SunbeamTech SATA Dock Review

I’ve always been an advocate of external devices.  Except for HDD enclosures – the lack of heat dissipation on most of them makes me shudder in my Spiderman jammies.  But other stuff, like thousands of Plug N’ Play USB devices out there, have always made my eyes glaze over and my tongue hang like a puppy with a mouthful of peanut butter.  The one thing that always draws me in is Convenience of Function.

And what is that, you ask?  Convenience of Function is the term I give any good product that does its damned job without a whole bunch of crap work involved.  Install these drivers while plugging in this and then rub the top counter-clockwise whilst singing the Star Spangled Banner.  You know the usual nonsense that comes with most electronics.  My review today is on a product that is an excellent example of convenience of function.  The SunBeamTech eSATA/USB 2.0 HDD Docking Station is a versatile and convenient way to access your precious data on the fly.

Here are some specs on this critter:

FEATURES: SATA to USB / SATA to ESATA Enables the direct connection of a SATA HDD or SATA II HDD to your PC Suitable for 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA HDDs External interface: USB 2.0 (max. 480 MB/s) Support USB / ESATA Hot Plug feature 132 x 94 x 69 mm

SPECS: USB 2.0 Transfer Rate Up to 480Mbps Supports: Window 2000 / XP / VISTA, Linux and MAC HDD Dock x 1 USB Cable x 1 eSATA Cable x 1 12V/2A DC Adapter x 1 User Manual x 1

I started messing around with computers right around the time that Windows 98 was making its debut.  The most I could do back then was download and play around with this little digital sheep that would wander around your screen and occasionally fall off your icons if you pick him up and put him on there.  I was absolute moronic at checking email.  And most certainly there was no such thing as hot-swapping the PATA hard drive inside this monster of a case.  But what I know now still doesn’t calm my fears when it comes to HDD hot-swapping.

Nothing gives me the jitters like the thought of unplugging a hard drive while my computer is still running.  I did it once with a parallel ATA drive about eight years ago and ended up with a rather expensive paperweight holding down the receipts for my new hardware.  Even with SATA being the standard and being totally hot-swappable, I still don’t like opening my case while it’s running.

But the SunBeamTech HDD Dock does away with the fears of electrostatic discharge and a violent death by electrocution at the hands of your open PC case.  It’s completely compatible with all 2.5” and 3.5” SATA drives, so you can inspect HDDs from your desktop and from your laptop without changing docks or taking apart enclosures and losing all those little screws.  And the dock’s spring-loaded door even has a notched guide so you can easily slide your 2.5” SATA drive right down in there without having to try and line it all up by eye.  Score.

I’m going to test this thing with a 160GB Seagate Barracuda that I use for backing up my info.  It’s a usual driver for me, so I know it’s a good drive.  Here’s are the specs on my test machine:

• AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor (latest AMD CPU prices)
• 2GB (2x1GB) of Samsung 800Mhz System Memory (latest memory prices)
• 160GB 7200.11 Seagate Barracuda SATA HDD (more Seagate hard drives)
• Windows Vista 32-Bit with SP1 (see the other versions)

I could include my designer Linda Lovelace case sticker in those specs, but what good would that do us?  It’s pretty hot though.  Let’s get our test on.  Setup is extremely easy with this docking station, as all you have to do is plug in the power adapter, connect either the eSATA or USB cables to the dock and your PC, plug in a HDD, and power it on.  It’s PnP, so there’s no driver installation.  Windows does all the work of finding and installing for you.

I started with the eSATA connection, and using SiISandra I am comparing it to four other drives on the market.  These include the Western Digital 2500KS and Maxtor DiamondMax.  The dock enabled a speed of nearly 46Mb/s.  This speed was rated number three in the rating system based on Mb/s speeds.  For the USB test, I am trading the Maxtor in for the Western Digital 2100JS.  I like to keep things fresh.

Even with the change to USB, the dock’s controller was still getting just under 46Mb/s.  Obviously this speed is slightly limited by the presence of the dock itself, but even so there is plenty of justification in using this dock compared to opening up the side of your case and installing a HDD for temporary data access.  Sometimes it’s better to have a slight decrease in speed compared to a bunch of physical labor that will have to reversed in an hour.

USB Speed Tests

eSATA Speed Tests

So how did the SunBeamTech dock stand up in my book?  It’s small, light, and portable.  You can access vital data with minimal setup, and there’s no enclosure to build up massive heat.  It supports all SATA drives and can be connected via eSATA or USB 2.0 for speedy access.  Easily, this could be a great buy for anyone who is into recovering data or simply wants a way to change out hard drives without the muss and fuss.  In conclusion, I give the HDD dock two thumbs up.  Convenience of Function by definition.

	REPORT CARD : Sunbeam SATA/USB HDD Docking Station category rating comments Quality 4 Plastic base is rather sturdy. No bells and whistles, just the way it should be. Innovation 5 Convenience of Function by definition Performance 4 Slight decrease in performance, but you really won’t notice it Installation 5 Plug.  Go.  Simple as that. Value 4 Hard drive docks are rather inexpensive, and practically necessary for today’s hardware enthusiast FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars