Laptop Docking Station
Hard Drive Docking Stations – An Alternative to a Hard Drive Enclosure
If you’ve got a lot of hard disks drives that you use on a regular basis or perhaps you’re an IT or Support Engineer and your job involves testing hard drives then you might want to consider a Hard Drive Docking station rather than a hard drive enclosure.
Whilst Hard Drive Enclosures are excellent at providing protection for the hard drive and they’re available in a range of interface types, styles and colours they still typically need a few minutes to set up. This is because there are normally a few screws that hold the case together and a couple of screws that are used to hold the hard drive in place in the enclosure. You want these if you are building a permanent or semi-permanent back-up or external storage solution. You want to be comforted by know your hard drive is safe in the enclosure, particularly if you’re carrying it around with you.
But, if you need to check lots of disks on a regular basis and your time is valuable then an alternative is a Hard Drive Docking Station. These relatively new products are typically permanently connected to your PC or Mac via USB and you then simply “slot” or “dock” the hard drive into the “docking station”. They also have their own power supply, which in turn powers the hard drive.
Once installed in the docking station the hard drive will be picked up by the PC and within a couple of seconds you can be interrogating the hard drive, retrieving data or backing up data to the drive. When you’ve finished simply remove the hard drive from the docking station. There are no screws, no connections to mess with you just pop it in and take it out. It that simple that you can do it all one handed!
The Docking Stations support hard drives from laptops (2.5” HDD’s) and from Towers/Desktops (3.5” HDD’s) so not only are they easy and quick to use but they’re incredibly flexible as well.
If you’re worried about losing one of your USB Ports by having the docking station permanently connected then don’t because many version of these have a USB Hub built into the base of the unit to give you 3 extra USB ports as well.
So if you’re looking for speed and simplicity of use and you’re not worried about providing a case around the hard drive to protect it and make transportation easy then you might consider a Hard Drive Docking Station
About the Author
USBNow is a specialist supplier of USB Products including USB Cables, USB Adapters, USB Memory Sticks, Hard Drive Enclosures , USB Cases, Express Cards and lots more besides. – check out our site for the latest products, news and for support – USBNow
Hewlett Packard Docking Station with 120W-PSU (Laptop) 7092