"Anna" wrote in message
...


"pbl" wrote in message
...

"pbl" wrote in message
news:O7GdnX4gPtmzW4PVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@internode...
I need to get a new external HDD for my laptop and I'm thinking of
getting an eSATA drive. My question is this: Can any HDD be turned into
an eSATA drive by housing it an enclosure which has an eSATA port or is
there something special about SATA drives? I'm not sure whether I
should buy an already enclosed SATA or buy the HDD and the enclosure
separately (cheaper option). Thanks for your help.
---

Thanks very much Jeff, Anna, Robert, Collin & Bill for your replies.

Just for clarification - I have a Dell XPS M1530. It has an internal
200 GB 7200 RPM SATA drive but it does not not have an eSATA. I have an
ExpressCard/54 slot. It will fit a 34 mm ExpressCard but it doesn't
feel secure. There are a few 54mm eSATA II ExpressCards including a
Belkin model. For speed and size I am after a 3.5" drive and using it
in my computer would not be an option.

I need to write/record music in real time via a firewire audio
interface and prefer to get it away from my system drive. At present I
have this USB drive:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digi...sbs_ce_title_4
but unfortunately it is really SLOW and is only useful for backing up.

Thanks for the heads-up on the ANTEC cooled enclosure. If anyone has a
suggestion for a 3.5" SATA drive to go with it I am all ears.


"Anna" wrote in message
...
pbl:
First of all, I think you are wise to consider an external enclosure to
house a SATA HDD that provides SATA-to-SATA connectivity to your laptop
via the ExpressCard slot. And since your ExpressCard slot is the 54mm
variety it will, as you know, accommodate the 34mm variety of
ExpressCards as well.

Virtually all SATA external enclosures on the market today are equipped
with an eSATA port. And most of these external enclosures also are
equipped with a USB interface as well.

The beauty of having SATA-to-SATA connectivity is really twofold...
1. Data transfer will be considerably speedier than the USB interface.
Significantly so since for all practical purposes the system treats the
SATA HDD (even while it's "external" to the system) as an internal HDD.
2. The external SATA HDD is potentially bootable, assuming that (for
example) you cloned the contents of your internal (boot) HDD to the
external SATA HDD through a disk-cloning program, e.g., Acronis True
Image, Symantec's Ghost, or our favorite, Casper 4.

From your description of your objective as to how you'll be using the
external SATA HDD I realize you're not particularly interested in that
drive being potentially bootable, but it is an important element for you
to consider possibly for the future.

At least in theory, an ExpressCard with an eSATA port should serve as a
bootable device. So far our experience with a few of them has been
erratic. In one case (an Addonics card) we could consistently boot with
a connected SATA HDD. In two other cards we could not do so (at least on
a consistent basis). I have to add that I've only worked with the 34mm
variety of ExpressCards in this area and *not* any 54mm card. I would be
*most* interested in your experience with your Dell so if you do go that
route I would be really appreciative of learning of your experience,
particularly the "bootability" aspect. Have you heard anything
particular about the Belkin card you mention?

BTW, for others who might be interested, our experience with the older
CardBus (PCMCIA) cards equipped with a SATA or eSATA port led us to
conclude that these devices did *not* provide boot capability although
they were quite useful in terms of fast data transfer.

Incidentally, unless you're dead-set on using an external SATA HDD as a
storage device and not a bootable device, you may want to consider a
SATA external enclosure that accommodates a 2 1/2" SATA HDD rather than
a 3 1/2" drive. The advantage here is that should the need ever arise
where for one reason or another you wanted to replace your laptop's
internal HDD, you could use the SATA HDD installed in the external
enclosure. Again, we're assuming it would be a bootable device. There
might be, however, a slight decrease in data transfer speed re the
external SATA HDD as compared with a 3 1/2" HDD, so if your primary or
exclusive interest is using the external HDD as a storage device, then
the 3 1/2" drive would be more appropriate for your needs.

I really don't have any special recommendations for a SATA external
enclosure. We've worked with a few of them (having both SATA or eSATA
ports) and they've all pretty well done the job. Heretofore our
recommendation was generally to purchase the enclosure and the HDD
separately but we note in the past year or so prices of the "one-piece"
commercial units have fallen so dramatically that you might want to
consider purchasing one of those units. I would add that we prefer an
enclosure that has the ON-OFF switch and accompanying LED on the front
of the unit facing the user. We find that much more convenient, but
this is just a personal preference. Anyway, take a look at the newegg
offerings.
Anna


"pbl" wrote in message
...
Thank you very much Anna for your detailed response. I will most likley
go for a 3.5" drive for the additional speed. But I'm unfortunately
having a battle with Dell at the moment about the M1530 display and
because they are being terribly uncooperative they are processing a
refund. This is a huge diappouintment becuase I love this new laptop
except for the crappy grainy WSVGA display. I expect I will be
repurchasing a similar if not the same laptop when the problem gets
sorted but in the meantime I will be going back to my old WinXP laptop
with a PCMCIA port. I know you can purchase PCMCIA to eSATA adapter but
would this work as I recall your first bit of advice to be about laptop
compatibility with SATA drives??

Regarding the Belkin card, I don't know anything special about it. It is
a 54 mm card and I haven't found too many ot them. Yes the 34 mm cards
will fit but not snuggly and although you can get a plastic extender for
the 34 mm variety but I have not had much success with them.

Thanks again for your help.

pbl.


pbl:
Sorry to hear about your not-so-good experience with the Dell XPS M1530. I
haven't worked with that machine but I noticed it has garnered favorable
reviews by & large. Ironically (at least from your experience) one of
features of that laptop the reviewers particularly liked was the screen
display. One never knows, does one?

BTW, as you probably know Dell has come out with a larger (17" screen)
version - the XPS M1730. Haven't seen or used one myself but a friend
tells me that one of his friends (having a primary interest in gaming) has
one and virtually swoons over it. But it's expensive - in the $4,000 range
I believe.

As long as you're going back (at least in the meantime) to a
CardBus-equipped laptop or notebook you can use a CardBus (PCMCIA) card
with either a SATA or eSATA port. Most of them actually come with two
ports - generally eSATA, but as a practical matter it really doesn't
matter whether they're SATA or eSATA ports. eSATA is considered a more
secure type of data-cable connection and usually the SATA data cable
equipped with an eSATA connector is more heavily shielded than the usual
SATA connector data cable. So all things considered, I suppose the eSATA
port equipped CardBus would be the one to go with, especially since
there's really no significant price differential involved based on the
last time I checked. Take a look at...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...port&x=19&y=32
and you can also do a Google search on "CardBus with SATA port".

Understand - as I previously mentioned - that you will not be able to boot
from a SATA HDD (containing a potentially bootable OS) connected to the
CardBus device, regardless of whether it has a SATA or eSATA port. At
least we were never able to achieve that capability with a number of
different makes & models of CardBus SATA cards that we used. As you've
indicated I guess that's not an important consideration for you but it is
a capability we're particularly interested in so that a comprehensive
backup system would be available to a laptop/notebook in a relatively
simple & straightforward way. We're hopeful the ExpressCard devices will
work out to achieve that capability.

I haven't really worked to any appreciable degree with 54mm ExpressCards,
although the few times we used a 34mm ExpressCard inserted in the 54mm
ExpressCard module we didn't experience any problems. I believe there are
adapters now available that allow a CardBus-PCMCIA card to be used in an
ExpressCard module but I've had no experience with them. But that is not
what you were referring to as an "extender", were you? What would be the
function of the plastic extender you mentioned for 34mm ExpressCards. They
provide a more secure fit inside the 54mm module?

And have you actually used the Belkin ExpressCard? For what purpose?
Anna


Hi Anna,

So, just to be clear, if I purchase a CardBus with an eSATA port for my
WinXP PCMCIA equipped laptop and an eSATA drive it should work? The plan
would be to eventually use the drive in a new ExpressCard equipped Vista
laptop, probably the M1530 again when they sort out the screen problem.

On the issue of the M1530 display - Dell ships both LG and Samsung WSXGA+
displays for this model and the problem only exists with the Samsung, if
you're unlucky enough to get one (you can't actually choose the brand you
want). You would think a simple swap would be the way to go but I have met
with firm resistance from one particularly strong-willed tech support guy.
As strange as it might seem, the easier thing for me to do is to obtain a
full refund, wait, and re-order as less Samsung screens are being released
now. In the US, LED displays have also been released but that may not happen
in Oz or at least for some time according to the newsgroups. The M1530 is
otherwise a superb hi-spec laptop with a lot of visual appeal (T9300, 4 GB
RAM, 256 MB GeForce 8600M GT). The XPS M1730 is a little out of my price
range and too heavy for portability, but the specs are rather impressive.

The extender that I spoke of is otherwise termed a 34/54 mm spacer adaptor.
It is a piece of plastic that snaps onto the side of a 34mm ExpressCard to
enable it to fit into a 54 mm module more securely. Google doesn't provide
much help locating one of these but one came with the Targus ExpressCard
docking station I bought with my M1530. I have a local picture of how it
works if you're interested.

No, I haven't used the Belkin ExpressCard at this point in time.

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
...
As Anna says, you will not have a bootable external drive but you will
have a fast external drive. The throughput will be six times usb or
firewire, so go for it.

"Anna" wrote in message
...


"pbl" wrote in message
...

"pbl" wrote in message
news:O7GdnX4gPtmzW4PVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@internode...
I need to get a new external HDD for my laptop and I'm thinking of
getting an eSATA drive. My question is this: Can any HDD be turned
into an eSATA drive by housing it an enclosure which has an eSATA port
or is there something special about SATA drives? I'm not sure whether
I should buy an already enclosed SATA or buy the HDD and the enclosure
separately (cheaper option). Thanks for your help.
---

Thanks very much Jeff, Anna, Robert, Collin & Bill for your replies.

Just for clarification - I have a Dell XPS M1530. It has an internal
200 GB 7200 RPM SATA drive but it does not not have an eSATA. I have
an ExpressCard/54 slot. It will fit a 34 mm ExpressCard but it doesn't
feel secure. There are a few 54mm eSATA II ExpressCards including a
Belkin model. For speed and size I am after a 3.5" drive and using it
in my computer would not be an option.

I need to write/record music in real time via a firewire audio
interface and prefer to get it away from my system drive. At present I
have this USB drive:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digi...sbs_ce_title_4
but unfortunately it is really SLOW and is only useful for backing up.

Thanks for the heads-up on the ANTEC cooled enclosure. If anyone has a
suggestion for a 3.5" SATA drive to go with it I am all ears.


"Anna" wrote in message
...
pbl:
First of all, I think you are wise to consider an external enclosure to
house a SATA HDD that provides SATA-to-SATA connectivity to your laptop
via the ExpressCard slot. And since your ExpressCard slot is the 54mm
variety it will, as you know, accommodate the 34mm variety of
ExpressCards as well.

Virtually all SATA external enclosures on the market today are equipped
with an eSATA port. And most of these external enclosures also are
equipped with a USB interface as well.

The beauty of having SATA-to-SATA connectivity is really twofold...
1. Data transfer will be considerably speedier than the USB interface.
Significantly so since for all practical purposes the system treats the
SATA HDD (even while it's "external" to the system) as an internal HDD.
2. The external SATA HDD is potentially bootable, assuming that (for
example) you cloned the contents of your internal (boot) HDD to the
external SATA HDD through a disk-cloning program, e.g., Acronis True
Image, Symantec's Ghost, or our favorite, Casper 4.

From your description of your objective as to how you'll be using the
external SATA HDD I realize you're not particularly interested in that
drive being potentially bootable, but it is an important element for
you to consider possibly for the future.

At least in theory, an ExpressCard with an eSATA port should serve as a
bootable device. So far our experience with a few of them has been
erratic. In one case (an Addonics card) we could consistently boot with
a connected SATA HDD. In two other cards we could not do so (at least
on a consistent basis). I have to add that I've only worked with the
34mm variety of ExpressCards in this area and *not* any 54mm card. I
would be *most* interested in your experience with your Dell so if you
do go that route I would be really appreciative of learning of your
experience, particularly the "bootability" aspect. Have you heard
anything particular about the Belkin card you mention?

BTW, for others who might be interested, our experience with the older
CardBus (PCMCIA) cards equipped with a SATA or eSATA port led us to
conclude that these devices did *not* provide boot capability although
they were quite useful in terms of fast data transfer.

Incidentally, unless you're dead-set on using an external SATA HDD as a
storage device and not a bootable device, you may want to consider a
SATA external enclosure that accommodates a 2 1/2" SATA HDD rather than
a 3 1/2" drive. The advantage here is that should the need ever arise
where for one reason or another you wanted to replace your laptop's
internal HDD, you could use the SATA HDD installed in the external
enclosure. Again, we're assuming it would be a bootable device. There
might be, however, a slight decrease in data transfer speed re the
external SATA HDD as compared with a 3 1/2" HDD, so if your primary or
exclusive interest is using the external HDD as a storage device, then
the 3 1/2" drive would be more appropriate for your needs.

I really don't have any special recommendations for a SATA external
enclosure. We've worked with a few of them (having both SATA or eSATA
ports) and they've all pretty well done the job. Heretofore our
recommendation was generally to purchase the enclosure and the HDD
separately but we note in the past year or so prices of the "one-piece"
commercial units have fallen so dramatically that you might want to
consider purchasing one of those units. I would add that we prefer an
enclosure that has the ON-OFF switch and accompanying LED on the front
of the unit facing the user. We find that much more convenient, but
this is just a personal preference. Anyway, take a look at the newegg
offerings.
Anna


"pbl" wrote in message
...
Thank you very much Anna for your detailed response. I will most likley
go for a 3.5" drive for the additional speed. But I'm unfortunately
having a battle with Dell at the moment about the M1530 display and
because they are being terribly uncooperative they are processing a
refund. This is a huge diappouintment becuase I love this new laptop
except for the crappy grainy WSVGA display. I expect I will be
repurchasing a similar if not the same laptop when the problem gets
sorted but in the meantime I will be going back to my old WinXP laptop
with a PCMCIA port. I know you can purchase PCMCIA to eSATA adapter but
would this work as I recall your first bit of advice to be about laptop
compatibility with SATA drives??

Regarding the Belkin card, I don't know anything special about it. It is
a 54 mm card and I haven't found too many ot them. Yes the 34 mm cards
will fit but not snuggly and although you can get a plastic extender for
the 34 mm variety but I have not had much success with them.

Thanks again for your help.

pbl.


pbl:
Sorry to hear about your not-so-good experience with the Dell XPS M1530.
I haven't worked with that machine but I noticed it has garnered
favorable reviews by & large. Ironically (at least from your experience)
one of features of that laptop the reviewers particularly liked was the
screen display. One never knows, does one?

BTW, as you probably know Dell has come out with a larger (17" screen)
version - the XPS M1730. Haven't seen or used one myself but a friend
tells me that one of his friends (having a primary interest in gaming)
has one and virtually swoons over it. But it's expensive - in the $4,000
range I believe.

As long as you're going back (at least in the meantime) to a
CardBus-equipped laptop or notebook you can use a CardBus (PCMCIA) card
with either a SATA or eSATA port. Most of them actually come with two
ports - generally eSATA, but as a practical matter it really doesn't
matter whether they're SATA or eSATA ports. eSATA is considered a more
secure type of data-cable connection and usually the SATA data cable
equipped with an eSATA connector is more heavily shielded than the usual
SATA connector data cable. So all things considered, I suppose the eSATA
port equipped CardBus would be the one to go with, especially since
there's really no significant price differential involved based on the
last time I checked. Take a look at...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...port&x=19&y=32
and you can also do a Google search on "CardBus with SATA port".

Understand - as I previously mentioned - that you will not be able to
boot from a SATA HDD (containing a potentially bootable OS) connected to
the CardBus device, regardless of whether it has a SATA or eSATA port. At
least we were never able to achieve that capability with a number of
different makes & models of CardBus SATA cards that we used. As you've
indicated I guess that's not an important consideration for you but it is
a capability we're particularly interested in so that a comprehensive
backup system would be available to a laptop/notebook in a relatively
simple & straightforward way. We're hopeful the ExpressCard devices will
work out to achieve that capability.

I haven't really worked to any appreciable degree with 54mm ExpressCards,
although the few times we used a 34mm ExpressCard inserted in the 54mm
ExpressCard module we didn't experience any problems. I believe there are
adapters now available that allow a CardBus-PCMCIA card to be used in an
ExpressCard module but I've had no experience with them. But that is not
what you were referring to as an "extender", were you? What would be the
function of the plastic extender you mentioned for 34mm ExpressCards.
They provide a more secure fit inside the 54mm module?

And have you actually used the Belkin ExpressCard? For what purpose?
Anna


The bootability is not an issue right now. Although it is an interesting
possibility that I hadn't thought of with an ExpressCard. When I get my new
Laptop I will certainly experiment with this. If it works it may be possible
to set up a dual boot scenario - Vista and WinXP or even trebble boot with
Linux. That would be a lot of fun. But I would need a large eSATA drive. Can
you go to 1TB with eSATA? Is there a physical limit that ExpressCard or
PCMCIA (my only current option) can recognise?

Yes.

Forget about anything but SATA. The day of IDE drives is over.

I can guarantee that you will not be able to boot Windows with the current
eSATA ExpressCards so before you buy a new laptop make sure it has an
integrated eSATA port if possible. They should become more common so take
your time.

"pbl" wrote in message
...

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
...
As Anna says, you will not have a bootable external drive but you will
have a fast external drive. The throughput will be six times usb or
firewire, so go for it.

"Anna" wrote in message
...


"pbl" wrote in message
...

"pbl" wrote in message
news:O7GdnX4gPtmzW4PVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@internode...
I need to get a new external HDD for my laptop and I'm thinking of
getting an eSATA drive. My question is this: Can any HDD be turned
into an eSATA drive by housing it an enclosure which has an eSATA
port or is there something special about SATA drives? I'm not sure
whether I should buy an already enclosed SATA or buy the HDD and the
enclosure separately (cheaper option). Thanks for your help.
---

Thanks very much Jeff, Anna, Robert, Collin & Bill for your replies.

Just for clarification - I have a Dell XPS M1530. It has an internal
200 GB 7200 RPM SATA drive but it does not not have an eSATA. I have
an ExpressCard/54 slot. It will fit a 34 mm ExpressCard but it
doesn't feel secure. There are a few 54mm eSATA II ExpressCards
including a Belkin model. For speed and size I am after a 3.5" drive
and using it in my computer would not be an option.

I need to write/record music in real time via a firewire audio
interface and prefer to get it away from my system drive. At present
I have this USB drive:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digi...sbs_ce_title_4
but unfortunately it is really SLOW and is only useful for backing
up.

Thanks for the heads-up on the ANTEC cooled enclosure. If anyone has
a suggestion for a 3.5" SATA drive to go with it I am all ears.


"Anna" wrote in message
...
pbl:
First of all, I think you are wise to consider an external enclosure
to house a SATA HDD that provides SATA-to-SATA connectivity to your
laptop via the ExpressCard slot. And since your ExpressCard slot is
the 54mm variety it will, as you know, accommodate the 34mm variety of
ExpressCards as well.

Virtually all SATA external enclosures on the market today are
equipped with an eSATA port. And most of these external enclosures
also are equipped with a USB interface as well.

The beauty of having SATA-to-SATA connectivity is really twofold...
1. Data transfer will be considerably speedier than the USB interface.
Significantly so since for all practical purposes the system treats
the SATA HDD (even while it's "external" to the system) as an internal
HDD.
2. The external SATA HDD is potentially bootable, assuming that (for
example) you cloned the contents of your internal (boot) HDD to the
external SATA HDD through a disk-cloning program, e.g., Acronis True
Image, Symantec's Ghost, or our favorite, Casper 4.

From your description of your objective as to how you'll be using the
external SATA HDD I realize you're not particularly interested in that
drive being potentially bootable, but it is an important element for
you to consider possibly for the future.

At least in theory, an ExpressCard with an eSATA port should serve as
a bootable device. So far our experience with a few of them has been
erratic. In one case (an Addonics card) we could consistently boot
with a connected SATA HDD. In two other cards we could not do so (at
least on a consistent basis). I have to add that I've only worked with
the 34mm variety of ExpressCards in this area and *not* any 54mm card.
I would be *most* interested in your experience with your Dell so if
you do go that route I would be really appreciative of learning of
your experience, particularly the "bootability" aspect. Have you heard
anything particular about the Belkin card you mention?

BTW, for others who might be interested, our experience with the older
CardBus (PCMCIA) cards equipped with a SATA or eSATA port led us to
conclude that these devices did *not* provide boot capability although
they were quite useful in terms of fast data transfer.

Incidentally, unless you're dead-set on using an external SATA HDD as
a storage device and not a bootable device, you may want to consider a
SATA external enclosure that accommodates a 2 1/2" SATA HDD rather
than a 3 1/2" drive. The advantage here is that should the need ever
arise where for one reason or another you wanted to replace your
laptop's internal HDD, you could use the SATA HDD installed in the
external enclosure. Again, we're assuming it would be a bootable
device. There might be, however, a slight decrease in data transfer
speed re the external SATA HDD as compared with a 3 1/2" HDD, so if
your primary or exclusive interest is using the external HDD as a
storage device, then the 3 1/2" drive would be more appropriate for
your needs.

I really don't have any special recommendations for a SATA external
enclosure. We've worked with a few of them (having both SATA or eSATA
ports) and they've all pretty well done the job. Heretofore our
recommendation was generally to purchase the enclosure and the HDD
separately but we note in the past year or so prices of the
"one-piece" commercial units have fallen so dramatically that you
might want to consider purchasing one of those units. I would add that
we prefer an enclosure that has the ON-OFF switch and accompanying LED
on the front of the unit facing the user. We find that much more
convenient, but this is just a personal preference. Anyway, take a
look at the newegg offerings.
Anna


"pbl" wrote in message
...
Thank you very much Anna for your detailed response. I will most likley
go for a 3.5" drive for the additional speed. But I'm unfortunately
having a battle with Dell at the moment about the M1530 display and
because they are being terribly uncooperative they are processing a
refund. This is a huge diappouintment becuase I love this new laptop
except for the crappy grainy WSVGA display. I expect I will be
repurchasing a similar if not the same laptop when the problem gets
sorted but in the meantime I will be going back to my old WinXP laptop
with a PCMCIA port. I know you can purchase PCMCIA to eSATA adapter but
would this work as I recall your first bit of advice to be about laptop
compatibility with SATA drives??

Regarding the Belkin card, I don't know anything special about it. It
is a 54 mm card and I haven't found too many ot them. Yes the 34 mm
cards will fit but not snuggly and although you can get a plastic
extender for the 34 mm variety but I have not had much success with
them.

Thanks again for your help.

pbl.


pbl:
Sorry to hear about your not-so-good experience with the Dell XPS M1530.
I haven't worked with that machine but I noticed it has garnered
favorable reviews by & large. Ironically (at least from your experience)
one of features of that laptop the reviewers particularly liked was the
screen display. One never knows, does one?

BTW, as you probably know Dell has come out with a larger (17" screen)
version - the XPS M1730. Haven't seen or used one myself but a friend
tells me that one of his friends (having a primary interest in gaming)
has one and virtually swoons over it. But it's expensive - in the $4,000
range I believe.

As long as you're going back (at least in the meantime) to a
CardBus-equipped laptop or notebook you can use a CardBus (PCMCIA) card
with either a SATA or eSATA port. Most of them actually come with two
ports - generally eSATA, but as a practical matter it really doesn't
matter whether they're SATA or eSATA ports. eSATA is considered a more
secure type of data-cable connection and usually the SATA data cable
equipped with an eSATA connector is more heavily shielded than the usual
SATA connector data cable. So all things considered, I suppose the eSATA
port equipped CardBus would be the one to go with, especially since
there's really no significant price differential involved based on the
last time I checked. Take a look at...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...port&x=19&y=32
and you can also do a Google search on "CardBus with SATA port".

Understand - as I previously mentioned - that you will not be able to
boot from a SATA HDD (containing a potentially bootable OS) connected to
the CardBus device, regardless of whether it has a SATA or eSATA port.
At least we were never able to achieve that capability with a number of
different makes & models of CardBus SATA cards that we used. As you've
indicated I guess that's not an important consideration for you but it
is a capability we're particularly interested in so that a comprehensive
backup system would be available to a laptop/notebook in a relatively
simple & straightforward way. We're hopeful the ExpressCard devices will
work out to achieve that capability.

I haven't really worked to any appreciable degree with 54mm
ExpressCards, although the few times we used a 34mm ExpressCard inserted
in the 54mm ExpressCard module we didn't experience any problems. I
believe there are adapters now available that allow a CardBus-PCMCIA
card to be used in an ExpressCard module but I've had no experience with
them. But that is not what you were referring to as an "extender", were
you? What would be the function of the plastic extender you mentioned
for 34mm ExpressCards. They provide a more secure fit inside the 54mm
module?

And have you actually used the Belkin ExpressCard? For what purpose?
Anna


The bootability is not an issue right now. Although it is an interesting
possibility that I hadn't thought of with an ExpressCard. When I get my
new Laptop I will certainly experiment with this. If it works it may be
possible to set up a dual boot scenario - Vista and WinXP or even trebble
boot with Linux. That would be a lot of fun. But I would need a large
eSATA drive. Can you go to 1TB with eSATA? Is there a physical limit that
ExpressCard or PCMCIA (my only current option) can recognise?

"pbl" wrote in message
...
Hi Anna,
So, just to be clear, if I purchase a CardBus with an eSATA port for my
WinXP PCMCIA equipped laptop and an eSATA drive it should work? The plan
would be to eventually use the drive in a new ExpressCard equipped Vista
laptop, probably the M1530 again when they sort out the screen problem.

(SNIP)

The extender that I spoke of is otherwise termed a 34/54 mm spacer
adaptor. It is a piece of plastic that snaps onto the side of a 34mm
ExpressCard to enable it to fit into a 54 mm module more securely. Google
doesn't provide much help locating one of these but one came with the
Targus ExpressCard docking station I bought with my M1530. I have a local
picture of how it works if you're interested.


pbl:
Yes, the eSATA CardBus will work just fine in terms of data transfer with
your SATA HDD contained in a SATA external enclosure. As I previously
mentioned you won't be able to boot to that SATA external HDD should it
contain a potential bootable XP OS but it's ideal for general data
transfer - considerably superior to a USB external HDD for that purpose.

And, as you say, you would use the SATA EHD connected through an ExpressCard
module on your Dell M1530 after it's repaired. Hopefully, the boot
capability will be present under those circumstances. Please keep us
informed of your experience in that area should you ever use a disk-cloning
program to clone the contents of your laptop's internal HDD to the SATA
external HDD through the ExpressCard device. I'd really be interested in
that aspect.

Thanks for the info on the "extender". I was unfamiliar with that item. The
few times I had occasion to use a 34mm ExpressCard in a notebook that was
equipped with the 54mm ExpressCard slot, the card fit in reasonably securely
and I can't recall using any sort of extender or adapter. At least I wasn't
aware of one. I'm beginning to wonder whether an extender/adapter was
already affixed to the card and I just didn't notice it. I'll look into this
further.
Anna

"Anna" wrote in message
...

"pbl" wrote in message
...
Hi Anna,
So, just to be clear, if I purchase a CardBus with an eSATA port for my
WinXP PCMCIA equipped laptop and an eSATA drive it should work? The plan
would be to eventually use the drive in a new ExpressCard equipped Vista
laptop, probably the M1530 again when they sort out the screen problem.

(SNIP)

The extender that I spoke of is otherwise termed a 34/54 mm spacer
adaptor. It is a piece of plastic that snaps onto the side of a 34mm
ExpressCard to enable it to fit into a 54 mm module more securely. Google
doesn't provide much help locating one of these but one came with the
Targus ExpressCard docking station I bought with my M1530. I have a local
picture of how it works if you're interested.


pbl:
Yes, the eSATA CardBus will work just fine in terms of data transfer with
your SATA HDD contained in a SATA external enclosure. As I previously
mentioned you won't be able to boot to that SATA external HDD should it
contain a potential bootable XP OS but it's ideal for general data
transfer - considerably superior to a USB external HDD for that purpose.

And, as you say, you would use the SATA EHD connected through an
ExpressCard module on your Dell M1530 after it's repaired. Hopefully, the
boot capability will be present under those circumstances. Please keep us
informed of your experience in that area should you ever use a
disk-cloning
program to clone the contents of your laptop's internal HDD to the SATA
external HDD through the ExpressCard device. I'd really be interested in
that aspect.

Thanks for the info on the "extender". I was unfamiliar with that item.
The few times I had occasion to use a 34mm ExpressCard in a notebook that
was equipped with the 54mm ExpressCard slot, the card fit in reasonably
securely and I can't recall using any sort of extender or adapter. At
least I wasn't aware of one. I'm beginning to wonder whether an
extender/adapter was already affixed to the card and I just didn't notice
it. I'll look into this further.
Anna

Thanks for that. I will keep you posted on my adventures. I'll be doing some
research over the next few days to locate a suitable SATA drive and
enclosure. I have a couple of recommendations already to work with.

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
...
Yes.

Forget about anything but SATA. The day of IDE drives is over.

I can guarantee that you will not be able to boot Windows with the current
eSATA ExpressCards so before you buy a new laptop make sure it has an
integrated eSATA port if possible. They should become more common so take
your time.

"pbl" wrote in message
...

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
...
As Anna says, you will not have a bootable external drive but you will
have a fast external drive. The throughput will be six times usb or
firewire, so go for it.

"Anna" wrote in message
...


"pbl" wrote in message
...

"pbl" wrote in message
news:O7GdnX4gPtmzW4PVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@internode...
I need to get a new external HDD for my laptop and I'm thinking of
getting an eSATA drive. My question is this: Can any HDD be turned
into an eSATA drive by housing it an enclosure which has an eSATA
port or is there something special about SATA drives? I'm not sure
whether I should buy an already enclosed SATA or buy the HDD and the
enclosure separately (cheaper option). Thanks for your help.
---

Thanks very much Jeff, Anna, Robert, Collin & Bill for your replies.

Just for clarification - I have a Dell XPS M1530. It has an internal
200 GB 7200 RPM SATA drive but it does not not have an eSATA. I have
an ExpressCard/54 slot. It will fit a 34 mm ExpressCard but it
doesn't feel secure. There are a few 54mm eSATA II ExpressCards
including a Belkin model. For speed and size I am after a 3.5" drive
and using it in my computer would not be an option.

I need to write/record music in real time via a firewire audio
interface and prefer to get it away from my system drive. At present
I have this USB drive:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digi...sbs_ce_title_4
but unfortunately it is really SLOW and is only useful for backing
up.

Thanks for the heads-up on the ANTEC cooled enclosure. If anyone has
a suggestion for a 3.5" SATA drive to go with it I am all ears.


"Anna" wrote in message
...
pbl:
First of all, I think you are wise to consider an external enclosure
to house a SATA HDD that provides SATA-to-SATA connectivity to your
laptop via the ExpressCard slot. And since your ExpressCard slot is
the 54mm variety it will, as you know, accommodate the 34mm variety
of ExpressCards as well.

Virtually all SATA external enclosures on the market today are
equipped with an eSATA port. And most of these external enclosures
also are equipped with a USB interface as well.

The beauty of having SATA-to-SATA connectivity is really twofold...
1. Data transfer will be considerably speedier than the USB
interface. Significantly so since for all practical purposes the
system treats the SATA HDD (even while it's "external" to the system)
as an internal HDD.
2. The external SATA HDD is potentially bootable, assuming that (for
example) you cloned the contents of your internal (boot) HDD to the
external SATA HDD through a disk-cloning program, e.g., Acronis True
Image, Symantec's Ghost, or our favorite, Casper 4.

From your description of your objective as to how you'll be using the
external SATA HDD I realize you're not particularly interested in
that drive being potentially bootable, but it is an important element
for you to consider possibly for the future.

At least in theory, an ExpressCard with an eSATA port should serve as
a bootable device. So far our experience with a few of them has been
erratic. In one case (an Addonics card) we could consistently boot
with a connected SATA HDD. In two other cards we could not do so (at
least on a consistent basis). I have to add that I've only worked
with the 34mm variety of ExpressCards in this area and *not* any 54mm
card. I would be *most* interested in your experience with your Dell
so if you do go that route I would be really appreciative of learning
of your experience, particularly the "bootability" aspect. Have you
heard anything particular about the Belkin card you mention?

BTW, for others who might be interested, our experience with the
older CardBus (PCMCIA) cards equipped with a SATA or eSATA port led
us to conclude that these devices did *not* provide boot capability
although they were quite useful in terms of fast data transfer.

Incidentally, unless you're dead-set on using an external SATA HDD as
a storage device and not a bootable device, you may want to consider
a SATA external enclosure that accommodates a 2 1/2" SATA HDD rather
than a 3 1/2" drive. The advantage here is that should the need ever
arise where for one reason or another you wanted to replace your
laptop's internal HDD, you could use the SATA HDD installed in the
external enclosure. Again, we're assuming it would be a bootable
device. There might be, however, a slight decrease in data transfer
speed re the external SATA HDD as compared with a 3 1/2" HDD, so if
your primary or exclusive interest is using the external HDD as a
storage device, then the 3 1/2" drive would be more appropriate for
your needs.

I really don't have any special recommendations for a SATA external
enclosure. We've worked with a few of them (having both SATA or eSATA
ports) and they've all pretty well done the job. Heretofore our
recommendation was generally to purchase the enclosure and the HDD
separately but we note in the past year or so prices of the
"one-piece" commercial units have fallen so dramatically that you
might want to consider purchasing one of those units. I would add
that we prefer an enclosure that has the ON-OFF switch and
accompanying LED on the front of the unit facing the user. We find
that much more convenient, but this is just a personal preference.
Anyway, take a look at the newegg offerings.
Anna


"pbl" wrote in message
...
Thank you very much Anna for your detailed response. I will most
likley go for a 3.5" drive for the additional speed. But I'm
unfortunately having a battle with Dell at the moment about the M1530
display and because they are being terribly uncooperative they are
processing a refund. This is a huge diappouintment becuase I love this
new laptop except for the crappy grainy WSVGA display. I expect I will
be repurchasing a similar if not the same laptop when the problem gets
sorted but in the meantime I will be going back to my old WinXP laptop
with a PCMCIA port. I know you can purchase PCMCIA to eSATA adapter
but would this work as I recall your first bit of advice to be about
laptop compatibility with SATA drives??

Regarding the Belkin card, I don't know anything special about it. It
is a 54 mm card and I haven't found too many ot them. Yes the 34 mm
cards will fit but not snuggly and although you can get a plastic
extender for the 34 mm variety but I have not had much success with
them.

Thanks again for your help.

pbl.


pbl:
Sorry to hear about your not-so-good experience with the Dell XPS
M1530. I haven't worked with that machine but I noticed it has garnered
favorable reviews by & large. Ironically (at least from your
experience) one of features of that laptop the reviewers particularly
liked was the screen display. One never knows, does one?

BTW, as you probably know Dell has come out with a larger (17" screen)
version - the XPS M1730. Haven't seen or used one myself but a friend
tells me that one of his friends (having a primary interest in gaming)
has one and virtually swoons over it. But it's expensive - in the
$4,000 range I believe.

As long as you're going back (at least in the meantime) to a
CardBus-equipped laptop or notebook you can use a CardBus (PCMCIA) card
with either a SATA or eSATA port. Most of them actually come with two
ports - generally eSATA, but as a practical matter it really doesn't
matter whether they're SATA or eSATA ports. eSATA is considered a more
secure type of data-cable connection and usually the SATA data cable
equipped with an eSATA connector is more heavily shielded than the
usual SATA connector data cable. So all things considered, I suppose
the eSATA port equipped CardBus would be the one to go with, especially
since there's really no significant price differential involved based
on the last time I checked. Take a look at...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...port&x=19&y=32
and you can also do a Google search on "CardBus with SATA port".

Understand - as I previously mentioned - that you will not be able to
boot from a SATA HDD (containing a potentially bootable OS) connected
to the CardBus device, regardless of whether it has a SATA or eSATA
port. At least we were never able to achieve that capability with a
number of different makes & models of CardBus SATA cards that we used.
As you've indicated I guess that's not an important consideration for
you but it is a capability we're particularly interested in so that a
comprehensive backup system would be available to a laptop/notebook in
a relatively simple & straightforward way. We're hopeful the
ExpressCard devices will work out to achieve that capability.

I haven't really worked to any appreciable degree with 54mm
ExpressCards, although the few times we used a 34mm ExpressCard
inserted in the 54mm ExpressCard module we didn't experience any
problems. I believe there are adapters now available that allow a
CardBus-PCMCIA card to be used in an ExpressCard module but I've had no
experience with them. But that is not what you were referring to as an
"extender", were you? What would be the function of the plastic
extender you mentioned for 34mm ExpressCards. They provide a more
secure fit inside the 54mm module?

And have you actually used the Belkin ExpressCard? For what purpose?
Anna


The bootability is not an issue right now. Although it is an interesting
possibility that I hadn't thought of with an ExpressCard. When I get my
new Laptop I will certainly experiment with this. If it works it may be
possible to set up a dual boot scenario - Vista and WinXP or even trebble
boot with Linux. That would be a lot of fun. But I would need a large
eSATA drive. Can you go to 1TB with eSATA? Is there a physical limit that
ExpressCard or PCMCIA (my only current option) can recognise?

Hi Colin - I reckon an integrated eSATA port as standard is a while away and
possibly only on high end machines. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it
limited to connecting external drives compared with the multiuse
characteristics of say USB or firewire. But I had another thought - I don't
know about other laptops but for the Dell range the internal drive is
located in a caddy that effectively slides in a slot on the side of the
chassis making it very easy to replace (simply undo one screw). I could have
a back up of my entire disk on a separate 2.5" drive or another OS to boot
to or both.

Thanks for your help.

Integrated eSATA ports are beginning to show up on laptops and the problem
of course is scarce real estate. But the OP's question was specific to a
bootable port and right now it would have to be an integrated eSATA port or
nothing at all.

"pbl" wrote in message
...

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
...
Yes.

Forget about anything but SATA. The day of IDE drives is over.

I can guarantee that you will not be able to boot Windows with the
current eSATA ExpressCards so before you buy a new laptop make sure it
has an integrated eSATA port if possible. They should become more common
so take your time.

"pbl" wrote in message
...

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
...
As Anna says, you will not have a bootable external drive but you will
have a fast external drive. The throughput will be six times usb or
firewire, so go for it.

"Anna" wrote in message
...


"pbl" wrote in message
...

"pbl" wrote in message
news:O7GdnX4gPtmzW4PVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@internode...
I need to get a new external HDD for my laptop and I'm thinking of
getting an eSATA drive. My question is this: Can any HDD be turned
into an eSATA drive by housing it an enclosure which has an eSATA
port or is there something special about SATA drives? I'm not sure
whether I should buy an already enclosed SATA or buy the HDD and
the enclosure separately (cheaper option). Thanks for your help.
---

Thanks very much Jeff, Anna, Robert, Collin & Bill for your
replies.

Just for clarification - I have a Dell XPS M1530. It has an
internal 200 GB 7200 RPM SATA drive but it does not not have an
eSATA. I have an ExpressCard/54 slot. It will fit a 34 mm
ExpressCard but it doesn't feel secure. There are a few 54mm eSATA
II ExpressCards including a Belkin model. For speed and size I am
after a 3.5" drive and using it in my computer would not be an
option.

I need to write/record music in real time via a firewire audio
interface and prefer to get it away from my system drive. At
present I have this USB drive:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digi...sbs_ce_title_4
but unfortunately it is really SLOW and is only useful for backing
up.

Thanks for the heads-up on the ANTEC cooled enclosure. If anyone
has a suggestion for a 3.5" SATA drive to go with it I am all ears.


"Anna" wrote in message
...
pbl:
First of all, I think you are wise to consider an external enclosure
to house a SATA HDD that provides SATA-to-SATA connectivity to your
laptop via the ExpressCard slot. And since your ExpressCard slot is
the 54mm variety it will, as you know, accommodate the 34mm variety
of ExpressCards as well.

Virtually all SATA external enclosures on the market today are
equipped with an eSATA port. And most of these external enclosures
also are equipped with a USB interface as well.

The beauty of having SATA-to-SATA connectivity is really twofold...
1. Data transfer will be considerably speedier than the USB
interface. Significantly so since for all practical purposes the
system treats the SATA HDD (even while it's "external" to the
system) as an internal HDD.
2. The external SATA HDD is potentially bootable, assuming that (for
example) you cloned the contents of your internal (boot) HDD to the
external SATA HDD through a disk-cloning program, e.g., Acronis True
Image, Symantec's Ghost, or our favorite, Casper 4.

From your description of your objective as to how you'll be using
the external SATA HDD I realize you're not particularly interested
in that drive being potentially bootable, but it is an important
element for you to consider possibly for the future.

At least in theory, an ExpressCard with an eSATA port should serve
as a bootable device. So far our experience with a few of them has
been erratic. In one case (an Addonics card) we could consistently
boot with a connected SATA HDD. In two other cards we could not do
so (at least on a consistent basis). I have to add that I've only
worked with the 34mm variety of ExpressCards in this area and *not*
any 54mm card. I would be *most* interested in your experience with
your Dell so if you do go that route I would be really appreciative
of learning of your experience, particularly the "bootability"
aspect. Have you heard anything particular about the Belkin card you
mention?

BTW, for others who might be interested, our experience with the
older CardBus (PCMCIA) cards equipped with a SATA or eSATA port led
us to conclude that these devices did *not* provide boot capability
although they were quite useful in terms of fast data transfer.

Incidentally, unless you're dead-set on using an external SATA HDD
as a storage device and not a bootable device, you may want to
consider a SATA external enclosure that accommodates a 2 1/2" SATA
HDD rather than a 3 1/2" drive. The advantage here is that should
the need ever arise where for one reason or another you wanted to
replace your laptop's internal HDD, you could use the SATA HDD
installed in the external enclosure. Again, we're assuming it would
be a bootable device. There might be, however, a slight decrease in
data transfer speed re the external SATA HDD as compared with a 3
1/2" HDD, so if your primary or exclusive interest is using the
external HDD as a storage device, then the 3 1/2" drive would be
more appropriate for your needs.

I really don't have any special recommendations for a SATA external
enclosure. We've worked with a few of them (having both SATA or
eSATA ports) and they've all pretty well done the job. Heretofore
our recommendation was generally to purchase the enclosure and the
HDD separately but we note in the past year or so prices of the
"one-piece" commercial units have fallen so dramatically that you
might want to consider purchasing one of those units. I would add
that we prefer an enclosure that has the ON-OFF switch and
accompanying LED on the front of the unit facing the user. We
find that much more convenient, but this is just a personal
preference. Anyway, take a look at the newegg offerings.
Anna


"pbl" wrote in message
...
Thank you very much Anna for your detailed response. I will most
likley go for a 3.5" drive for the additional speed. But I'm
unfortunately having a battle with Dell at the moment about the M1530
display and because they are being terribly uncooperative they are
processing a refund. This is a huge diappouintment becuase I love
this new laptop except for the crappy grainy WSVGA display. I expect
I will be repurchasing a similar if not the same laptop when the
problem gets sorted but in the meantime I will be going back to my
old WinXP laptop with a PCMCIA port. I know you can purchase PCMCIA
to eSATA adapter but would this work as I recall your first bit of
advice to be about laptop compatibility with SATA drives??

Regarding the Belkin card, I don't know anything special about it. It
is a 54 mm card and I haven't found too many ot them. Yes the 34 mm
cards will fit but not snuggly and although you can get a plastic
extender for the 34 mm variety but I have not had much success with
them.

Thanks again for your help.

pbl.


pbl:
Sorry to hear about your not-so-good experience with the Dell XPS
M1530. I haven't worked with that machine but I noticed it has
garnered favorable reviews by & large. Ironically (at least from your
experience) one of features of that laptop the reviewers particularly
liked was the screen display. One never knows, does one?

BTW, as you probably know Dell has come out with a larger (17" screen)
version - the XPS M1730. Haven't seen or used one myself but a friend
tells me that one of his friends (having a primary interest in gaming)
has one and virtually swoons over it. But it's expensive - in the
$4,000 range I believe.

As long as you're going back (at least in the meantime) to a
CardBus-equipped laptop or notebook you can use a CardBus (PCMCIA)
card with either a SATA or eSATA port. Most of them actually come with
two ports - generally eSATA, but as a practical matter it really
doesn't matter whether they're SATA or eSATA ports. eSATA is
considered a more secure type of data-cable connection and usually the
SATA data cable equipped with an eSATA connector is more heavily
shielded than the usual SATA connector data cable. So all things
considered, I suppose the eSATA port equipped CardBus would be the one
to go with, especially since there's really no significant price
differential involved based on the last time I checked. Take a look
at...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...port&x=19&y=32
and you can also do a Google search on "CardBus with SATA port".

Understand - as I previously mentioned - that you will not be able to
boot from a SATA HDD (containing a potentially bootable OS) connected
to the CardBus device, regardless of whether it has a SATA or eSATA
port. At least we were never able to achieve that capability with a
number of different makes & models of CardBus SATA cards that we used.
As you've indicated I guess that's not an important consideration for
you but it is a capability we're particularly interested in so that a
comprehensive backup system would be available to a laptop/notebook in
a relatively simple & straightforward way. We're hopeful the
ExpressCard devices will work out to achieve that capability.

I haven't really worked to any appreciable degree with 54mm
ExpressCards, although the few times we used a 34mm ExpressCard
inserted in the 54mm ExpressCard module we didn't experience any
problems. I believe there are adapters now available that allow a
CardBus-PCMCIA card to be used in an ExpressCard module but I've had
no experience with them. But that is not what you were referring to as
an "extender", were you? What would be the function of the plastic
extender you mentioned for 34mm ExpressCards. They provide a more
secure fit inside the 54mm module?

And have you actually used the Belkin ExpressCard? For what purpose?
Anna


The bootability is not an issue right now. Although it is an interesting
possibility that I hadn't thought of with an ExpressCard. When I get my
new Laptop I will certainly experiment with this. If it works it may be
possible to set up a dual boot scenario - Vista and WinXP or even
trebble boot with Linux. That would be a lot of fun. But I would need a
large eSATA drive. Can you go to 1TB with eSATA? Is there a physical
limit that ExpressCard or PCMCIA (my only current option) can recognise?

Hi Colin - I reckon an integrated eSATA port as standard is a while away
and possibly only on high end machines. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't
it limited to connecting external drives compared with the multiuse
characteristics of say USB or firewire. But I had another thought - I
don't know about other laptops but for the Dell range the internal drive
is located in a caddy that effectively slides in a slot on the side of the
chassis making it very easy to replace (simply undo one screw). I could
have a back up of my entire disk on a separate 2.5" drive or another OS to
boot to or both.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Colin
The bootability is not an issue right now. Although it is an
interesting possibility that I hadn't thought of with an ExpressCard.
When I get my new Laptop I will certainly experiment with this. If it
works it may be possible to set up a dual boot scenario - Vista and
WinXP or even trebble boot with Linux. That would be a lot of fun. But
I would need a large eSATA drive. Can you go to 1TB with eSATA? Is
there a physical limit that ExpressCard or PCMCIA (my only current
option) can recognise?

- I reckon an integrated eSATA port as standard is a while away
and possibly only on high end machines. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't
it limited to connecting external drives compared with the multiuse
characteristics of say USB or firewire. But I had another thought - I
don't know about other laptops but for the Dell range the internal drive
is located in a caddy that effectively slides in a slot on the side of
the chassis making it very easy to replace (simply undo one screw). I
could have a back up of my entire disk on a separate 2.5" drive or
another OS to boot to or both.

Thanks for your help.


"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
news
Integrated eSATA ports are beginning to show up on laptops and the problem
of course is scarce real estate. But the OP's question was specific to a
bootable port and right now it would have to be an integrated eSATA port
or nothing at all.


Just one point of clarification...

It is not the eSATA port that determines potential "bootability" but the
direct SATA-to-SATA connection that's controlling in this situation. Should
an external SATA HDD be connected to even a "normal" SATA (non-eSATA) port
the drive will be bootable assuming, of course, that it contains a bootable
copy of the XP OS. (Obviously we're assuming that the PC, i.e., the
motherboard, supports SATA capability).

A number of desktop cases come equipped with a "regular" (non- eSATA) SATA
port and they work just fine to achieve this "bootability". It is true,
however, that external non-eSATA ports are pretty much a thing of the past
and virtually every new desktop case that comes equipped with an external
port supporting SATA devices comes with an eSATA port. And, of course, any
desktop motherboard that contains external SATA capability will similarly be
equipped with an eSATA port.

There are still a number of SATA adapters on the market (installed on the
backplane of a PC's desktop case) that have a non-eSATA port or ports and
they too work just fine to achieve this "bootability". Again, they're fast
disappearing from the market to be replaced by devices containing the eSATA
type of port.

The basic advantage of the eSATA port over the "regular" SATA port is that
it provides a more secure connection with the SATA data cable. And the SATA
data cable that usually comes (or is used) with an eSATA-equipped device is
generally a more heavily-shielded cable than the "regular" SATA data cable.

As Colin points out, laptops/notebooks that are equipped with a eSATA port
are a rare commodity. More's the pity since it's such a useful device -
considerably superior to USB external devices used for data transfer.
Hopefully that will change in the not-too-distant future but the industry,
as a whole, has been woefully slow in embracing this superior technology.
Particularly surprising because the additional cost involved is relatively
trifling in the scheme of things. One of the reasons may be a "watch & wait"
attitude because of the forthcoming SATA3 specifications/devices that are
supposedly on the horizon.
Anna

Whatever, but I don't think you will ever see a laptop with an integrated
SATA port because the technology has moved on now to eSATA ports.

"Anna" wrote in message
...

Hi Colin
The bootability is not an issue right now. Although it is an
interesting possibility that I hadn't thought of with an ExpressCard.
When I get my new Laptop I will certainly experiment with this. If it
works it may be possible to set up a dual boot scenario - Vista and
WinXP or even trebble boot with Linux. That would be a lot of fun. But
I would need a large eSATA drive. Can you go to 1TB with eSATA? Is
there a physical limit that ExpressCard or PCMCIA (my only current
option) can recognise?

- I reckon an integrated eSATA port as standard is a while away
and possibly only on high end machines. Correct me if I'm wrong but
isn't it limited to connecting external drives compared with the
multiuse characteristics of say USB or firewire. But I had another
thought - I don't know about other laptops but for the Dell range the
internal drive is located in a caddy that effectively slides in a slot
on the side of the chassis making it very easy to replace (simply undo
one screw). I could have a back up of my entire disk on a separate 2.5"
drive or another OS to boot to or both.

Thanks for your help.


"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message
news
Integrated eSATA ports are beginning to show up on laptops and the
problem of course is scarce real estate. But the OP's question was
specific to a bootable port and right now it would have to be an
integrated eSATA port or nothing at all.


Just one point of clarification...

It is not the eSATA port that determines potential "bootability" but the
direct SATA-to-SATA connection that's controlling in this situation.
Should an external SATA HDD be connected to even a "normal" SATA
(non-eSATA) port the drive will be bootable assuming, of course, that it
contains a bootable copy of the XP OS. (Obviously we're assuming that the
PC, i.e., the motherboard, supports SATA capability).

A number of desktop cases come equipped with a "regular" (non- eSATA) SATA
port and they work just fine to achieve this "bootability". It is true,
however, that external non-eSATA ports are pretty much a thing of the past
and virtually every new desktop case that comes equipped with an external
port supporting SATA devices comes with an eSATA port. And, of course, any
desktop motherboard that contains external SATA capability will similarly
be equipped with an eSATA port.

There are still a number of SATA adapters on the market (installed on the
backplane of a PC's desktop case) that have a non-eSATA port or ports and
they too work just fine to achieve this "bootability". Again, they're fast
disappearing from the market to be replaced by devices containing the
eSATA type of port.

The basic advantage of the eSATA port over the "regular" SATA port is that
it provides a more secure connection with the SATA data cable. And the
SATA data cable that usually comes (or is used) with an eSATA-equipped
device is generally a more heavily-shielded cable than the "regular" SATA
data cable.

As Colin points out, laptops/notebooks that are equipped with a eSATA port
are a rare commodity. More's the pity since it's such a useful device -
considerably superior to USB external devices used for data transfer.
Hopefully that will change in the not-too-distant future but the industry,
as a whole, has been woefully slow in embracing this superior technology.
Particularly surprising because the additional cost involved is relatively
trifling in the scheme of things. One of the reasons may be a "watch &
wait" attitude because of the forthcoming SATA3 specifications/devices
that are supposedly on the horizon.
Anna

Hello!

"pbl" wrote in message ...
The bootability is not an issue right now. Although it is an interesting possibility that I hadn't thought of with an ExpressCard.
When I get my new Laptop I will certainly experiment with this. If it works it may be possible to set up a dual boot scenario -
Vista and WinXP or even trebble boot with Linux. That would be a lot of fun.

BTW, an external SATA disk doesn't need to be bootable to
install second Windows NT OS on it (in dual boot scenario).
But \bootmgr (or \ntldr) (which is located on active partition and
not on external disk) must be able to see it ...

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/bootmgr.html

Regards, Roman