Sharkoon USB3 caddy

[OldRoy]

I'm thinking of buying the dual caddy for use as a backup station. The easy swappabilty is the factor that influences me. I have an existing USB2 WINSTARS sata usb2 caddy but have some misgivings about the durability of these edge-connector devices. The HD connectors aren't really designed for more than the occasional connect/disconnect. I don't intend to be swapping drives all the time, but it will certainly happen whilst I'm sorting out my current muddle of data living on many drives.

I'd appreciate comments from anyone who has experience of the durability of these type of devices.

Roy

[jim]

Nah, they're fine. I use them all the time, and never had even the slightest issue with them, on HDDs or the USB devices.

[OldRoy]

Well, let me reply to my own question.

I have both a WinStars USB2 caddy and an ICYBOX eSata/USB2 caddy. The WinStars device works fine but make sure it doesn't get disturbed at all. The drive is held in place on the connectors by gravity and nothing else. It is very loose - no friction securing it at all - allows fore and aft movements at the slightest bump - which immediately disconnect the drive. I haven't lost any data doing this but it is VERY VERY vulnerable to any interruption. NOT a good device for anything mission-critical.

Slightly off-topic.
The ICYBOX locates the drive firmly when the front door is shut. No problems seen on an XP box but on my Win 7/64 box it has suddenly ceased to be recognised - irrespective of the drive currently fitted. I have posted another thread on this.

Roy

[jim]

I had a Sharkoon QuickPort which was gravity based, but the connection was extremely sturdy.

I didn't find a great deal of info when I googled for the Winstars one, so not sure... probably a design issue.