Vantec IDE To USB Adapter
Review by: Steve
Edited by: Ji4m
Provided by: Vantec USA
Price: $25 Canadian

Introduction:
When hooking up a drive outside of your computer, the solution is usually to buy an external USB/Firewire enclosure for whatever size device you are working with. This can sometimes be a bit costly, especially if you have devices of different sizes you need to use. If you're looking for a quick solution to using a 2.5", 3.5" or even a 5.25" drive externally, then the Vantec IDE to USB adapter may be just what you're after.

(Click to enlarge)

In The Box:
(1) IDE to USB Cable
(1) Power Adapter
(1) Power Cable
(1) 2.5" HDD Adapter
(1) Installation CD
(1) Manual

(Click to enlarge)

Specs:
Transfer Rates Up to 12Mbps With USB 1.1
Transfer Rates Up to 480Mbps With USB 2.0
Supports up to 400GB drives
Hot-swappable: Plug and play without rebooting

Features:
The Vantec IDE to USB adapter is meant as an interface between any 5.25", 3.5" or 2.5" drive and your computer. Instead of a full enclosure, it's simply a cable which is the IDE to USB cable and a separate power adapter. With the included 2.5" adapter, it can easily be plugged into a smaller hard drive and still provide power and the USB interfacing of the drive. This adapter plugs into the 2.5" drive and then the IDE to USB cable plugs into it. There is also an additional molex plug off this adapter which the power adapter plugs into.

  
(Click to enlarge)

The adapter is fully USB 2.0 compliant for transfer speeds up to 480MBps. The adapter itself is bus powered through the USB port. This provides just enough power for the electronics inside the unit as well as the power LED and status LED's that are on it. These LED's are under the plastic, so when not plugged in I didn't even know they were there!

(Click to enlarge)

Installation:
Installation is a very easy two step process;
First, plug the IDE to USB adapter into an available USB port then into the back of the device you'll be interfacing. Keep in mind if you're using a 2.5" drive then you'll need to use the included 3.5" to 2.5" adapter.
Second, plug the power adapter into the wall and into the molex plug on either the drive your using or the 2.5" adapter if you're using a drive of that size.

Testing:
To test the Vantec IDE to USB adapter I ran a hard drive speed test with my drive attached to the adapter and then another with it in an external enclosure. The speed results as well as testing system specs are below:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Socket 939)
Motherboard: Biostar NF4UL-A9
Memory: 512mb Dual-Channel OCZ Premiere Series
HDD: Western Digital 160gb SATA II (WD1600JS)
Video: XFX GeForce 6600GT PCI Express
Power Supply: Silverstone ST60F 600W
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
External Hard Drive: Western Digital 160gb IDE

Test Results:
Vantec IDE to USB Adapter - 11 038 Operations Per Minute
Vizo Luxon External USB 2.0 Enclosure - 9791

Conclusion:
Overall I was very impressed by the Vantec IDE To USB Adapter. It provides a great way to externally connect a multitude of drives without the cost of buying an entire enclosure. Not to mention how the performance speed is barely affected at all by connecting a drive with this method.

Pros:
Compact, not large like an enclosure
Can easily swap devices, great for testers
Excellent performance
Compatible with 2.5", 3.5" and 5.25" drives

Cons:
On/Off switch should be integrated into the power supply

Rating: 9/10

Discuss this review in our forums!