Review Details

USB 3.0 to PATA and SATA 3.5 and 2.5 inch hard drive adapter

Product Review (submitted on June 17, 2014):

Pros: (Easily stated...)
1. Well built (for a plastic unit). Not fragile; actually pretty solid.
2. The in-cable on/off switch previously criticized is now on the disk interface. Again solid.
3. IDE disks previously formatted for the Mac OS appeared seemlessly on the Mac Desktop. (10.9.3)
4. IDE disks previously formatted for NTFS appear seamlessly on the Mac or Win7 Desktop/Computer window.
5. The on/off switch on the disk interface allows "Quasi" hot-swapping of drives.
(Drag the disk to the trash though before you turn the switch to off.)

Cons: (Searched for these...)
1. IDE disks previously formatted for the Mac OS are not readable in Win7.
(The disk is present in Computer Management but requires an NTFS/FAT format before useable.)
2. The disks - outside of an enclosure that usually have fans blowing on the disks - get quite warm.
(I wouldn't use the 'CoolGear' adapter as a full-time replacement for an external drive.)
3. No storage or carry case is included/offered.

It's worth the extra $$$