StarTech SAT2510U2 InfoSafe 2.5-Inch USB/SATA Hard Drive Enclosure Reviews

• Handy device for data recovery, and a lot more...

  
  By A298VPX0SUFPXJ on 2007-10-31
  I purchased this to recover the data off a 2.5" SATA hard drive that used to live inside my Toshiba Satellite laptop that went belly up shortly after its warranty expired. I done a complete virus scan and recovered about 100 GB so far with absolutely no problems and decent USB 2.0 speed.
  
  The enclosure is powered by USB as well, which works fine. Two USB dongles are actually on the cable (for extra power), which is what I use and I've had no problems up to this point.
  
  The package includes a little baggy with the tiniest screwdriver I've ever seen. Be careful when you open it, because it contains two even more miniscule screws, used for securing the hard drive once you insert it into the enclosure.
  
  I promptly dumped mine on the carpet and spent a good 10 minutes looking for them. Very hard on the eyes...
  
  

• fast but small

  
  By A12TD6S8NE3192 on 2007-12-31
  I bought this external case to use it with a 200GB laptop disk, the problem? the enclosure is small (thin) and I can not insert the disk in it, I can still use the disk connecting only the electronic piece to it (the top cover with the USB connection) So, if you have a big capacity laptop hard drive and it is a little "FAT" DO NOT buy this enclosure.
  On the other hand the disk performs very well with this unit. I transfered to it 10.5GB in like 7 minutes.
  Hope it helps, Carlos.
  
  

• works fine for me

  
  By AAHDJ8TXD6176 on 2007-09-19
  works fine for me, and the price is right. Fit and finish are decent, and the product comes with a sort of slipcase, if you're into that sort of thing
  
  

• StarTech/ SATA Version: A Critical Review

  
  By AIFLY2HF8NS8U on 2008-03-16
  Just before the new year I upgraded my harddrive from the standard MacBook Pro version of 80GB/ 5400 to 160GB/ 7200 rpm drive. So, now I've been sitting on Apple-issued harddrive for 3 months now.
  
  I bought the enclosure case after a friend told me I could use it as a spare harddrive. I made a mistake and bought the "2.5" IDE"- which is for the older versions of Mac and PC laptops. When I finally received this StarTech 2.5" SATA-- it was approximately 45 seconds from the moment I snapped in the harddrive to the enclosure case cover and tighten those two (2) minuscule screws.
  
  Works perfectly.
  
  Just a reminder-- make sure you know the kind of harddrive you have and purchase with confidence. The product works well.
  
  

• Just works!

  
  By A1ZIMKJ5S8W1QK on 2007-12-17
  Installed my old laptop HD, and plugged it into the USB port, and just worked!! I even didn't need the second USB conector for extra power
  
  
• Cheap and effective
  By A1D3DDK2FXO8B on 2008-07-23
  PRO:
  - Decent data transfer rate -- about 20 megabyte sustained with my drive
  - Comes with a carrying sleeve
  - Comes with the only tool you need to assemble the enclosure - a tiny eyeglass screwdriver
  
  CON:
  - Misreports current usage - use caution to avoid damaging your PC
  - Microscopic "eyeglass" screws.
  
  SUMMARY
  This should have been tool-free, or used larger screws on the back. Assembling it is a bit of a pain, as the screws are about the size of a pinhead. Luckily it comes with a third spare screw.
  
  The fact that it misreports current use is dangerous. It only reports half the current that would be used by a 5400RPM drive in the enclosure on the assumption that the power-only connector will be swallowing half the current load. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security if you find that you can operate with just one USB plug, especially if using a high current draw 7200RPM drive. Insert both plugs, inserting the power-only end plug first. USB controllers shut down devices if current draw is high enough to damage the controller - this won't work if the controller is getting bad information.
  
  Note that - as with most USB enclosures - the controller does not understand hard drive passwords. If you're repurposing an old laptop drive, be sure to clear the hard drive password in the laptop's BIOS before moving it to the enclosure. If you forget this step, you'll get mysterious CRC failure errors when trying to initialize the drive.
  
  
• Great enclosure! A couple things to note.
  By A34YZZ440Y1CRI on 2008-06-02
  Got this enclosure today to put my old 60G MacBook HD to use and it's a great enclosure. A couple things to note: First, ANY 2.5" SATA drive WILL fit in this enclosure. Those reviewers complaining that the enclosure is too small have not removed the extra metal plate covering the back of the HD, generally attached with a small screw at each corner. Once this plate is removed, the drive fits securely in the enclosure. Second, I was a little concerned about this enclosure requiring two USB ports to function. However, I'm happy to report that both on my MacBook and my iMac G5, the drive functions just fine using only one USB port. Hope this information helps!
  
  
• Doesn't like my Macbook Pro's USB ports
  By A1ZV5YV3JU5CUB on 2008-06-13
  After using it for a few hours, the drive icon disappeared from my desktop. After some testing, I found that my left-side USB port was not working for the drive or any other device. I moved the drive to my right-side USB port, and the same pattern occurred - the USB port ceased working. Reboot did not solve the issue. Running Apple Hardware Test showed no problems, but after running it, the ports began working again. I am now afraid to plug this directly into my computer again, and it needs more power than my USB hub can deliver - it's essentially of no use to me at this time.
  
  
• An excellent option to reuse my old sata drive
  By A39M871JA2FE96 on 2008-02-13
  I am really happy of having decided to buy this enclosure together with my new sata hard file, for a few money I am still using my old drive and it was also a great help to move all my data from the old one into the new one.
  
  It came with everything, including a little screw driver that was very usefull considering the size of the screws.
  
  
• Great device at a great price.
  By AANO0VWL96ANQ on 2008-06-16
  In this drive I placed a Hitachi 5400RPM 100GB drive and now a 120GB drive. The StarTech enclosure is fairly easy to work with, but I have fat stubby fingers and found the screws a bit hard to work with. The 2 screws are basically the same as you would find on a pair of glasses to give you a point of comparison. The drive itself is a VERY snug fit which I like, and the cable has 2 USB inputs so that you can draw power off of two USB ports if necessary. The hard drive I have requires 550mA which is just over the USB standard of 500mA, and I found that 2 of my laptops and one desktop both went fine with just the data/power plug used. One of my laptops and 1 desktop would give a USB power error and not load the drive. Using both plugs however resulting in it working with every system I tried. The file transfer performance is extremely good, the enclosure is lightweight and only requires me to carry one cable. I plan to buy one or two more of these.
  
  
• Near-perfect
  By ADLVFFE4VBT8 on 2008-08-21
  I used one of these to enclose the 60GB disk that I took out of my PS3 after I upgraded it to 320GB. Installation consists on pushing the disk in and screwing 2 little screws using the little screwdriver provided. It's all done in less than 5 minutes.
  
  It connects through an USB wire which powers the disk. Included.
  
  End of story.
  
  
• Works just fine
  By A8UZGR6757D6A on 2008-03-08
  I bought this to clone a HD replacement I bought for my MacBook and to house my old drive. The process was easy except that the screws to hold the drive in the case are truly miniscule. Make sure to work someplace where you can see things if you drop them. (The screwdriver is provided.) I was concerned because the stated capacity for drives it can hold is 120 GB but I put a 160 GB drive in it without issue. If the enclosure had a FireWire connection instead of USB, I imagine it would have taken less time to clone the old HD, but I have not seen any such enclosure. The kit comes with a little leather pouch to carry the drive and the USB cable. I haven't tried a drop test (probably not recommended since all the electronics are on the black plastic end with the indicator light), but it worked great for my purposes.
  
  
• SATA 2.5in enclosure
  By A2FYDESFC6ZH86 on 2008-09-18
  Quite good, if u dont want to spend alot of money on an enclosure its actually very good, instantly portable, and only requires 2 usb ports with no power cables.
  
  also includes a pouch/case
  
  
• Excellent Laptop Hard Drive Enclosure
  By A1CYKIG6PCOQFL on 2008-10-05
  This drive enclosure works great. I have a 5400 RPM SATA drive connected in it right now. The drive enclosure uses two USB ports in order to power the drive.
  
  There isn't too much to this thing. Just plug the drive in then screw the enclosure back together. Exactly what I wanted.
  
  
• Great Speed and Reliability
  By A3HG46OVE2H4J8 on 2008-04-19
  I purchased this product to hook up my laptop's SATA drive to my desktop for backup and transfer. So far it has been working great!
  
  I accidentally placed it in a small enclosed area while my desktop was backing it up. After an hour or so, my computer stopped reading the drive. Went I went to pick it up, it was so hot I couldn't even touch it. After unplugging it and letting it cool, the drive operated just fine. A++ for solid engineering!
  
  Pros:
  - Pretty fast!
  - Only uses one USB plug when hooked to USB 2.0 (two when on USB 1.1)
  - Reliable (see heat story above)
  Cons:
  - Fabric sleeve is cheap and ugly
  - Screws are VERY small (comes with small screwdriver to remove them)
  - Screws and screwdriver were loose inside the enclosure (almost lost them when I opened it)
  
  On a final note, I might be purchasing at least another one of these.
  
  
• I love it!
  By A1RGM1L9BFNX9Q on 2008-04-27
  I recently bought a 40gb PS3 and replaced the hard drive with a 250gb one. I bought this to use the 40gb hard drive as an external hard drive. Works great. Setup is easy, just insert the hard drive and snap on the top. I even used it to transfer 10gb worth of music over to the PS3 in the time it would have taken to rip one CD. Best part is you don't need an external power supply so it's really portable. Fits in the palm of your hand. I use it for storing raw tracks when recording now. Definitely worth the price.
  
  
• Did not work for my 7200 rpm drive
  By A1KFAF5U2P8964 on 2008-06-26
  Installation was easy, but tried twice to copy 8GB of files to the drive and it stopped both times after less than 1/3 of the data.
  
  
• Good product
  By A1K7AEP8WWSKHX on 2008-10-15
  This drive enclosure is one of the higher quality cases I have purchased. From what I can tell, it appears to be made from solid aluminum, with the front and back in plastic. Installation, and setup was easy, there were no extra drivers or software to install just plug-n-play.
  A few things I dislike about the unit are; there is no fan. This is not a big deal unless you are going to access the drive repeatedly for a several hours. When the hard drive itself is being accessed there is a lot of heat the builds up, but when you just have it plugged in idling there is no problem. The USB cable provided for data transfer has two Male plugs, which I suspect is for users with computers without USB 2.0. I had no problem using a regular USB cable I had laying around instead of the provided one, so this is not an issue for 90% of computers out there. My final issue, is the directions or somewhat vague, there is very little support provided in the booklet. A reminder for anyone not tech-savvy, the hard drive you are using with this device must be formatted. If you purchased a brand new hard drive, or intent to use a new one you need to format it. I work with computers a lot and it slipped my mind at first (it is also not mentioned in the instructions).
  Overall, I would definitely recommend this to anyone. Can't beat Amazon's prices.
  
  
  
• Works but pieces don't fit together
  By A3KK12FDBHKOAQ on 2008-10-21
  I bought two of these enclosures. Both work as advertised for my Macbook drives. BUT the main body is supposed to attach to the black end cap with two small screws. For both of my enclosures the screws didn't fit no matter how hard I tried. Poor quality construction.
  
  There are other enclosures that are cheaper and better. I'm buying two of those to replace these. Hope you don't make the same mistake...
  
  
• very useful case
  By A5YBNNSWA9LEM on 2008-10-28
  took our old playstation 3 drive out and replaced it with a 320 gig unit. took the old 40 gig drive and placed it into this case and now have a neat packaged backup drive. only difficulty was the screw holes for the plastic end caps were misaligned and a little of a chore to install but still this product rates a 5 stars.
  
  

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