Can anybody recommend me a unit? For the record, all I'm using this for is to insert the HD, format them, run the most basic of tests (if needed) and then remove them. As such I've thought about going for something generic like the ones commonly found on eBay. They mainly start at like £8! as opposed to 2.5 inch sata ones that are much cheap. Is there some fatal flaw in these that should steer me away from buying them, is there brands to look out for etc?
you could get one of those removable 5" hdd bays (the ones that go in with the optical drives on a pc) then its just slide in >test>slide out..
If you don't mind it being external and going through USB you can use one of these if you need an external power source for it or this one if you just need the adapter. Benefits of these things is they allow for 3.5" IDE, 2.5" IDE, and SATA. Not all at same time mind you but allow for versatility. I use one and never have had any problems. They even work on my Xbox for memory cards with 4GB and smaller drives. It even worked with some CD and DVD drives I have in both IDE and SATA as well.
If you're just going to format / test the HDD, there's no such need for a enclosure. When i had a problem with my previous computer main HD, i used one of those adapter kits sonicdude10 posted. Was able to backup everything and formatted the new HD.
All I can say is that those generic chinese shits are corruption prone and a lot of people had data lost
personally i use something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D1NR9MA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Oh damn, I've been looking for one of those for ages but the toaster type ones were always expensive from what I found. Also as a follow up, avoid anything like the one in the description, these are BANNED in the EU because of issues with the power supply, as I found when the fucking thing went pop 3 hrs [literally, I heard it bang] into using it and took a [junker] hard drive with it. The power supplies are the cheapest chinese shit in existence and the seller didn't hesistate to give me a full refund when I mentioned the fact they were selling banned products.
junk it. the ac adapter has a fatal flaw in that it gets red hot, then eventually something blows and takes the hard drive connected with it
Best bet is to get an external CD-rom (usb 2) for $8-12 on ebay and then swap out the optical drive for the hdd and a 5.25 bracket. The converters inname brand cd-roms are great quality compared to shit chinese enclosures, because they skimp on correct amount of capacitors and psu quality.
Only SATA (I know the topic is about IDE)...but I'd just like to share my pain regarding this pile of junk: http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-5-0Gbps-Docking-Station-ST0019U/dp/B003ZUXXVU I'm still not sure if most of those Amazon reviews are put there by the company themselves or I'm just (very) unlucky. I bought one about 4 months ago, used it twice and it broke (the PC refused to see it anymore) - took it back to the shop to get a refund/change it and it took them a whopping three months to 'finally' get it changed... only it wasn't a new one, they said it had been sent back and 'repaired' - Took the refurb home, powered it up, used it three or four times (in short sessions) , went to power it up yesterday and kaput - the same as b4, it powers on but the PC refuses to see it. Just giving it a cursory glance, it looks cheap, feels cheap, and the USB port (in particular) feels loose - the fact that the supplied USB cable barely squeezed into the port wasn't reassuring either (although my other USB cables worked fine) Doing some reading of the Amazon reviews, it looks like I'm not the only person to have the same problems... works initially then just stops working completely. Bottom line, avoid like the plague. IDE/SATA - just get an old enclosure you know works well and use that - don't bother with these docking stations, they're cheap and nasty.
