Koutech IO-ASA221 IDE-to-Dual SATA II Device Adapter

Pros: Works real good I am running 2 optical drives I have not tried to record yet. The device does not fit tight in the socket. Just be careful when working this device.

Cons: The device fits a little lose in the socket just be careful when working around this adapter

Pros: It's simple, and has a promising description of what it can do.

Also, the Slave and Master ports are clearly labeled on the card. While the card isn't "keyed" exactly, it doesn't have a hole on the one spot without a pin, so if you just pay attention to the pin arrangement and look at that blank spot, you'll know how to align it when plugging in.

Cons: Unfortunately, it doesn't do what it's supposed to do reliably. The first few times I booted, my motherboard couldn't detect the drives. After that, it could for a few boots. Now it's back to not being able to detect them. This is the same experience I've had with another similar device, though that one was set up for only one drive, not two. Neither one works reliably enough for a stable system.

Pros: Works for attaching extra SATA devices to your computer - I successfully tested a SATA HDD, DVD burner, and SSD. Seems pretty well made. I was willing to pay a little more to get dual Marvell controllers instead of cheapo JMicron or Sunplus. No jumpers to deal with.

Cons: Hotplugging doesn't work. I was skeptical that it would to begin with, since I don't see how the IDE port would be able to pass the hotplug event to the OS, even if the SATA adapter card was able to support it. So don't buy this for hotplugging - e.g. a docking bay.

The IDE connector on the board isn't keyed, nor is it wide enough to fill the socket, so it's not snug in the hole and it's unnecessarily hard to align it correctly to plug it in.

Minor annoyance: You need to power the adapter with a 4-pin connector from your power suppply.

It wouldn't kill them to put a diagram of the card on the one-page instruction sheet showing which port is slave and which is master. It is labeled on the card itself.

Other Thoughts: Good if you need more SATA ports and don't have an expansion slot to spare. Just don't expect hotplug capability.

Pros: This device worked perfectly in upgrading an old Dell XP computer with IDE drive ports only. I replaced a 160m and a 320m IDE drive with two 1 terabyte drives with absolutely no problems at all. It's almost like a new computer now.

Cons: none

Pros: It allows you to use two SATA devices, without actually having to use a SATA connector on the motherboard.

Cons: Could be smaller

Other Thoughts: I have a somewhat older motherboard that is already using all available SATA connections... Needed to add a drive and this came in use.

Pros: Higher through put than IDE drives on the same channel.
No drivers needed just plug it in.
Stable so far.

Cons: High profile, doesn't seem secure in the socket (hasn't fallen out, but feels like it would if there is vibration)

Other Thoughts: Going to buy a second for the secondary channel.

Pros: Great delivery time Newegg as always.

Bought this card to convert my IDE only Dell PC to accept and use SATA HD's. The added feature of this card is that it is SATA I & II compliant (my IDE computer could never use the SATA III rates). I already knew SATA II was max my computer was capable of. If you check some of the other cards you'll find that they are only SATA I compliant (1.5GBps or 150MBps is SATA I) and that [may] reduce the transfer rates your computer's capable of (certainly reduce the transfer speeds your SATA HD's are capable of).

More-over, there are two ports, allowing me to convert to two Sata H.D.'s (or opticals), no drivers to install and connects directly to the MB at the 40 pin IDE connection, removing the ribbon cable completely for a nicer looking Sata Cable.

Over all a great product and upgrade for an older IDE only computer (has sped it up considerably!!!). Well worth the extra bucks.

Cons: Out of the box did not work for me, fiddled with it over an hour checked & rechecked, still nothing. Relented, phoned Koutech support & was resigned to the inevitable wait to get a techie!

Surprise, two rings I had Mona on the phone. Explained the install, said it sounded right, that it should work. Even said she didn't know what could be wrong (when was the last time you had a techie tell you they didn't know!!) Anyway, she said she would run it by others & call back in an hour. Wrong, they called back in 25 min the (guy) techie went over everything with me, emphasizing tight connections . Still didn't work, then he asked me to change to the other port on the card. It worked from then on!!! Total time on the phone 10 min.

The info sheet with the card eludes to a (Master) & (Slave) mode. Me thinking as I do thought that I was getting rid of all that by switching to Sata. I found out the hard way the "Card" has a Master (furthest out) & Slave port (middle)

Other Thoughts: For less than $50 (includes shipping and cables) was able to improve by a large margin my older Dell computer. Even more so than the extra Ram I put in, which wasn't that noticeable. Although I believe the bottle neck was at the old IDE HD and I'm now taking full advantage of that extra Ram and the now new and faster Sata HD, but that's only because of this card.

Better instruction sheet specifically pointing out the Master, Slave ports would solve the above cons.

The 4 pin power connector on the card needs a molex to 4pin (fan) adapter to power this card. A molex to Sata HD power adapter will also be needed and if you don't already have a Sata data cable you'll need one that's about as long as the old IDE ribbon cable.

Really great tech support! Great product!