HD Dock Station-Handling Bare drives? HelloI've been in seach of an external drive to handle all three of our PC's (new HP, Dell laptop & Dell P3) and finally seem to find the solution to using a external "Docking Station" like the Vantec or Thermalake models. The one big question is, "how to handle and store the bare drives?". I'd like to get a seperate drive for each pc but what about storing them? You don't want anything that conducts static, something that can seal dust, nothing real bulky, etc...I haven't seen any offical drive storage gear or tips?Kenny J HD Dock Station-Handling Bare drives? HelloI've been in seach of an external drive to handle all three of our PC's (new HP, Dell laptop & Dell P3) and finally seem to find... » Read More HD Dock Station-Handling Bare drives? HelloI've been in seach of an external drive to handle all three of our PC's (new HP, Dell laptop & Dell P3) and finally seem to find the solution to using a external "Docking Station" like the Vantec or Thermalake models. The one big question is, "how to handle and store the bare drives?". I'd like to get a seperate drive for each pc but what about storing them? You don't want anything that conducts static, something that can seal dust, nothing real bulky, etc...I haven't seen any offical drive storage gear or tips?Kenny J « Show Less
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Yeah I just stick them back in the ESD bags they came in when I'm not using them.
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Not sure to be honest. It is a pretty much generic dock station with a 25pin connector. I have an HP Pavillion i7 and it has been working great for more than a year. Nice to have extra USB plugs. I use a very large monitor, which is the main reason I bought this. I'm running Windows 8.1 and no issues there either. For the price I think it is a great deal; makes portability much easier.
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You'll need a hard disk drive dock that can handle both IDE & eSATA HDs. This Orico won't do it. I own one of these, too. You'll need the EZO Ware 2 slot HDD dock, model 875 U3, or any model CAVALRY dual bay hard drive dock. Both of these models have two slots or "bays" for two different types of HDs....the old IDEs & the back slot for the newer eSATA HDs. This second slot will handle both 3.5" HDDs & 2.5" HDDs & SSDs (solid state drives). Very versatile. Now, if you can not find these 2 recommended models (that I also own & purchased here), you can just search hard drive dock stations that handle both eSATA & IDE HDDs. Be careful, because some newer models have 2 bays for eSATA & no slot for IDE. This because, as you have discovered, the IDEs are now obsolete. Just read the description carefully when ordering. In appearance, they will hold the drives vertically & not horizontally like the ORICO illustrated here. In other words they are drop-in's & not slide-in's. Hope that this helps you. I build a new computer every year & understand the problem of moving older stored data on "dated" hardware to newer hardware. Compatibility can be a problem. There is one other choice that AMAZON has carried: an adapter cable that has a USB male plug on one end & a 2-sided plastic adapter plug on the other end. One side of this plug on the end of the cable plugs into an IDE drive. The other side of the plug will plug into an eSATA drive, either 2.5" or 3.5." It would be slightly less expensive but is USB 2.0 standard & slower transfers. The docks listed above are USB 3.0 (& believe me, this is important & will save you hours of time during transfers) & will transfer your data to the newer eSATA HDs MUCH faster. The difference in cost is well worth buying the desktop models. Hope that all of this helps. Tried to give you several different choices & explain why. Good Luck.
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There isn't anything that would support the dock when you remove the laptop. I got this to use as a substitute for the docking station at another work site. The USB hub works great. Not as easy as the dock but you just have to tether your power cord to the USB hub, then plug them in. I have a cheap stand for the docking station to raise it up to the correct level. Hope that helps!
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My only experience is with the Icy Dock and a Samsung 840 Pro SSD. In that case my first attempt produced the same results you saw. Checking things over, I realized that I hadn't made a full connection although the SSD appeared to be in the dock. With a bit more care, I was able to make a connection and the computer found the drive.
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There is a micro board with a plug which connects to your HDD. There is also a SATA connector that also connects to your HDD. The power comes from a power pack (ie. like your laptop power pack) and included is a USB 2.0 and eSATA cable. Unless you use the eSATA connection, the USB 2.0 is way too slow.I personally rather use a hotswappable docking station (ie the "Plugable" brand)Plugable USB 3.0 SATA III Lay-Flat Hard Drive & SSD Docking Station (Supports UASP and Drives 8TB+)
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It appears that all of the docking stations/port replicators do not power the envy laptop. Is there no product that allows you to charge the laptop while using the dock? Since the HP Envy line seems to have done away with the Expansion Port 3, is there an adapter or converter that can convert EP3 to a port on the new HP envy computer?
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Well, I did buy this and am not having any issue so far. I use it as a backup disk and carry files. It works fine for me even if I connect it to a USB Hub. I have used it with different Dell Laptops with NO issues.
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None. You can buy an external USB drive or share a drive from another computer. We use our portable for that purpose.
2010391
That's one of the reasons I bought the docking station. I lost my Imac in a house fire but they recovered my hard drive. It works great for me as well as the portable 1 gig hard drive I had. I recommend it!
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Bigman120, A quick way to see if the drives in the external dock and the dock itself are working is to click Windows "Start", then click "Computer". The next screen lists all the drives that are successfully communicating with the computer. If you don't see a drive listed, then that drive isn't available for input or output. Doesn't necessarily mean the drive or the StarTech dock has failed. First, pull the drive out of the dock, then re-insert it. If there's no change, try wiggling the cables at their connecting points. (A minor problem I've had with a drive in the external dock is when the cable connectors weren't securely seated.) Next, try switching the dock's power off, then back on. If the drive still doesn't respond, reboot your computer (the computer will load fresh copies of all drivers). Once you've tried all these "fixes", and the drive in the dock still can't be read or written to, go to Amazon's website and initiate the return/replacement procedure by filling in the appropriate form. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly and professionally Amazon's customer service responds! I had to return the first dock I purchased for replacement. It just quit working. The replacement has been working perfectly for almost a year. BTW, handling returns and quick product replacement is one of Amazon's strong suits.
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I recommend your SSD drive of choice be the internal drive (inside the laptop). The NexStar USB dock will support your 1TB drive as your secondary drive. You might even expand on this design in the future and pop in two 3TB drives in this dock. The read/write times are more than sufficient to accomplish a smooth flow of data, whether it be in the document creation arena to that of gaming. Remember to change the drive letter path to the external drive letter when installing software after the OS is loaded. Otherwise, your SSD drive will fill up rather quickly. Also, note that one does not run defrag sessions on a SSD, because the process will damage the drive. Just my tip of the day.
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Good idea checking it locally. Looks like the smaller drives get the added perks (larger selection of colors and, now, cooler pattern of lights). I liked the price too (and the free docking station) so I guess I will keep mine. Thanks all.
475739
It works the same as if the drive was in the laptop, has to be one of the older Dell laptops. Plus, it requires a docking station that has the double plug connection on its side. Check Dell's website for Specs/compatability.
250877
This device is not a stand-alone solution for storage like a NAS device would be. It also does not have the ability to be connected via eSATA without some kind of intermediary eSATA to SATA converting cable or device. For me I connected an un-used ATX power supply that had SATA power connections to the HDDRACK5, then hooked the drives directly to controller cards in a PC.
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This can be connected and mounted externally with the right equipment. You would either need a USB drive bay enclosure to install this internal drive in, or you can use a device for mounting it externally like a drive dock SATA/PATA/IDE). IE: Sabrent Ultra Slim USB 2.0 to 2.5-Inch SATA External Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure [Black] (EC-UK25) <- Drive enclosureorDrive Dock: SATA/PATA/IDE Drive to USB 2.0 Adapter Converter Cable for 2.5 / 3.5 Inch Hard Drive / 5 inch Optical Drive with External AC Power AdapterHope this helps, G/L This can be connected and mounted externally with the right equipment. You would either need a USB drive bay enclosure to install this internal drive in, or you can use a device for mounting it externally like a drive dock SATA/PATA/IDE). IE: Sabrent Ultra Slim USB 2.0 to 2.5-Inch SATA External Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure [Black] (EC-UK25) <- Drive enclosureorDrive Dock: SATA/PATA/IDE Drive to USB 2.0 Adapter Converter Cable for 2.5 / 3.5 Inch Hard Drive / 5 inch... » Read More This can be connected and mounted externally with the right equipment. You would either need a USB drive bay enclosure to install this internal drive in, or you can use a device for mounting it externally like a drive dock SATA/PATA/IDE). IE: Sabrent Ultra Slim USB 2.0 to 2.5-Inch SATA External Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure [Black] (EC-UK25) <- Drive enclosureorDrive Dock: SATA/PATA/IDE Drive to USB 2.0 Adapter Converter Cable for 2.5 / 3.5 Inch Hard Drive / 5 inch Optical Drive with External AC Power AdapterHope this helps, G/L « Show Less
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You will need additional software in order to do that. With this unit out of the box when connected to your computer via USB 3.0 you can access hard drives in the dock just as you would external hard disk drives.