Review: NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter

A Simple Solution - An Easy Installation - A True Innovation 

The other day I received a call from a friend asking if I would help him set up a new computer that he had purchased. Several years ago I set up his computer and he had been “computing” for years. Of course, after I had set him up, I went over a procedure for him to backup his important information so he would be able to retrieve his files if he ever had a disaster.

When I chatted with him on the phone, he said that his old computer died and since it was so old, he felt it was better to just buy a new one. He asked if I would come over and again help him set it up. It was then that he then asked if I could get his files back on his new computer. Naturally, I asked: “have you been doing your backups?” That was when I heard the “ahh, um, ahh, well, not really”. This was not good….

When I asked what went wrong with the old computer, he indicated that Windows was not starting and that he was getting error messages. So I said I would be over and we will get him up and running and if we were lucky, we would be able to retrieve his old files. So I packed a bag with a few basic essentials and one item that is a “can’t live without” accessory … my NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter.

The NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter allows me to seamlessly create a connection between a USB port and a mass storage device port. The connection allows me to take any ATA, Serial ATA, or ATAPI based mass storage device and connect it through any USB port on my computer. What it does is that it virtually creates for me an external drive with any ATA or SATA drive that I might have … pretty cool accessory to have!

It’s a simple setup…just attach a connector to the back of the drive, plug in the power and insert the USB plug into the USB port of your computer. Almost instantaneously your computer recognizes that you have inserted a new device and VOILA, you can easily transfer files from the hard drive to your computer … it’s slick, it’s easy and it’s “Plug and Play”!

So I went over to help out and we easily were able to set up his new system. As simple as vendors have made the set up process, there are still “pieces of the puzzle” that folks don’t get … this is good, it keeps me in business! After getting him up and running, we setup his web access, installed a few programs that he had and then we looked at the old box. “Ok”, I said, “let’s take out the old drive and see if we can get those files”.

Within minutes, we had the old drive out and ready to see if we could get his files. I took my NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter out, attached the cable, plugged in the power and the drive started to whir. I plugged the USB end of the cable into the new computer and in a second a message appeared that new hardware had been found and was installed. We opened My Computer, navigated to the My Documents folder and selected all the files he wanted to save as well as the hundreds of pictures his wife had saved. It was just about this time that he gave me an ice cold bottle of Sam Adams!

Newer Tech has designed a terrific solution for you to easily connect a 2.5" laptop drive, a 3.5" desktop drive or a 5.25" drive like an IDE/ATAPI device such as a CD-ROM, CD-RW and DVD-ROM drive. I suppose you could go out and spend $20-$50 on an external drive enclosure but that is for only one type of drive and it’s inconvenient to change drives. This solution provides the widest array of choices for fast and efficient file transfer.

Over the years, I have saved a number of drives from my old computers. Yeah, the old 2 gig drives are long gone but I have a half dozen or more drives that are 30 gig or more. The NewerTech solution provides me with the opportunity to use multiple drives in a fast and efficient manner. Now I have a backup solution that protects my files, music, pictures and videos and, as an added bonus, allows me to reuse those old drives…I like that! It’s very cool, very convenient and will provide you with solid performance.

Product Specifications:

USB 2.0 to ATA connection (2 sided, for 2.5" and 3.5" drives), and a SATA connection.

Connect any device with an ATA or SATA Interface to a Mac or PC with USB interface

Transfer rate Approx. 480 MBps (USB 2.0)

Complies with USB 2.0 standards

Backwards compatible to USB 1.1 standards

Complies with ATA/ATAPI-66 Spe. V1.0

Compatible with SATA-I and SATA-II

Simple to Install

Supports IDE and enhanced IDE hard drives

Supports ATA/ATAPI CD-ROM/R/RW DVD-ROM and more

External AC adapter provides drive power

System Requirements:

Mac OS 9.2 or higher, including Mac OS X

Linux 2.4.X

Microsoft Windows 2000/XP (No driver required)

Package Contents:

USB 2.0 to IDE adapter cable

2.5" to 3.5" Adapter

Power adapter and cord

 

PROS

Well made

USB 2.0 (and backwards compatible)

Adaptive to multiple devices

Supports Windows and Mac OS

CONS

None, it does exactly what it is supposed to do: seamless connectivity to a myriad of different drives

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Cost: $24.95

 

Visit Newer Technology here to find out more information about the NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter

 

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