If you are like us at dragonsteelmods,
then you have a plethora of hard drives lying around. Keeping track
of the contents of naked drives is problematic as one needs to
install the hard drive to a computer to view the contents. That can
done by either hooking the drive into the PC, which involves opening
your computer or inserting the drive into a external enclosure.
Another option is using some hard drive adapter or dock.
USBGeek carries the UNITEK eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup Multi-Dock, which
allows the use of SATA drives as hot swappable and plug and play.
Plus it allows the SATA drive to run at native speeds when attached
via a eSATA connection. It even supports SATA II allowing transfer
rates of up to 3 Gbps. Don’t have an eSATA connection, don’t
worry, Unitek provides a eSATA connector bracket which can be
installed inside your PC. If you are lacking a SATA connector, the
dock also works with a USB connector. However, this does limit
transfer rates to up to 480 Mbps.
UNITEK eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup
Multi-Dock
Reviewed by: Tomas Ratas
Sponsor:
USBGeek
Tech Specs,Features or the
Basic Info:
UNITEK
eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup Multi-Dock
Features:
-Standable,
convenient and trendy design
-eSATA, SATA
I, and SATA II compatible
-Supports
2.5/3.5 inch SATA Hard Drive of any capacity
-One Touch
Backup function for file or data backup(supports Windows only)
-Plug and
play and hot-swappable
-Power LED
indicator
-On/Off
switch
-OS
compatible: Windows Vista/XP/2000/ME/98SE, Mac OS 9.x or higher
-Power
adapter: Input 100-240V, 50-60Hz, 0.5A ; Output 12V-2A, 5.0V-2A
-Dimension:
165.5 x 110 x 102mm
-Weight: 215g
Contents:
-UNITEK
eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup Multi-Dock
-AC Adapter
-Power Source
Cable
-USB Cable
-eSATA Cable
-SATA to
eSATA internal adapter
-CD Driver
-User Manual
Power Source Cable:
-US Type
-Euro Type
-UK Type
Price: $55.00
{mospagebreak title=A Better Look At Things}
A Better Look at Things
:
The UNITEK eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup
Multi-Dock comes in a rectangular white and red box. On the top of
the package is a picture of the device in action with multiple small
logos for USB 2.0, 2.5”, 3.5” SATA HDD support, Windows and Mac
compatability, and 3 Gbps eSATA support. The sides of the box list
package contents, features, a diagram of how the device works.
Inside the package one finds the
Docking Station, a power adapter, power cable, USB Cable, eSATA
cable, eSATA bracket cable, a driver/software disk and a user manual.
The UNITEK is composed of a light black
and red plastic and measures 165.5 x 110 x 102mm and weighs in at 205
gms. The front of the dock has an activity light at the right lower
corner. Above this is a red section with the UNITEK logo and the
words – “SATA HDD Docking Station”.
Above the red section is the main
docking area with a red button in the center which activates the back
up features of the drive.
The back of the device features a mini
USB and eSATA port, a power switch and power connector.
Inside the dock is the SATA connector
and power connector. This fits either a 2.5” or 3.5 SATA hard
drive.
Installation, Testing and
Comparison:
Installation, involves hooking the
power supply to the rear of the dock and then attaching either the
USB or eSATA connector.
Next insert a 2.5” or 3.5” SATA
Hard Drive into the UNITEK eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup Multi-Dock.
For testing I used a Seagate SATA II
640 GB Hard Drive and ATTO Disk Bench.
As you can see the write speeds for the
USB was consistent at about 23.5 MB/s and read at around 28 MB/s
For the eSATA connection the read and
write speeds were pretty equal at 120 MB/s.
The UNITEK eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup
Multi-Dock includes the PCClone EX Lite backup software, which I
touched upon in my review of USB
to SATA/IDE Universal Kit with One Touch Backup from USBGeek.
I would choose another backup software suite over this one, but it
will do in a pinch, if needed.
Summary and Comments
The UNITEK eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup
Multi-Dock is a great device for using SATA hard drives as portable,
swappable external drives. It is a simple to use device that allows
easy portability and swappability of hard drives. You can swap in as
many hard drives as you want without having to restart your PC.
DragonSteelMods gives the UNITEK
eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup Multi-Dock a 4.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Works with USB and eSATA Connections
-Simple to use
-Uses 2.5” and 3.5” SATA Hard
Drives
-Hot Swappable
-Compatible with Windows 98, 2000, ME,
XP, Vista and OS X
Cons:
-Light, plastic feel
I would like to thank USBGeek for the chance to review the UNITEK
eSATA/SATA One Touch Backup Multi-Dock and for
their support of DSM.
review# 496