Law Technology

The Weekend Geek: Get a USB eSATA Dock!

By Ross

This is one of those products that is so patently obvious, that fact is the only likely explanation for the fact they just recently appeared. USB eSATA dock let you take a barebones SATA hard drive, plug it into the docking device and turn it into an external USB hard drive. With bare SATA drives being absurdly dirt cheap, you can use a bunch of them as alternative backup media. After all, whoever five years ago would have expected you could buy top-brand Western Digital 1 Tb hard drives for under $90? Or 500 gb drives for sometimes less than $50? I also have to admit that I kind of love the raw, Steampunkish look of an unadorned hard drive, sans plastic cover, doing its business and the sound of its mechanical bits whirring away.

NewEgg currently is offering a ThermalTake USB eSATA dock for $35 here. ThermalTake is a well-respected maker of PC modding parts and pieces (and maker of my favorite USB fan of all time that I would NEVER be without - so much so that I bought a box of a dozen to ensure I never do run out). A great low cost, high-capacity backup vehicle (just remember to put those bare drives in a padded case when you take them off-site - tip on that: cases for portable DVD players are plentiful and idea for this role).

Full post as published by Ross Ipsa Loquitur on March 21, 2009 (boomark / email).