Turn Your 2.5-inch HDD Into a USB 3.0 External Drive

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

This enclosure from Super Talent will turn your 2.5-inch HDD into a USB-based external drive.

Thursday Super Talent revealed the USB 3.0 Storage POD enclosure, a hard drive enclosure that converts almost any 2.5-inch HDD into a USB 3.0 external hard disk. This device is relatively cheap and easy to install, requiring only two screws and less than 5 minutes to complete.

"Chances are you already have an external USB drive and its USB 2.0 connector is holding it back," the company said. "The USB 2.0 bus keeps most drives from performing at their true potential and relegates their usage to simple storage backup. Now you can do something about it. By simply changing the enclosure, you can liberate your existing HDD and see double and even triple the speed - without reformatting. "

To install, users simply cram any 2.5-inch SATA HDD into the USB 3.0 Storage POD enclosure. A specially designed rubber grommet surrounds the drive and holds it firm to provide adequate protection against shock and vibrations. To finish, just close the cover and apply the two screws.

Currently the actual release date is unknown, but the enclosure will retail for $29 USD when it hits the market. The package will include the enclosure itself, cables and a simple instruction manual. The company also offers an identical enclosure but with a 2.5-inch HDD already installed for $71 USD, which can be purchased here and at other online retailers.

Kevin Parrish
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • N.Broekhuijsen
    Erm, what??

    It's a USB 3.0 enclosure, why is this newsworthy? Seriously, these devices have been on the market for ages, by many different manufacturers, what makes this one special enough to be newsworthy?

    I sense advertising money...
    Reply
  • molo9000
    Either money or a hot blonde marketing representative.
    Hope it was worth it :)
    Reply
  • zybch
    Like xbeater says, this is a (very) simple (rather expensive) USB3 enclosure.

    I've been doing this with my old notebook and desktop drives since well before SATA existed and have a bunch of old 40 and 60 gig drives from dead notebooks in cases for those times when a flash drive isn't large enough.
    Reply
  • cookoy
    by this time i think all new laptops should have at least a usb 3.0 port but they don't
    Reply
  • N.Broekhuijsen
    cookoyby this time i think all new laptops should have at least a usb 3.0 port but they don'tYh, well, at least we have backward compatibility.
    Besides, I just boughta 1TB 2.5 inch USB3 Drive yesterday, from WD, nifty little thing, goes fast on the USB3 (~ 100 read / ~ 80 write ) from what I see. Cost me just 75 Euro new, so I fail to see the point of these enclosures. Few years ago it was cheaper, but now, not so much.
    Reply
  • Filiprino
    I prefer eSATA.
    Reply
  • N.Broekhuijsen
    9313879 said:
    laptop sucks... 3 usb, power-up 2 cables usb and get one port for something.

    i dont get a motherboard with support usb3 our pcie. 3.0 either i dont have the money for that.

    usb 3.0 have a greater improviments over the usb 2.0 but for now is really expansive.
    Not really, A USB3 adapter is pretty standard in motherboards these days, and if you don't have it yet, its like 20 bucks, still nothing:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124102

    And the external drives themselves are adopting the USB 3.0 standard as well, finally, and they pretty much come at the same price point as the older USB 2.0 drives.

    So stop your whining if you haven't got your facts straight
    Reply
  • reggieray
    Bah, $29, your being ripped off. Go to Newegg or Tiger Direct, they have tons of 2.5" and 3.5" enclosures to choose from.
    Reply
  • ravewulf
    I wouldn't mind these so much if it was openly and honestly stated it was an advertising deal
    Reply
  • tachi1247
    The real question is does it support SATA 6 gb/s so I can hook up an SSD. Current SSD models can't saturate USB 3.0 so there is no performance loss.
    Reply