External SATA

[MIDIman]

Just saw this today:

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124012

Has anyone seen any benchmarks for external SATA 1.5gb? Is it fast enough to host an operating system? I'm asking in reference to a laptop (and a slow drive built in), but am curious on the desktop side too.


Also - are there any differences between PCMCIA brands (i.e. zonet, sabrent, syba, etc.). I'm going to pick up a Firewire/USB2 pcmcia card.

 

[imported_Phil]

That particular card should be okay; the comments say that someone achieved 57Mb/sec.

 

[corkyg]

I have an external SATA - but the computer sees it as internal. There's no way it can tell. The external case is separately powered, and the SATA data cable runs directly from the mobo to the external case. Electronically it is no different than internal - ergo, the transfer rates would be exactly the same.

As for your card question - you usually get what you pay for. I use an Adaptec Duo-Connect. It is very reliable. 1 6-pin 1394 and 2 USB 2 ports.

 

[MIDIman]

Thank you all - I'm really surprised about the external SATA thing. Sounds like a great alternative for slow HDs generally included with laptops, eh?