RSS Feeds
Peripherals
Lightning Review: Brando Multi-Function Hard Drive Dock
Posted by Mark Wilson at 7:20 AM on July 23, 2008
The gadget: The SATA HDD Multi-Function Dock (USB + ESATA). It allows you to dock a 3.5" or 2.5" SATA hard drive like a Nintendo cartridge and access it with a computer via USB or eSATA. On top of that, the dock includes 2 USB ports and 4 card reader ports that support almost anything you can throw at it.
The price: US$79
The verdict...
If you are looking for a convenient way to access multiple old internal drives or backup your system before a new install, this dock is a solid pick. Drives slip in fairly easily and an external power supply means that you really can use the dock to read all of your different storage media all while having them mounted simultaneously.
I didn't get a chance to test the eSATA transfers, but the USB option was on par with any standard drive of its type.
The only potential flaw I noticed is that the dock doesn't create a very tight seal when you stick a hard drive in. The small remaining gap could let it gather a lot of dust over the long haul.
Still, as a device that made my laptop hard drive reinstall relatively painless but will still remain useful to me in the future, the SATA HDD Multi-Function Dock (or one of its various incarnations on Brando's site) seems like a decent buy. [Brando]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Albert
Posted July 23, 2008 11:24 AM
Yes, this is a good idea. But...
Hard drives are volatile media. The idea that you can dock them, undock them, store them, carry them around with no additional protection, is not so smart.
If they develop a cool-looking, functional way to carry them around and store them, I might be onboard. To continue the Nintendo theme, why not make cartridges for them?
mhlaxp
Posted 8:57 AM 23/7/08
That's pretty cool, but I find that a cheaper external enclosure is a pretty good pick for what I'd use it for, at least. It's pretty easy to find a solid one for about $20 so unless you're dealing with four or more hard drives or really hate clutter a few of those do the same job without leaving drives hanging around exposed.
mhlaxp
RyaninCalgary
Posted 8:56 AM 23/7/08
I've been look at buying other docks.
- Thermal Take makes two one for 39.95 CAD without the added USB hub. It's only USB 2.0
- The other is 49.95 CAD and has the USB hub. Still only USB 2.0
- Vantec NexStar makes one for 39.95 That's USB 2.0 and eSATA.
My point is the price for this one seems high at $79. Those are Canadian prices but the USD = CAD give or take a couple cent swing each day.
RyaninCalgary
MichaelScrip
Posted 8:43 AM 23/7/08
It would be nice to backup to a couple bare drives and put them in these cases:
Anti-Static Drive Case for bare drives
[www.wiebetech.com]
MichaelScrip
impreza
Posted 8:02 AM 23/7/08
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy:
ATA is not plug'n'play, though, USB Hard drive enclosures based on ATA are, however, this format is outdated and going to the wayside. I would suggest purchasing an enclosure. I doubt someone would make one of these for outdated tech.
impreza
jrlcopy
Posted 7:59 AM 23/7/08
@wizardofpants: No when they give something a bad review it because the advertisers want them to.
jrlcopy
The Lab
Posted 7:55 AM 23/7/08
It has a lot of features and the price is pretty good. Practically the size of a Mac Mini tho...
The Lab
wizardofpants
Posted 7:43 AM 23/7/08
@jrlcopy: wow they give something a good review because it may actually be a solid piece of equipment and you brand it an advertisement? nice.
this'll be good for quick photo sessions on drives without having to swap cables. plus it's cheaper than a drobo.
wizardofpants
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
Posted 7:42 AM 23/7/08
Is there anything out there for someone who is using ATA drives?
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
phryed
Posted 7:38 AM 23/7/08
When are you going to review that hard dick drive?
phryed
jrlcopy
Posted 7:35 AM 23/7/08
Yeah, after reading that "advertisement" of an article, perhaps I'll pick one up also.
jrlcopy
keepr
Posted 7:28 AM 23/7/08
I have been thinking about buying this.
keepr
gabberaz
Posted 10:14 AM 23/7/08
Yay! I can't stand enclosures.
gabberaz
yelraf
Posted 11:05 AM 23/7/08
One word: pr0n.
yelraf
thirstypilgrim97
Posted 12:06 PM 23/7/08
@yelraf:
That's gotten to be too cliche... hang it up, friend.
thirstypilgrim97
thirstypilgrim97
Posted 12:05 PM 23/7/08
I really think I may use this with my PS3 harddrive swap. Plus, with this I can use the old ps3 as a music backup drive and just keep it somewhere safe and warm.
thirstypilgrim97
Hello_Newman
Posted 12:13 PM 23/7/08
This is very good for a repair shop or data recovery place, or for cloning drives when building lots of the same machine. I assume you can hot swap the drive while the host system is running, just a nice time saver not having to reboot, detect the new drive, and so on just to check a drive or clone it. We used to do this the slow way and preinstall Windows so that it asked for the product key when you booted up.
Also when doing backups, the safest way is to backup everything to a hard drive, then put it in a safety deposit box so it's off site. If you get robbed or a direct lightning strike hits, you're screwed if it's connected and turned on with all your other stuff. For an office that does real off site backups this is very handy.
Hello_Newman
Strider-No.9
Posted 1:25 PM 23/7/08
I got a couple of them for work. I use them a lot.
Strider-No.9
ProsumeThis
Posted 3:37 PM 23/7/08
I have the 4 USB hub version and I married it with a 1TB Hitachi 3.5 HDD (which I sadly had to convert to Fat32 for PS3 compatibility) It's the best purchase I've ever made.
ProsumeThis
J. Nadeau
Posted 3:19 PM 23/7/08
I paid 39$ for the same thing, named "BlacX", by ThermalTake. Granted, mine doesn't have a USB hub/card reader in it, but I think ThermalTake makes one with both.
J. Nadeau
digidandy
Posted 5:22 PM 23/7/08
@jrlcopy: Hi jrlcopy. You are stoopid.
Thanks for listening.
digidandy
macrumpton
Posted 11:59 PM 23/7/08
I have the SATA only version, and it works fine. My only complaint is that it must have very basic circuitry in it because it does have any power saving ability to spin down the drive when it is not being used. Even unmounted the drive is spinning.
I also love the SD card reader in the front.
macrumpton
JEmlay
Posted 4:24 AM 24/7/08
"The small remaining gap could let it gather a lot of dust over the long haul."
Drives are not supposed to be inserted over long hauls. The average HDD needs air flow or you risk lowering it's life span.
Transfer and remove...
JEmlay
BlytheVolusus
Posted 12:06 AM 24/7/08
Have seen eSATA transfer rate as "eSATA I" in one advertisement. When contacted, they said that it runs at "full speed". Will wait until eSATA transfer rate is confirmed. Neil
BlytheVolusus
subwaysam
Posted 9:21 AM 24/7/08
We have a couple of these...come on Mr. MFG.... lets get an IDE interface down there please!! Put the interface opposite and flipped from the SATA one. So, we slide a SATA drive in, label facing us, to the left , we put an IDE in label facing away, slid to the right.. this is a NO BRAINER!!! This is THE BEST FORMAT for attaching a drive externally for temp (IT, REPAIR, FORMAT, CLONE< etc) ..so add the interface that 8 out of 10 machines still have....
How bout this, make it twice as deep (front to back) with double interfaces in two places as described above...you will then have the BEST drive clone station, bundle with software of your choice (Ghost, cDrive, etc) and you have cornered that market it a couple months... think about it!!! Great idea, just not even close to completely realized!!
subwaysam