Hard drive caddy 2.5 + 3.5?

[holy god of nil]

I need caddies for a couple of HDDs, one 2.5 and one 3.5. They are unlikely to be needed at the same time or on a particularly regular basis so I'd really like one that could take both (e.g. something that comes with an adaptor) and have heard bad things about docks.

Does such a thing exist or should I just pony up for a decent 2.5 and a decent 3.5?
Any recommendations?

Cheers guys

[virtuo]

What bad things have you heard about Docks? Does seem like the ideal solution for you.

I've used a 5.25" bay adapter that lets you swap in 3.5 or 2.5" drives. Basically a non-portable caddy.

The other alternative would be to get any 3.5" caddy and use one of these: http://www.misco.co.uk/product/17378...rive-Converter for your 2.5" drives.

[Saracen]

I use a dock system a lot. I've had numerous examples over the years, and not yet had trouble.

My server currently has two docks, taking three disks each, for a total of six drives, connected to a RAID5 SCSI controller. No problems.

Snother nachine has a 5-disk dock, based on old ATA drives. That one must be, oh, 15 years old. No problems.

Another machine has a setup that isn't as old as Methuselah, and might answer your question.

A 5.25 bay has an Icydock 3.5" trayless dock, and I boot from that bay. So, I can boot from any BARE 3.5" HD, simply by slotting the drive in, clising the bay door and powering up.

I also have a 2.5" to 3.5" screwless adapter, so csn boot from any 2.5" HD or SSD by slipping that into the adapter, mand slipping the adapter into the dock.

And I've had no problems with that, either, other than you have to be quite careful to seat 2.5" drives carefully. I don't change that very often, so it's not a major hassle. Once or twice, the 3.5"drive or adapter hasn't been quite seated, and I open it, reseat the drive, and it works. Of hundreds of changes, I've had to fiddle maybe twice. And only ever when switching drives.

[holy god of nil]

Mainly that they can be unsteady / unstable and thus damage connectors etc in extreme situations, long time back mind

Alright then, dock suggestions?

[Saracen]

I guess anything that's being plugged in and unplugged extensively is subject to wear or damage to connections, and perhaps added to that, I'd guess there are, like many things, examples that are cheaper or dearer, and worse or better made, and often a correlation between the two.

I'm not going to recommend anything, because I don't have a broad or deep enough experience to compare. Also, because yoyr usage and mine might vary.

I will (And indeed, did) say that on that more modern machine, the bay and the converter are Icydock. As for models numbers, no idea, without digging out the invoice. The 3.5" dock is caddyless, takes bare drives and in that machine, is a one-drive bay. It's worked fine for me for a couple of years. Of the older stuff, one is Fujitsu-branded, and the others Elonex, and they've lasted years, but are ancient and irrelevant, I'm sure.

Other people may have more extensive recent experience.