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USB3.0 Dual 2.5 & 3.5" SATA HDD Dock/Cloner Inc Card Reader + 2 X USB3.0 Ports - $56 Delivered

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USB3.0 Dual 2.5 & 3.5" SATA HDD Dock/Cloner Inc Card Reader + 2 X USB3.0 Ports - $56 Delivered
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SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 11:17 ebay.com.au (556 clicks)
Last edited 14/05/2014 - 13:47

This probably wont interest a lot of people however it's something specific I've been searching for and I'm surprised I've only just managed to find one and at what seems to be a very good price when compared to most others. Maybe I haven't been searching properly, I dunno but I doubt it.

All I wanted was a dual SATA HDD Dock/Cloner with a built-in Card Reader and a couple of USB ports but I wanted it all to work at USB3.0 speed. This allows me to keep my PC under the desk out of reach yet still have access to everything I need on the desktop. There are hundreds of similar devices available all over the place but none of them were able to tick all these boxes plus most of them were a lot more expensive than this… even well over $150 and still only a generic brand anyway.

EDIT: Looks like they've noticed a few of these sell and they've bumped the price up $7. Still good value IMO.

May not seem a big bargain for those who aren't after these specific features but to those who are then this could be exactly what you need.

Computing USB 3.0 HDD Clone Dock

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closed Comments

  • samnsational on 13/05/2014 - 11:20

    Thanks, had something similar but USB 2.0, might grab one of these! How is the build quality?

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 11:22

      Sorry Sam, I literally only just bought one this morning so I don't know for sure. I'm not expecting anything as good as the nice Aluminium cased ASTONE Dock I regularly use at work but I'm hoping it will be sufficient enough for domestic use.

      • furythree on 13/05/2014 - 20:24

        does it take 3tb drives? most of the ones ive found cannot

    • AnotherRat on 13/05/2014 - 11:41
      +3

      I have one of these (http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/product.php?id=402884&n=232…) very similar items and build quality is fine.

      If you aren't after something that looks stylish but more after functional, you'll be fine.

      • Kanasuke on 13/05/2014 - 11:59

        This seems to be the exact same thing but without the card reader but cheaper

        • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 12:04

          Yep, these red & black enclosures seem to be the most generic of the generics however you can get them in several different formats including/excluding single or double SATA docks, Card Readers, eSATA Ports, USB Ports and in varying combinations of USB2.0 & 3.0 capabilities. Just search for 'sata dock' on eBay Worldwide and list the results from cheapest to dearest then blow a couple of hours going through them all :) The 5th cheapest is a single dock version of this unit without a card reader for less than $22 but includes eSATA! The list goes on…

      • skinny on 13/05/2014 - 14:56

        The one from Shippingsquare seems to have both SATA and IDE capability - good for cleaning up those old bricks before dumping them!

  • CyberMurning on 13/05/2014 - 11:26

    hmm i wish it also has esata connector. my Syno 1511+ only has usb2 and esata.
    just in case one day i have to rebuild my array i will need faster rate to move 8TB+ data

    • diiilpickle on 13/05/2014 - 12:09
      +1

      This one can transfer over esata and usb 2.0 I'm pretty sure :)

      • CyberMurning on 13/05/2014 - 12:15

        nope i think that is only usb connection

        • diiilpickle on 13/05/2014 - 12:18
          +1

          Here is a picture of the back.
          In the feature list it says:

          Easily transfer data from your 2.5"/3.5" IDE or SATA hard drive to your computer through USB 2.0 or eSATA port

        • CyberMurning on 13/05/2014 - 12:19

          ah yes stupid me looking at different tab. thanks!
          hmm i will look for other options hopefully one with usb 3 and esata :)
          usb 3 for future usage

        • diiilpickle on 13/05/2014 - 12:21

          Yeah I'm on the look out for usb 3 and esata too.

  • rendo on 13/05/2014 - 11:34
    +1

    PURE GOLD…….fantastic find!!

    I'm buying one

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 12:43

      Made someone else happy so my job here is done :)

  • Make it so on 13/05/2014 - 11:36

    Sounds good when you read the specs. But it does have a brand or model number that I could see. Absolely no way to know how happy other people are with this product, also because the seller hides the product titles in the reviews.

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 11:39

      Completely agree BUT as it's the first I've found that says it does what I need I'm willing to take the risk and potentially lose $49 in the process. I'll let you know what it's like once I receive it but I seem to have pretty good experiences with cheap generic stuff TBH.

  • KevCol on 13/05/2014 - 12:16
    +1

    I bought an external usb3 hard drive because I needed the drive to insert in a computer. I cut the case down and used it to drop in old hard drives and it works a treat.
    Have I made for free what you are buying, without the card reader?

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 12:23
      +1

      No card reader or USB Ports but more importantly no ability to clone! Drive cloning is something I do pretty often when helping friends & family build/rebuild/upgrade PCs and Notebooks so it's essential.

  • zealmax on 13/05/2014 - 12:33
    +3

    Power supply quality is bad. I had USB2 and USB3 version and both power blocks died, within weeks.

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 12:35
      +1

      Good to know, cheers zealmax. I have a fair few spare PSUs from other generic external devices that will fit this so I'm not too fussed but yes this is an important issue for others to note.

  • etchomojay on 13/05/2014 - 13:12

    Is this just for cloning disks or can I use this to add the extra the storage of two 4TB drives using only one USB port? (USB ports are at a premium on my laptop.) Thanks.

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 13:25
      +1

      It will do both however it will simply present each drive as a separate drive letter, it's not smart enough to RAID them or anything. There are plenty of similar units around that don't clone and don't have Card Readers inbuilt so you may be able to find something else that will suit your needs better and you'll probably save a few dollars in the process.

      • CyberMurning on 13/05/2014 - 15:15
        +1

        be wary some cheapo can only read up to 2TB or 3TB not sure why but read descriptions

  • chromium on 13/05/2014 - 13:34

    I bought something like this years ago from Deal Extreme for around $30, it was usb 3.0 but didn't have the card reader. It looks pretty generic, it'll be pretty hit and miss whether it works well or not. Mine used to struggle to provide enough power to 2 drives at the same time depending on the drives in it. It would also drop out a lot on NEC USB 3.0 chipsets. I ended up messing it up by flashing a single bay dock fw onto it to try fixing the USB 3 issues, so now only 1 bay works. I ended up buying a Welland for around $40 and that works a treat.

  • mshanann on 13/05/2014 - 13:44

    What chipset does it use?

    For maximum compatability and speed with Linux / Windows / Mac etc I would strongly recommend an asmedia chipset.

    e.g. asmedia 1053e

    Also be careful with drives that run hot - this thing has neither active (fan) or passive cooling (heat sink) to help remove the heat.

    IMO - for long term use you are better off spending extra and getting quality chipset and solid cooling.

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 14:17

      Good advice 'mshannon' however as per the description I've searched high & low for a device that does everything this offers and this is seriously the ONLY device currently on the market that can do what I need. I'm willing to spend any amount to get exactly what I need so price wasn't high on the agenda but it just turned out that this unit was relatively well priced compared to other similar units hence the reason I posted this deal.

      Please post links up to any other units you've found that can tick all the boxes as I've been looking for years (literally!). I'd be more than happy to spend $200 or possibly more if it did exactly what I wanted in a single convenient device.

      BTW, I've used a few of these things and have never had issues with overheating. Not sure if active or even passive heat management in one of these would be high on my requirements list TBH. I've had two of the cheapest & nastiest 4TB Seagate drives sitting in a similar dock for weeks on end without any dramas at all… granted in an Air Conditioned office, but still.

  • Riczter on 13/05/2014 - 15:06

    I bought one of these from Shopping Square a while back. It was SLOW AS BALLS over usb (transferring from hard drive onto computer) like USB1 speeds. Dunno if i had a faulty unit or if that was normal but I chucked it out and bought a good one, so i would not recommend this product. Also I'm pretty sure mine was like 10$ from shopping square so I do not recommend the price either.
    Mine didn't have blue usb ports on the front though, so maybe this is an updated model..

  • POWER1 on 13/05/2014 - 15:40

    I also have one of these, I only recommend if you are using it once ever few months, diffidently not for everyday use. It very slow but does the job. I bought it from ebay for $25 delivered. for $50 its way over priced

    • scrimshaw on 13/05/2014 - 15:48

      The usual price seems to be around $25 to $35 USD via Amazon
      http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dap…

      So I agree, $50 seems like a lot to pay for a generic product.

      The reviews also state that the dock does not accomodate IDE drives since the socket is misaligned, and may cause the IDE pins to bend (and damage your IDE drive as a result).

      Also this:

      The problem is actually much worse! My own case ended with 2 IDE disk start to smoke and burn out as soon as I plug then in this dock. For any one that received the 6pin power adapter version, this will be the same result for you! Do NOT plug any 3.5in IDE disk in this dock. It WILL burn it. There is a design defect that the 12V power is not controlled by the switch, which means if you plug your 3.5in IDE (PATA) drive in, there will be a 12V between the 12v and 5v input! This will kill your drive, and if you leave it in for more than 3 second, there will be smoke!

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 16:10

      I think you're both missing the point of this post. Please re-read the description and the other comments above. You are referring to all the other cheaper variants that look similar however none of the devices in the Amazon link you've provided have the same feature set of the device I've linked to.

      Sure, I'm aware this may be an absolute POS as per many of the others that look similar but again this is the first device I've found after searching for a couple of years that offer the exact features I'm after (see above). If I wanted one of the devices you guys are discussing then I wouldn't be looking at one of these red & black jobbies as there are many other better quality units that can already do the same thing!

  • ppt on 13/05/2014 - 18:23

    I am trying to look for a dock that has USB 3 and support IDE drives cos I have a few sitting on my desk. but unfortunately seems like USB 3 only comes with SATA docks

    maybe i should just trash those IDE drives

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 18:39

      Yeah, unless you have data on those drives you wish to retrieve then I think it's time to let them go ;)

    • SteveAndBelle on 13/05/2014 - 20:16

      Yep, similar but I couldn't get any confirmation that the USB ports on the front were in fact USB3.0. I had that in my watch list along with a few others for a while but without USB3.0 ports it's useless to me. Looks nicer than the red & black one IMO plus includes more LEDs so it's easier to check the status when cloning.

  • SteveAndBelle on 14/05/2014 - 13:56
    +1

    Got mine this morning as I paid a bit extra to get it Express Posted. Amazingly fast, got it easily within 20 hours of purchasing! As per the description edit I noticed that they have bumped up the price by $7 now but it still represents good value IMO.

    Typically cheap build supplied in a cheap box with a cheap power supply and single-sheet user guide but to be honest it's all it needs to be and will be perfectly suitable for home use and even light-duty 'professional' use. Ran some tests and I can confirm that it's all definitely USB3.0 too. A super simple test I ran using an old 60Gb SSD HDD with a 1Gb file on it. Copied it over to C:\Temp in 22 seconds in a USB2.0 Dock but using this new USB3.0 Dock it only took 12 seconds. Similar speed differences were found when comparing the built-in Card Reader and the USB Ports too so that's great.

    Will look into the cloning and 4TB capabilities when I get a chance too but it's already doing the day-to-day basics as expected. Time will tell if the Power Supply will fail etc. etc.

    PS. Just pulled the bottom cover off to check the Chipset. It uses a pair of 'Genesys Logic' ICs, a 3220 and a 3520 (http://www.genesyslogic.com/en/product_view.php?show=12 & http://www.genesyslogic.com/en/product_view.php?show=26) There's another SMD IC on the board however its markings are faint and I can't figure out what it is.

  • griftr on 23/05/2014 - 10:46
    +1

    Just walked out of CCPU in Carlingford, NSW and they have both the USB2.0 and USB3.0 version.

    The USB3.0 version in this OzB pot with the card reader is $45.

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