s3yang Wrote:Well, they're nice and everything, but you can get pretty much the same effect if you're willing to open up your computer case. There's no real difference in plugging your HD into one of those adapters as opposed to hooking it up to the sata port on your new motherboard. Except for speed, in which case the sata port is actually much faster. Basically, if you know enough to take a sata drive out of your computer you know enough about how to plug one in. Mind you, I've got one myself, as naked drives are usually much cheaper than the portable drives you can usually buy.They're mostly useful for the convenience factor of not having to open another machine to access data on a hard drive. Especially if you've got a power supply that has limited connections or remaining power capacity. I can see techs using them for the convenience of not having to leave the diagnostics machine unbuttoned, for instance. Plus, it's something that you can more easily hot swap if you need that hard drive data right now. I'd be leary of hot swapping onto an internal IDE or SATA connector.
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"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor