Sabrent ECS-STU35 USB 2.0 to 3.5-inch IDE/PATA or Serial ATA Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure Case (SILVER)

by Sabrent

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.6 x 2.6 inches ; 1.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000DZTAQW
• Item model number: ECS-STU35
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2004

Product Description

SABRENT ECS-STU35 USB 2.0 to 3.5" IDE/PATA or Serial ATA (SATA/SATA II) Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure Case - SILVER : Now you can connect any 3.5" Hard Drive, Serial ATA (SATA/SATAII) or PATA/IDE to your computer through USB 2.0 interface. The USB 2.0 interface allows users to read and write large files up to 480mbits per second, and it is fully backward compatible to USB 1.1 specification. This product is ideal for a personal backup solution. Features : Convert any Serial ATA (SATA) or PATA/IDE drive into external USB storage Native SATA 3.5 inch Drive to USB 2.0 Solution, Slim Compact Aluminum Enclosure. Plug and Play; Hot swapping Specifications : Ultra Light Aluminum Case Equipped with LED indicates Power and Action status. Supports Wakeup ability Supports 480Mbps high-speed data transfers Supports 3.5-inch IDE hard disk drives Support 3.5" Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disk Drives Hot-swappable Requirements: Windows 98SE/2000/ME/2003/XP MAC OS X Package Content: Hard Drive Enclosure Power Supply Power Cord USB 2.0 cable Driver Disk User Manual

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It does the job but it's flimsy, March 14, 2006

By 

CaesarTheDay "CaesarTheDay" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sabrent ECS-STU35 USB 2.0 to 3.5-inch IDE/PATA or Serial ATA Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure Case (SILVER) (Personal Computers)

I recently went through another Windows XP meltdown (thank you Bill) and decided to get a new HD to use strictly for data storage. I got an internal for cost reasons and needed an enclosure. After a long time looking for the right one, I found one that offers both SATA and IDE connectors.
Once connected the product does it's job - connects to the PC and stores data. But it's built like a grade-school shop project. Cheap aluminum held together by screws, hot glue gun and a lot of luck.
The IDE and SATA connectors are short and stiff so you really have to wiggle to get your drive inside. The power cord barely fits in a socket and the moment you breathe on it it falls out.
But the most annoying thing is the rattling. This thing is put together in a way that every time the HD spins it rattles like crazy.
Go find yourself another product. I'm giving it 2 stars only because I was able to recover my data quite nicely and quick thanks to the USB 2.0.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works great! Saved me a lot of work and money!, November 25, 2007

By 

George Gonzalez (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sabrent ECS-STU35 USB 2.0 to 3.5-inch IDE/PATA or Serial ATA Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure Case (SILVER) (Personal Computers)

I was kinda worried when I read the other reviews for this product, but I had recently lost my desktop PC's Windows system drive and my only hope was to put it into an enclosure like this and try to fix it from my laptop. I was not disappointed! I'm very glad I purchased this device and consider it a steal at the price Amazon has. The drive that failed is an IDE, but I knew I would want the flexibility of installing a SATA drive for use as an external storage device, and this seemed like the only enclosure capable of doing both.

It's not flimsy as other reviews have called it, but the whole thing basically comes apart in four pieces when you undo the screws to install the drive. If you do it in your lap, it'll be a handful, but it's really easy to put together again. The materials are first-rate, and the enclosure has plenty of ventilation holes. I wish it had a fan, but after more than 12 hours of continuous running I encountered no heat-related problems. It has both IDE and SATA interfaces inside, the IDE is easier to install than the SATA, but both are very easy to do. I think the easiest way to install the IDE is to pull the data cable off the enclosure's circuit board and plug it into the drive first, then plug in the power connector to the drive, place the drive in the enclosure and finally plug the other end of the data cable back onto the circuit board. To connect a SATA drive later, it was necessary for me to remove the IDE cable entirely. Unfortunately I found no easy way to stash the cable in the enclosure itself for safe keeping.

There are two external interface options, the USB 2.0 and an eSATA. A USB cable is supplied with the unit but no eSATA cable. This was a little disappointing, since I think the eSATA would be potentially faster. I don't have an eSATA port on my laptop so having both options is good, but I'll get a cable and use the eSATA from my desktop in the future. The USB 2.0 interface is a little slow, of course, compared to a drive installed directly in a PC.

In summary, I was able to take my failed Windows drive and repair the file system on it from my laptop using this enclosure. I recovered everything and got my desktop back up and running 100%. I also installed a 500GB WD SATA drive to use as external storage and that's working great. I highly recommend this enclosure!

EDIT: This thing has passed the test of time! It is now almost a year since I first got this enclosure and it has been great. No problems with Sata or IDE drives and I've occasionally forgotten to turn it off for several days with no ill effects. Not blindingly fast, but very reliable and easy to use.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad for the price., May 2, 2006

By 

Techie T (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sabrent ECS-STU35 USB 2.0 to 3.5-inch IDE/PATA or Serial ATA Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure Case (SILVER) (Personal Computers)

A little cramped inside. The trick is to remove the front panel out of its slot before attaching the power and data cables to the drive. That gives you a little more working room. Then you can slide the drive in where it needs to be before re-installing the front panel. With a little trial and error, I had a 250gb SATA drive working in about 15 minutes. Nice aluminum interior/exterior and lots of vent holes for cooling. Seems to work fine.