Need a Cheap but Good Hard Drive Dock

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  Nugs on 11/05/2019 - 11:51

  +2

  brandwise, I recommend Vantec - I have had my eSata/USB2 version for near on ten years. I bought a unitek as a second one and had issues so stopped using it.
  .

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  Hardlyworkin on 11/05/2019 - 14:28

  I must admit a misread your post at first. I perhaps need help.

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  Nutrino on 12/05/2019 - 08:53

  I've got this, works fine, has a switch power button. HATE toggle buttons. Doubles as a hub. Got this on special a while back for $30 or so. 8tb limit.

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  the Unforgiven on 12/05/2019 - 12:14

  +1

  I have one of these, it is a dual in case you want to clone HDD's

  https://www.mwave.com.au/product/orico-2535-usb30-1-to-1-clo…

  You don't need a computer to clone HDD's, this does it for you
  It takes its time, but it works grouse

  • 

    Draxxx on 14/05/2019 - 15:13

    +1

    I have one of these.
    Clone HD is great, especially when the OS locks up files (in use / RO etc).
    Would recommend.

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  Gnostikos on 12/05/2019 - 13:52

  I've never seen a "bad" HDD/SATA dock to be honest. It's not like there's a lot of complexity to them, they're just glorified SATA to USB adapter cables.

  As mentioned by other posters, Vantec would be my preferred choice (I've had a Vantec NexStar double bay dock for 10 years now that hasn't missed a beat), but I use a really cheap Shintaro single bay dock at work that's also performed fine for many years.

  If you're going to be spending around around $50 dollars on a dock, shell out $4 more for this dual bay Vantec NexStar.

  Having two bays is incredibly useful for cloning HDDs/SATA SSDs without sticking them in a PC, using it as a hot-swap dock for multiple backups at once and/or acting as surrogate SATA bays in case you've filled up all of your internal bays in your PC. I haven't known anyone who's gone to the trouble of buying a HDD dock just for the sake of a single 3.5" HDD they're going to be plugging in; usually you'll have several.

  One thing I would caution you about, HDDs get incredibly hot when plugged into docks, especially when they're continuously reading/writing. Regardless of the HDDs spindle speed (5400/7200RPM), power consumption or density, it's not uncommon to see HDD temperatures rising above 50C when plugged into a dock and copying non-stop for over 30 minutes. Thus far I haven't see any HDDs fail as a result of this, but those temperatures are definitely close to the thresholds most HDDs list in their specifications. Keep them in a decently ventilated area or near some A/C.

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  TomGum on 12/05/2019 - 14:46

  Thanks for tips and the Ventec one looks good. I currently have a dock but it wont read my 8TB Seagate hard drives. Hence why im looking to get one without a limit.

  • 

    Gnostikos on 12/05/2019 - 14:57

    That can be caused by a missing device driver, assuming you're on an older, pre-UEFI PC and depending on what sector formatting the HDD uses. See these links below:

    https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/kb/support-for-disk-dr…
    https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/downloads/beyond-2tb/
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/2581408/windows-sup…

    There is no inherent capacity "limit" with HDD docks, that's determined by the PC and OS. But realistically speaking, all PCs introduced since the advent of UEFI will support any commercially-available capacity HDDs.

    The only real difference between cheap and more expensive HDD docks will be transfer speeds; whether that matters depends on what you're using them for.

    • 

      TomGum on 12/05/2019 - 15:05

      Interesting. However, when I plug the HDD directly via internal sata it works perfectly.

      • 

        MiniMoo on 13/05/2019 - 03:45

        Check if your dock has a firmware update. My friend's Vantec NexStar NST-D300S3-BK SATA/USB3 dock would read his 2TB drives but not the 4TB he bought. Firmware update fixed that. From memory the file was not straight forward to find on their site, or we may have had to go elsewhere online to get them. Other than that, the device never had any problems accessing drives.

        • 

          TomGum on 13/05/2019 - 20:45

          @MiniMoo: I have this one … https://www.mln.com.au/product/?itemID=5415

          But I cant find any firmware updates to allow 8tb hard drives.

          • 

            MiniMoo on 14/05/2019 - 11:14

            @TomGum: Astone don't even seem to have a web page. :/ From what I gather about these docks, they're generic OEM devices and the manufacturers don't really seem to care about them, just get them out the door as fast as possible. :(

            I searched on the Vantec and then remembered… there's a Whirlpool thread about a number of docks that use the same JMicron USB chipset, and that it was buggy. There was a dead link to the Vantec drivers page. But you can search their downloads folder: https://www.vantecusa.com/CKEdit/images/files/. Perhaps yours has one of the JMicron chipsets that they have updates for and can try some of their updaters. From memory the updaters check to see if you have the right chipset before trying to install. Good luck.