drive if your room temperature is high though. Casings are designed with better airflow than open air. Also, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to operate drives in the vertical position (though I imagine it should be fine).
October 20th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Ah,thanks then. :P
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:19 am
A pretty cool looking gadget; it really does remind me of an old cartridge based console. Really, though, for just hooking up external HDs I always preferred just to use SATA to USB cables like this…
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186020
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Actually this is nothing so new, I stopped burning DVDs a long time ago and have been collecting HDDs ever since. I use normal external cases and just leave them open, makes switching around fast and easy.
And yeah, it would be a lot better if it was eSata. USB->SATA is not just slow, it uses more cpu and can corrupt data too. If you have an eSATA port or can add one, use that.
My 2cents
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Saw that on Digg a few days back and I really wanted it too myself, lol. Gotta love the concept of the device, but man, it’s friggin expensive.
October 26th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
I’ve been using one of these for a few years now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121173
It doesn’t work through USB unless you stick it into one of those 5.25″ enclosures for CD drives, then you have yourself a swappable USB hard drive.
Extra trays cost about $10 each, though, but that’s really a small price to pay for a hard metal shell around your valuable data. I have a stack of three completely filled 300GB SATA drives that are sitting in foam cases.
All you have to do to swap a drive is turn a key, lift a handle, and pull gently.
Reverse the process to put a new one in.