Pros: Excellent idea! A must have for anyone's tech toolkit. This will allow me to connect external hard drives to my PC without having to install them inside a PC or in an external enclosure. Working in an IT shop this will be a real time saver.

Cons: Unless I missed it (and I might have) this unit didn't (but should) include some critical instructions for use. You MUST set 3.5 drives as a master, and connect the cables in the following order: Power cord to wall jack, power to drive, IDE to drive, USB to PC. Since I was unaware of that I initially reviewed this unit as DOA. Once you know how to connect it - it works great.

Overall Review: Once you are "in the know" on it's use you're good to go! Newegg comes through with another cool tool! Will there be a SATA version?

Pros: Takes up very little space in my "work bag." Doesn't even need its AC adapter for 2.5" drives.

Cons: The AC adapter is a little bit big. There's no carrying bag.

Overall Review: There seems to be some conflicting reviews for this product. I love it. It has worked with a 2.5" 30GB IBM drive I thought was dead, and several 3.5" drives (from 10 to 80GB, haven't tried a big hd). I think the key is in the order you plug it up. HERE's HOW: 1) Plug the adapter to the back of the hard drive 2) If using a 3.5" hd, plug the AC adapter into the drive, then into the wall. 3) Wait for drive to spin up and be ready (just give it 15 - 20 sec.) 4) Plug the USB connector into your computer (preferably a USB 2.0 connector) 5) Wait for it to be recognized (give it 15 - 20 sec again just to be sure) I've only tried Win XP so far, but it's worked every time, just like my bulkier Bytecc 5.25" external enclosure.

Pros: Works great for MOST of the hard drives I've tried. I've found several that are known good but will not install regardless of jumper settings. Being able to snag data off of both IDE and laptop drives without popping open the case to my system saves me time.

Cons: The power adapter supplied is a tight fit into every drive I've tried....too tight for my taste. Some drives won't show...

Overall Review: Even with some failures this thing has saved me hours of time. The stack of "questionable" drives at my office is gone. You can plug them in and format them without the hastle of cracking the case to your system, messing with jumpers, etc, etc. If you do tech support you need one of these. The $ for this is nothing compared to the time you'll save.

Pros: It works, albeit slowly.

Cons: It completely fried my laptop. The included cheapo power supply does not share earth ground to the GND pin on the hard drive. I walked accross the room and went to move the hard drive and instead of the shock going to ground like it's supposed to, it travelled right down the USB port into my laptop and I watched the laptop just die instantaneously.

Pros: I bought this so I could back up onto the extra hard drives I have laying around. At first this product worked fine, my desktop recognized every drive and transfer time was very reasonable.

Cons: Until yesterday. This thing hosed three of my 40 gig hard drives WITH all of my backups! My desktop suddenly just refused to recognize any of the three hard drives I have (had) in a rotating backup. After cracking the case of my desktop and connecting each of them directly to the IDE port the mobo can't recognize any of them. It appears to have fried the HD circuitry on all three of my drives. When I opened the case of the IDE/USB converter I could see that this is not a quality piece of equipment, and there are probably many others that slipped thru QA inspection. Just a word of caution to potential buyers - this is a $20 piece of questionable hardware. Don't rely on it if you value your data. If it works, that's great - it's a good deal. But in this case you get what you pay for. Spend a few more bucks and get something made by a company with a support number. There isn't one for this.

Pros: VERY useful for troubleshooting, data recovery, disk imaging, and quick storage using old drives. Works on hard disks and CD|DVD drives and burners.

Cons: No instructions, and more than a few "gotchas" to check for before it will produce the desired effect. Bulky power supply (which is understandable given what it does.) Really could have included a case or pouch of some sort.

Overall Review: Please Note: I know for a FACT that this device will work on FAT/FAT32/NTFS or any other file system you choose. Just make sure you connect it to an operating system that can READ whatever file system you choose. Since there is no manual, and order of setup is CRITICAL...here is what I recommend: 1) If needed - set drive jumpers to SINGLE (if available) or MASTER. Many drives will not work unless specifically set for SINGLE (like some Western Digitals) 2) Plug USB to IDE cable into device. BE CAREFUL TO LINE UP PINS. Even though the connector is keyed, I found it is very easy to miss pins when connecting the cable to the drive 2) If needed – plug in power to drive, THEN plug into AC outlet an allow to fully spin up. 3) Plug USB end into a USB port and let Windows (XP/2K) to detect. Partition & format drive using Windows Disk Management if needed. This device drove me nuts at first, but with a little patience it has quickly become one of my favorite & most valued

Pros: Easy setup, just plug things in. No drivers needed for XP, etc. Will work with most IDE hard drives but not all!

Cons: Doesn't provide power to notebook 2.5" drives, which means they'll be USB-powered only. Because of this it worked with my 5400rpm 80GB Samsung that required only 0.8A but not with my 7200rpm 80GB Hitachi that needed 1.1A. I'll have to assume other 7200rpm drives may have the same issue. Also, be careful with your notebook drive's pins as there's no real support with this unit (and none should be expected).

Overall Review: Also tried it with various 3.5" drives and found that some of my real old ones would not be recognized at all, but we're talking OLD - 10GB and under. Had to open my PC case to work with these.

Pros: Very easy to use. NO power needed for 2.5" HDs. Even works on DVD/CD Burners. The trick with any drive is to make sure it is jumpered as a Master or Single drive. If the drive is not jumpered properly the system will NOT see it.

Cons: None.