Vantec NexStar SATA Drive Dock

Just like a toaster – pop it in, pop it out – nice! – Joe

SUMMARY: Just like a toaster – pop it in, pop it out – nice!

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Weight: 270 grams/9.5 ounces

The good guys at Vantec were nice enough to send a sample of their
NexStar SATA Drive Dock to try out. This is a “pop in/pop-out” external hard drive dock – a very neat idea:

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Looks like a toaster!

Key Features

  • Easy Push-In/Pop-Out docking mechanism
  • USB or eSATA ports
  • Accommodates 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA Drives
  • External power supply
  • Includes USB/eSATA cables, SATA to eSATA bracket, Manual and driver disk (W98)
  • Plastic construction

This is a light-weight unit – all plastic construction. When you snap the drive in place, the eject button pops up – push it down and the drive pops out. There is no safety lock function – if you pop it out before you should, you may lose data. The front features an On/Off switch and an activity light (hard to see in bright light) for hard drive access. The back shows the power, USB and eSATA ports:

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Parts that ship with the dock include cables, power supply and a SATA to eSATA bracket for a desktop PC:

Parts

Performance

I tried Vantec’s NexStar SATA Drive Dock on a Seagate Barracuda 250 GB, 7200 rpm hard drive with the following results:

USB Performance

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eSATA Performance

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A clear winner for eSATA – about 4½ times faster.

CONCLUSIONS

A very nice implentation for a light weight docking unit – makes switching around SATA hard drives a snap.

Email Joe

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