SABRENTUSB 3.0 to SATA External Hard Drive Lay Flat Docking Station with Built in Cooling Fan for 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD [Support UASP and 22TB] (EC-DFFN)

What's Good About the Sabrent EC-DFFN External Docking Station1. The case is lightweight and well made.2. It works well. I was able to transfer about 500gb of data per hour.3. It's quiet and attractive.4. It utilizes USB 3.0 which is about 10 times faster than 2.0.5. The included cables are just the right length.What's Can Be Improved1. The price. I paid $32 for mine.2. The screens meant to protect your fingers impede the fan's air flow.3. The rubber feet need to be taller to improve the fan's air flow. The current design creates a lot of back pressure that prevents the fan from operating at its full capacity.The Sabrent EC-DFFN external USB 3.0 docking station is well made. However, it can be improved. Read on if you would like to learn how to modify the case and improve its air flow. That's important if you are going to be running your external hard drives for long periods of time like I do.*********************************************ONE WORD OF CAUTION:Take your time, you don't want to damage your docking station's case.Tools You'll NeedA small Phillips head screwdriver, an Exacto knife and a thin knife or a razor blade. All three will work. This modification takes about 15 minutes to complete.Parts You'll Need1. Four — 6 x 3/4" Flat Head Screws (Phillips Head) Note: 6 is the diameter of the screw.(These are used to mount the rubber feet.)2. Four — 6 x 1/2" Pan Head Screws (Phillips Head).(These are used to mount the grill to the fan.)3. Two — 80mm Computer Fan Grills (sometimes listed as 8cm grills).4. Four new rubber feet approximately 1/2" by 1/2" inch is ideal. However, the ones pictured in the photos are 1/2" tall by 3/4" wide (tapered, cone-style feet). I already had those, so that's why I used them.How to Improve the Air Flow on the Sabrent Docking Station(Be sure and refer to the pictures for additional help.)1. First, make sure it's unplugged before you do this modification.2. Remove the rubber feet on the bottom of the case. They are glued in place.3. Remove the screws that you find underneath the rubber feet.4. Remove the screws holding the fan in place and remove the outer screen.5. Use an Exacto knife or a thin knife blade to pry open the bottom of the case.6. With the bottom off, wiggle the fan loose from its four anchor posts.7. Remove the inner fan screen.8. Slide the fan back onto the posts and press into place.10. Reattach the bottom of the case.11. Mount the grill onto the fan by screwing it in place with the Pan Head screws.(Indented side of the grill needs to face outward from the case.)12. Attach the four rubber feet to the corners of case with the Flat Head screws.(You have now completed the modification.)In my opinion, the docking station doesn't need a grill to protect the inward facing side of the fan because the lid and the drive you insert already do that — just be sure and turn off the power before opening the lid. The fan stops spinning in about three seconds, and only runs when there is a standard hard drive installed. It does not run if you insert an SSD drive because they don't get very hot and don't need the extra cooling. The docking station automatically senses if the drive you have inserted is an SSD or standard (spinning disc) hard drive.Note: If you decide you want to install an inner fan grill you can. Just remember it will make the grill on the bottom bulge out another quarter of an inch. If you do install an inner fan grill, be sure and insert it with the indented portion of the grill pointing towards the inside of the case.Things You Need To Know Before You Connect And Use The Sabrent Docking Station1. Insert your hard drive and connect all the cables to the case and your PC before you power it on.2. Turn off the power to the case before you disconnect the hard drive or cables.Note: Once you have powered down the docking station, you do not need to turn your computer off to disconnect it. Think of the docking station as a flash drive you have to power on to use and power off to disconnect.Some Useful Hints You Need To Read Before You Begin This Modification1. Don' t be in a hurry.2. Be careful when you pry open the bottom of the case. If you slip with the knife, you'll scratch it.3. It will be easier to remove the bottom of the case if you use a small, stiff wire that you have formed into a "J-style" hook and slide it into one of the holes left by the removal of screws. Pull up on it as you pry open the base. (A paper clip works great.)IMPORTANT — PLEASE READ:Before you put everything back together, take the appropriate screws (Flat Head or Pan) and semi-install them into the holes in the posts that hold the fan and the rubber feet in place. SCREW THEM IN ONLY HALF WAY to avoid stripping out the plastic threads and then remove them. Doing that, presets the screw hole and makes it easier for you to reinsert them when you do the final installation of the rubber feet and fan grill. However, be careful not to over-tighten them. To work properly, they only need to be tightened to the point that they are snug.One final note, when not in use, turn off your Sabrent Docking Station. It will help extend the life of your hard drives.It's just a guess, but I believe this modification almost triples the air flow — keeping your hard drive nice and cool. That's important if you have tons of data to transfer, as hard drives can get very hot if not properly cooled.By the way, the largest drive I have used in these docking stations is a 10 terabyte drive. So far, they have worked flawlessly.

After my 6 year old computer faltered, I needed a way to access my internal drives to save the data.My PC would not start up, and all I got was a black screen.I created a bootable disk with the operating system on an external SSD and managed to start the device, but it would not recognize my 2 SATA internal drives.Since one was an SSD and the other a traditional hard drive, I wanted an external enclosure that would accept both.The Sabrent was the perfect choice. Once my drives unmounted and connected to the Sabrent, I was able to view the data on each of them, and save it to another computer.The Sabrent comes with a power supply and a USB 3 cable (compatible with USB 2). Once you have unmounted your drive from the computer, simply slip it into the Sabrent, and it works like an external drive. No tools needed.You can turn the Sabrent on or off, but it will go in sleep mode after a certain period of inactivity.It has a fan to keep things from overheating. At no time did I feel the drive was getting too hot.Simple but great little tool!

Works as advertised - great device to help with upgrading / switching computer system hardware.

as you can see , I gave it 4 stars. There is one issue that prevented me from giving me 5 stars. This is not an issue caused by the amazon seller but by the manufacturer. What the manufacturer failed to consider ( or deliberately overlooked as to get people to buy more is unknown} as they really are experts in that business and KNEW there would be issues) , was the need to have an usb-c female to usb-a/b male adapter in order to use on slightly older computers and or laptopThe aforementioned adapters are ridiculously inexpensive . I made an additional Amazon purchase of mentioned adapters and they were delivered by Amazon the next day , Syntech (2) boxes of 3 adapters for a total of 6 adapters for $6.99. As you can see there is really no excuse for the manufacturer not to throw one in the box. As a matter of fact , they could pay less than 1 dollar per adapter and raise the price of their product price by 2 dollars and everybody winsOnce I got the adapters I immediatly used the system to read the ( both contents both IDE and SATA hard drives and SSD drives. And several of the drives werE unused for over 22 years! Worked like a charm. I recommend this product

If you have a serial hard disk drive you need to access, this is definately the way to go. Easy to use and install hard drives.