StarTech SLIMCDFDCAGE Slim Optical & 3.5in Hard Drive Mounting Bracket for 5.25in Front Bay

Pros: Very heavy duty construction, no plastic, all metal. The Matte Black finish works nicely for most cases. It's not very deep at all (about 4ins) which is good for ITX systems.

Cons: The price is a bit high, but for a novelty product that will never sell in high volume, what do you expect?

Oh, and? The outdated IDE to ATAPI adapter is more of a collectors item than usable. You'll need to get your own SATA adapter.

Other Thoughts: The honeycomb faceplates are pointless, since I see few people actually buying this and then not utilizing the Slim Drive bay and the 3.5" bay, considering the <$5 price tag on 5.25"/3.5" bay adapters. But that's just my opinion.

Pros: Heavy duty construction. two slots in one bin

Cons: Price is a bit higher than i would like but it is high quality.. but not sure if it is worth the price tag.

i was informed of a similar product at half the cost of this one with the same quality

Other Thoughts: it worked for every thing i needed it to and painted very well with high quality paint.

Pros: Startech branding

Cons: Price!

Comes with an outdated IDE adapter.

No M2 screws included!

Other models are more than half the price and includes the M2 screws for the slimline SATA drive and the MiniSATA to full SATA backplate.

Price!

Other Thoughts: I was going to buy this until i read a certain review on the A that provided a link to the Chenbro alternative. I got that one, it came with M2 screws, and a mini SATA to full SATA backplate adapter.

It even have a knock out where you can install a USB header or ESATA connection.

Pros: Well i think this is a bit overpriced. It is metal and it is quality though. I had a spare BR laptop drive that i wanted to replace an ancient IDE optical drive with. It allowed me to place the blueray and a 3.5" usb3 port into one single slot. Basically I gained a slot on my case which makes it worth the $.

Cons: Would be nice if they included a few extra screws (especially the small ones for laptop optical drives). Price should be around $15-20 but take it or leave it on these one off converters. There was a strange board with what looked like ide connectors. I dont know what it was for. If it were a slimline sata to regular sata/power connector that would have been MUCH more useful!

Other Thoughts: Be sure to check if you need a slimline to regular sata connection. Also make sure you have some mini screws for the optical drive as there are none included and my screw kit doesnt have any either. Thankfully I have some laptops in the graveyard that donated their organs.

Pros: The steel feels thick, seems to measure a full millimeter. The build quality feels good, heavy for it's size, doesn't bend easily. There's enough space around the faceplate of the optical drive that it shouldn't ever hit the mount when closing. There are screws in places where they technically could have put spot welds - this was totally necessary, but makes the difference between a product I can't use to one that I can use.

Cons: Tolerances are a bit too loose. I don't expect perfection, because costs increase exponentially as tolerances get tighter, and it's no help if the stuff you're putting in the mount isn't just as exacting. Still, the whole thing needs a bit of adjusting to get your stuff to fit. Also, screw holes on one side of the slim bay are too close to the bend in the metal. The size of even a tiny screw head means the screw goes in at an angle. I had to file out the circular hole to an oval hole just to get the screw to sit flush. Luckily I already has a file small enough to fit. You may need a small tubular file if you plan to put all four screws in your slim optical drive.

Other Thoughts: Parts that screw together rather than being welded means that pretty much anything that's supposed to fit in here, will fit in here, even if it's poorly made. Overall I'd say I'm happy with it, even though I had to file some of the screw holes to be larger. If I had paid half the price, I'd be ecstatic, but as it stands it's just "meh".

Pros: It fits, slimline odd's fit, it's hard to bend. (It would be really hard to screw these up). Slimline ATA connect provided.

Cons: You can't actually use half the screw holes for the slimline drive. Also, no screws are provided, so if you buy an OEM slimline drive with no screws, you're outta luck. Paint quality was also a little lacking. I don't understand why this units cost twice as much as the others in its range.

Other Thoughts: If the slimline drive vibrates or chatters because of the screw holes, I'll probably send this back.

Pros: Very well made. Fits 5.25 bay perfectly. Great for small ITX cases like the Thermaltake Element-Q and similar sized cases. I used a Slim Slotload DVD Burner and a card reader. Or a slim drive and a Scythe Twin Mounter
to mount 2 2.25" SDD or HDDs. Fits flush just like factory installed.

Cons: Had to wait 2.5 months to get them. Newegg didn't carry them at the time.

Other Thoughts: none