External Device Reads HDDs, Memory Cards

By Kevin Parrish
published

Scythe's revised Kama Connect multi-adapter received a few new features.

The European arm of Scythe Co. Ltd. has released an upgraded version of its universal S-ATA and IDE multi-adapter, the new Kama Connect Plus. This device will connect various storage solutions via a USB port at the same time including 2.5-inch, 3.5-inch, and 5.25-inch S-ATA and IDE devices. It will even allow for simultaneous operations of one S-ATA drive and one IDE drive.

"Kama Connect Plus is compatible with the Big Drive standard and supports HDDs up to 2TB as well as optical drives such as Blu-Ray and DVD devices," the company said.

New to this model are two additional USB ports and a multi-card reader. This is ideal for transferring files to and from USB drives, media cards, and other devices not supported in the previous model. The company added that Kama Connect PLUS is Plug-n-Play compatible, and supports USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 standards. It is also compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Scythe's Kama Connect Plus measures 2.44-inches (W) x 3.98-inches (D) x 1.18-inches (H), and is now available in the US for $39.99, and in Europe for 29.35 EUR.

Kevin Parrish
15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • husker
    Oh, is that all. When I read the headline I thought it was a wireless device that could "spy" on drives without physically connecting.
    Reply
  • mavroxur
    huskerOh, is that all. When I read the headline I thought it was a wireless device that could "spy" on drives without physically connecting.

    Lolwut? I saw the title and thought "ah ok, some kind of dock that reads hard drives and memory cards". Maybe that was just me.
    Reply
  • traesta
    $39.99 so I can connect the 10 ide hard drives that I have sitting in a drawer and finally get my old files copied over from past years ! This product I really like
    Reply
  • presidenteody
    I thought it would be something cooler too, i thought these have been around for a while through other manufactures?
    Reply
  • hellwig
    I have one of their old standard SATA/IDE device, it works really well. I use it to attach a DVD drive to my netbook (a lot cheaper than buying a USB DVD drive). I also had to use it at work one time because we needed to get files off a broken machine, but that machine used IDE and all the new machines were SATA.

    I never tried using SATA and IDE at the same time but its cool that it supports it.
    Reply
  • onsiteone
    headline should read, "SATA/IDE to USB cable reads Memory Cards too"
    Reply
  • jacobdrj
    I like it, and I think I want it.
    Reply
  • Bolbi
    At this stage it should have eSATA and maybe USB 3.0 (instead of USB 2.0). Does anyone seriously think running an IDE and SATA drive at the same time on a single USB 2.0 port will provide even halfway-decent speed?
    That said, this could be useful for the computer repairman who wants one device to read and write to just about any digital storage medium and doesn't care about doing so at blazing fast speeds.
    Reply
  • pjmelect
    A bit expensive, there are a lot of competing devices that do the same thing but are cheaper.
    Reply
  • nukemaster
    This kind of device is not new, but add in a card reader and now its a new toy. I do not think the price is too bad for something to keep at your work bench or even use with you laptop.
    Reply