Cheap way to connect 3.5" SATA Hard Drive to Laptop?

[Tjcrazy]

Hello fellow Neowinians.

Last week I purchases this: http://www.cableuniv...-enclosure.html

I thought it would be a sort of SATA to USB caddy for my internal hard drive.

Turns out its an enclosure, which connects it to SATA, which is no good to my laptop. Should of read in in detail.

All I want to do is connect my internal 1TB SATA Hard Drive to my Laptop. However I've already spent ?10 on it, and Don't really want to spend much more.

So, Is there any cheap-ish way to connect to 3.5 inch Hard Drive to my laptop, possibly using the enclosure I've got?

EDIT: Would buying this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-0-IDE-SATA-2-5-3-5-Hard-Drive-Converter-Cable-/300528872095?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item45f8eaaa9f#ht_1861wt_1163 be a viable option?

Tim

[xendrome]

What about this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839328027

[Tjcrazy]

I'm in the UK. SO that's a no.

My laptop has no expansion slots either. Thanks anyway.

[HoochieMamma]

Just get something like this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-5-IDE-SATA-USB-HDD-Disk-Drive-Enclosure-Caddy-AU-/130546340060?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item1e652b10dc

or this if you have multiple HDDs

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Practical-USB-3-0-2-5-3-5-SATA-HDD-Holder-Dock-Docking-Station-Fan-/270886083166?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3f12119a5e

I have something similar to the second one with a memory card reader on the front and its fantastic.

[Tjcrazy]

They're Australian links. I don't really want to spend much more than ?10, seeing I've already spent a lot on this enclosure I got already.

Would this work, seeing as I'm already powering the Hard Drive and got SATA output, due to the caddy?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-0-IDE-SATA-2-5-3-5-Hard-Drive-Converter-Cable-/300528872095?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item45f8eaaa9f#ht_1861wt_1163

[HoochieMamma]

Yes that should work, but its a bit award having all of those things attached to one another

[Tjcrazy]

Yes that should work, but its a bit award having all of those things attached to one another

Ha, I'm a student, I don't care about awkward. All I care about is cheap :). I'll go a ahead and buy it then - thanks!

[ZakO]

For a bit extra you can get a proper dock; http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-external/harddriveenclosures/usb2.0externalhdddocking.html

[Tjcrazy]

Thanks ZakO! Ordered it today, went to collect it and now its working perfectly! Thanks!

[spikey_richie]

Nice find ZakO; might get one of those myself...

[Tjcrazy]

I've been using it the lsat hour, works flawlessly - proper plug in and play. Only concern is the possible damage it might do to the hard drive. Having the hard drive vertical with chip out in the open.

[user01100011]

i used a packard bell carbon drive but i cracked the case open and now i can use the power and sata connectors with any drive with usb

[AJerman]

All you need is an enclosure with USB support. The one you linked to only has eSATA support. I also have a dock like ZakO linked to and am very pleased. I have my music HDD plugged into it, and I can yank it out and take it with me anytime I want to without having to open up a case to get to it. Plus it supports 3.5" and 2.5" drives.

[Astra.Xtreme]

I've been using it the lsat hour, works flawlessly - proper plug in and play. Only concern is the possible damage it might do to the hard drive. Having the hard drive vertical with chip out in the open.

Shouldn't be a problem. Hard Drives work on magnetics, so the orientation shouldn't have an effect. Though if you constantly take it in and out of the dock, you risk hurting it since the internals are pretty fragile.

[AJerman]

Shouldn't be a problem. Hard Drives work on magnetics, so the orientation shouldn't have an effect. Though if you constantly take it in and out of the dock, you risk hurting it since the internals are pretty fragile.

I HIGHLY recommend not moving the drive while it's on. Other than that, when the heads are parked, HDDs are very durable. I wouldn't worry too much about the electronics being exposed as long as you don't touch anything to metal and short it out.