Vantec NexStar NST-D100UFS 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0/eSATA/1394a Hard Drive Dock (White)

by Vantec

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7 x 3.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001F8Q0DM
• Item model number: NST-D100UFS
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #63 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Accessories > Hard Drive Enclosures
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2004

Product Description

The Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock is a complete and easy way to add or swap hard drives to your computer. It gives you the flexibility of connecting any SATA I/II hard drive to your computer via USB 2.0, eSATA, or Firewire connection without opening up your computer case or installing into an enclosure. Simply just insert any 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA I/II hard drive into the NexStar Hard Drive Dock and you are ready to transfer, copy, or backup files. Quick and easy, the Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock is the perfect solution to access your hard drive in seconds.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So far: easy, quick, changeable access!, January 25, 2011

By 

HZ (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vantec NexStar NST-D100UFS 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0/eSATA/1394a Hard Drive Dock (White) (Personal Computers)

I've only had it for about a week now, but it's quite easy to use and the transfer speeds are nice! Although I can't yet speak to the longevity of the product, it's very flexible and I'm happy so far. Having so many interfaces means I can connect in the best way to any of my computer configurations.

Systems used:
Macbook Pro 15" - OS X 10.5 - Firewire and USB
Dell Latitude e6410 - Ubuntu 10.10, Windows 7, OS X 10.6 - Firewire and eSATA

Pros:
- Works with every OS/connection I've tried.
- Has very nice transfer speeds with FW and eSATA.
- Able to quickly swap drives (unmount, turn off, switch drive, turn on)
- Drives stay cool

Cons:
- None yet, I will update if/when problems arise.

Drive Use: I've used larger, power hungry 3.5" drives as well as delicate 2.5" laptop drives in here and all have worked flawlessly. I did an initial backup of data to a 3.5" drive which ran for somewhere around 6-hours and the drive never got very hot (being exposed is sort of like a built-in convection cooling system!). That drive also ran all weekend and there were not problems during that time. Although in general I only run the drives for a few hours and then store them away.
I've also done a FireWire daisy-chain through my LaCie 2Big drive and had no problems accessing (reading/writing) the drive through and extended (several hours) backup cycle which was using both drives on that daisy-chain.

Backups: Although I've got a RAID system to back up important data, it is filling up and I find that there are things that don't really need to take up space on my RAID (e.g. movies), but I want to keep backed up (just in case). It's great to use my old spare hard drives (I've got a couple of 500gb 3.5" drives that _used_ to be the RAID, just collecting dust) that I can now use as large USB drives! Just stick it in, transfer data, remove and put it back on the shelf! This is really nice way to store data "just in case" and it's so painless to change drives!

Test out OS: I can connect this drive with eSATA and install an OS or some specific configuration and boot to that drive to see how I like the configuration, BEFORE changing my drive with all my settings/data on it! I really like the ability to test out a new OS without taking up space on my internal HD or (worse) upgrading my current OS to find that something doesn't work like I want and then trying to downgrade (not easy in ANY OS I've seen). I currently have a triple-boot laptop and it's a real pain to change, so I really like having the ability to test a system before committing to the change! I've also noticed that the eSATA transfer is quite speedy, even on a laptop!

Oh, USB: To be sure, I've connected through USB and done some transferring to make sure it works, but since my computers have other interfaces, I will only use USB when required. It's SO slow to transfer anything more than 1GB.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The brave little toaster..., May 3, 2011

By 

Hip Audio - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vantec NexStar NST-D100UFS 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0/eSATA/1394a Hard Drive Dock (White) (Personal Computers)

At first the relatively thin plastic casing made me worry that this might be cheaply constructed, but it's proven to be a solid little device and quite convenient. I'm using it to track Pro Tools recording sessions and audio files to and then handing my clients the drives when we're done. I also use it to catalog sound effects and recording sessions onto hard drives that I'm now able to insert, use, remove and store in their own plastic cases like little VHS tapes. Pretty cool!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, September 9, 2010

By 

Seymore B. "Sincerely Seymore" (Los Gatos) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vantec NexStar NST-D100UFS 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0/eSATA/1394a Hard Drive Dock (White) (Personal Computers)

This item has worked flawlessly. I initially purchased it because my 2003 model HP Desktop lacked any of the newer SATA connections. It works out and now I can make use of the 1TB disk drive that has been stored for about a month. It features 2 fire wire ports as well. Not sure why you would need two but at least they are there. Supposedly PCs communicate better with fire wire connections as opposed to USB 2.0. I am also going to be using this device to create additional storage on my DVR as well. Extremely satisfied.