Question 1

The specs says: Supports 3TB/4TB, does it still support hard drives smaller than that?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it does support smaller capacity drives as well. I guess the description should say "up to" 4TB.

This duplicator works very well and at agood price i've copied 256GB laptop and desktop hard drives (one of whic was even a Solid-state-drive) as well as 1tb hard drives.

Question 2

Can this be used for tasks other than duplicating? For example: I have a drive with lots of videos. Can I insert my drive and watch those videos just like I can with my external enclosure?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can use it as an external drive to store or view data. Remember to use windows safely remove hardware prior to unplugging the drive.
Not tried it with 2 drives at the same time yet.
I mostly use it to clone drives in a windows workplace. Ghost and Macrium reflect are what i use it most with.

Question 3

When cloning drives were does the second drive interface?

Accepted Answer

Hello:  The 2nd hard drive sits in front,,the dock pulls opens so it actually looks double the size of the picture..I havent tried to clone a drive to drive without the computer yet but I have used this dock to clone my internal drives using MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 8.1.1 free and it works flawlessly for me..I use 2 of these docks as well as many others to connect to my computers for daily file transfers and such and this particular dock has performed well for me and I do recommend it...;)~

Question 4

Is it backward compatible with USB 2.0?

Accepted Answer

Yes it is, but remember it will be slower in data transfer due to the USB 2.0 technology restriction. 
If you have a desktop PC or Server. I suggest purchasing a USB 3.0 Card and installing it to give you the higher speed and current technology.

Question 5

will the dock fit 2x 3.5" drives at the same time? from the pictures, it looks like it can only hold one 3.5 & one 2.5 at a time.

Accepted Answer

2 - 3.5 , 2 - 2.5, or 1 - 3.5 plus 1 -  2.5

Question 6

Which cable comes with the unit? A male to A male or ?

Accepted Answer

The unit comes with a USB 3 A male to B male cable. The back of the unit accepts the USB B male end which leaves the A male for the PC side. The package detail section shows the USB 3 cable clearly along with both the A male & B male connectors.

Question 7

First-time cloning two 21/2 inch hard drives or any hard drive, whatsoever.  Laptops HDD to an SSD.  I need advice for which software to use and/or someone's experience with using this SYBA duplicator?

Accepted Answer

I've used this HDD duplicator to do a 2.5" laptop drive.  Went from std HDD to new hybrid model 2.5"(not fully SSD), and just put original drive in the back (drive bay 1) and new drive in the front drive bay 2).  Turned the duplicator on.  Then pushed and held down the button on the right as you face the duplicator until it went into duplication mode (from drive bay 1 to drive bay 2 - very important or you wipe your original drive).  Did not need a PC connected to do this.  Once complete (drive lights stop flashing) I took out the new HDD and put it into the laptop.  Done!

Question 8

I have a drive that is border edge failing. So I need this device in order to copy it's contents to the other drive. Do I need to take the drive out of the computer 1st or can it be done while the system is active? This is an OEM install being duplicated.

Accepted Answer

You need to remove the drive.  The old and new drives both go into the duplicator as pictured except they will both be the same size unlike the illustration.

If the old drive is failing, you might want to point a fan at the duplicator when it is running.  Doing that much copying as fast as the drive allows will get both drives rather warm.  Not a big problem if both drives are good, but the failing one may fail faster if it gets too hot in this process.  You would not want to get part way through and then have it quit.

Good luck.

Question 9

does this device support IDE hard drives?

Accepted Answer

No, SATA only.  You can find more than one USB-SATA-PATA adapter that uses ribbon cables, though.

Question 10

Can you use this to recover data/erase a laptop hard drive that no longer boots the laptop?

Accepted Answer

If the drive is still functional it will show up on the connected computer as a system drive with all the same abilities.

If the laptop stopped booting because of a defective drive, you may be out of luck. It has to be a useable drive in order to do anything with it.

If your concern is security, Just drive a nail through the old drive or drill a couple holes in it to destroy the internal platters rendering it completely safe to dispose of.

Questions & Answers