Unitek's SATA HDD Dock throws in multicard reader, one-touch backup

If you've managed to blink over the past few weeks, you may have missed it. Missed what, you ask? The war between no name HDD racks, that's what. After numerous evolutions of the HDD Stage Rack managed to capture the hearts of at least a few storage junkies out there, we've seen a barrage of competitors surface over at Brando. The latest is Unitek's SATA HDD Multi-Function Dock with One Touch Backup, which -- to be totally frank -- does a phenomenal job of explaining itself. For those a touch slow on the uptake, this unit enables any internal 2.5- / 3.5-inch SATA drive to be accessed externally, and furthermore, it packs a couple of USB 2.0 ports and supports a whole slew of memory cards. You could grab this one now for $53, but then again, you never know what will leapfrog it next week.

[Via The Red Ferret Journal]

[Crayola @ Jun 26th 2008 6:12PM]

Minus a trip to Hugh's mansion, my life is now complete...

[kjb434 @ Jun 26th 2008 6:18PM]

Has anybody used a multi-card reader and used all slots at the same time?

Just wondering if they work or if something crazy happens.

My printer came with a multi-card reader on it (mainly for pictures) that i used sometimes.

[doudOSX @ Jun 26th 2008 7:55PM]

i have..........i needed a new one

[jason @ Jun 26th 2008 6:21PM]

no floppy?

[carbonrain @ Jun 26th 2008 6:36PM]

that's what she asked

[carbonrain @ Jun 26th 2008 6:38PM]

btw, i only see floppy drives/disks (3 1/2") useful for props in period pieces set in the '90's

[relawson @ Jun 26th 2008 6:22PM]

ok, seriously, where is my IDE/SATA/SCSI/FLASH drive dock? i've been waiting for that one before i get real excited in the pocket book... but, don't get me wrong this is good too! :)

[BratPAQ @ Jun 26th 2008 6:36PM]

a floppy drive and a dvd drive, and you're all set

[fred @ Jun 26th 2008 9:12PM]

This thing needs a cassette drive.

[Greg Combs @ Jun 26th 2008 6:47PM]

A piece of shit like this on your desk is sure to get you dates.

[Uchiha Sasuke @ Jun 26th 2008 7:17PM]

You don't have to explain yourself like that.

[Mark @ Jun 26th 2008 7:20PM]

Is there a dock out there for the older ATA drives?

When I throw out an old computer, I tend to keep the drives if they are still working. I'm curious to look at some of them, but I don't feel like opening my machine.

Anyone?

[stalkythefish @ Jun 26th 2008 10:52PM]

Agreed. SATA is still too new an interface to be on any of my "loose drives".

[tiuk @ Jun 27th 2008 12:01PM]

I don't know of a dock, but there are plenty of things like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

[bryan @ Jun 26th 2008 7:34PM]

or, but a similar one here in the states for 39.99 (though it doesn't have the 1 touch backup - it does sport a USB hub).. Glad to see Engadget behind the times... again.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=EN391-S2HC

[Matt @ Jun 26th 2008 9:21PM]

Wow that thing is sexy.

[OziD @ Jun 26th 2008 6:51PM]

when you look at fisher price toys do you think they look sexy too?

[spass @ Jun 26th 2008 7:23PM]

Some manufacturers realized, some still need to realize that many buyers, including me, prefer to pay an extra 10% or so for a better looking product.

[Cody Peterson @ Jun 26th 2008 9:50PM]

Would be nice to find a dual sata version with raid 0/1.. I like the idea that I could get ~4 drives and just swap out pairs / have the raid 1 backup (I work with lots of media files and my ass would be fired if I were to lose data)...

[Kaiser-Machead @ Jun 26th 2008 10:22PM]

Why are people even caring about the looks? It's just a storage dock, and I want this bad.

[Dave @ Jun 26th 2008 10:25PM]

If this connects via USB 2.0 then the premise of having SATA drives attach to it is essentially a waste...where's the esata?

[couchpundit @ Jun 26th 2008 11:52PM]

Maybe not a waste for just quick-n-dirty access to loose drives and other random media that comes your way. As a tech, I can tell ya I'd love to have one of these hanging off my USB 2.0 port for data recovery, disk cloning, repairs, virus scans, etc.

If I was going to keep a big disk on it for long-term, I'd definitely want eSATA, too.

If so, you'd probably want something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sata-HDD-USB-Docking-Station/dp/B0012Z3MKW/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1214519939&sr=8-1

For me, I'm a video guy. Loose drives are cheap so I can quickly archive a project and then put it back in the static bag until I need it again. I can save my eSATA port for working projects.

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 26th 2008 11:48PM]

hey wont it need some kind of cooling?

[irregularcog @ Jun 27th 2008 1:27AM]

hot damn that's nice

[Rick @ Jun 27th 2008 12:25PM]

"I don't care what it looks like, you figure out how to cram it all in there!"

[kevmando @ Jun 27th 2008 2:40PM]

how about 5.25" support? I can hook up my dvd burner to my laptop.
(or blu ray drive?)

[Sam Cayze @ Jun 27th 2008 5:18PM]

Where is my eSATA connection? USB is soooo yesterday.