Home | Forums | Article Search | Subscribe & Shop | Contact Us | Log Out Addonics Diamond Combo Hard Drive Email This Print This View My Personal Library Heavy Gear September 2007 • Vol.7 Issue 9 Page(s) 30 in print issue Add To My Personal Library Addonics Diamond Combo Hard Drive Diamond Combo Hard Drive $99.95 Addonics www.addonics.com CPU Rating: 4 Specs: Interfaces: eSATA, SATA, USB 2.0 (via adapter); 3.5-inch SATA HDD required (5.25-inch bay required for internal mounting) Heat-sapping aluminum and eSATA support mark this evolutionary removable hard drive system from Addonics. Install it in a drive bay with a SATA hard drive (not included), and you’ll have a hard drive you can remove for security or sneakernetting. You’ll be able to connect the decanted drive to other computers, too, as the removable enclosure allows for use as an external drive. The drive bay cradle gets power through either a SATA or Molex connection, whereas the removable enclosure relies on an AC adapter when it’s ex situ. An included SATA cable handles data flow between the cradle and the motherboard, and an inordinately long, 82-inch eSATA cable lets the removable drive enclosure go a-roaming. To eliminate wear and tear on your SATA drive’s connectors, the enclosure uses a direct SATA bridge to engage the cradle’s power and data ports with its own edge connectors. My kit (model DCHDSAEU) also included an active eSATA-to-USB adapter and a short USB extension cable. Although you'll be loath to drop to pokey USB speeds, you'll appreciate how the adapter makes the enclosure work with virtually any non-eSATA computer. Skip the adapter, and you’ll save $25. There’s a physical key lock on the front of the drive bay cradle, which is metal with a textured black finish. The lock isn’t just for security: You have to lock the enclosure with the key before you can power up the drive. A spring-loaded door flips up in the cradle when the drive is removed. There’s no fan in the cradle, although there’s a rear cutout and a header for one. I was uncertain about how well the eSATA/USB converter and very long eSATA cable would work, but as it turned out, I needn’t have been. Everything worked as advertised. Addonics also sells adapters for other interfaces and drive form factors, so take a look. by Marty Sems  User Reviews Be the first to write a review of this product Want more information about a topic you found of interest while reading this article? Type a word or phrase that identifies the topic and click "Search" to find relevant articles from within our editorial database. Enter A Subject (key words or a phrase): ALL Words (‘digital’ AND ‘photography’) ANY Words (‘digital’ OR ‘photography’) Exact Match ('digital photography'- all words MUST appear together) Home      Copyright & Legal Information      Privacy Policy      Site Map      Contact Us Copyright © 2010 Sandhills Publishing Company U.S.A. All rights reserved.