UltraBay Slim HDD Adapters and USB Converter

[schen]

I've been curious for some time about the random Chinese UltraBay Slim HDD adapters that you see on eBay. And since I regularly work on different people's machines, I decided I'd better get one of these adapters to replace the UB2K version that I've used for a number of years since I switched to T4x machines this summer. I finally came across one of those dealers in China that sold both the PATA as well as SATA version, so I bought both and for good measure, I also bought a UltraBay Slim to USB adapter!

I'm happy to report that the PATA adapter and the UltraBay Slim to USB adapter (I tested this by connecting my DVD Multi Burner to my desktop) work fine as well. I'll have to wait till I have a SATA drive to test the other. The price was reasonable and the shipping wasn't ridiculous, so I'm happy. I have nothing to do with this seller other than these items that I bought, but for anyone who might be interested; his user ID on ebay is it-glasses.

[basketb]

This is also good news for the T6x crowd (I was looking at this seller also but haven't pulled the trigger yet on the USB adapter). Maybe moving this thread to the general Thinkpad discussion gives it more exposure.

[schen]

This is also good news for the T6x crowd (I was looking at this seller also but haven't pulled the trigger yet on the USB adapter). Maybe moving this thread to the general Thinkpad discussion gives it more exposure.

Good suggestion. Done.

[FrankL]

I've also very recently bought an aftermarket USB enclosure for ultrabay slim devices (ebay seller notebookelite), and am very happy with it. It allows me to use my dvd-writer powered through only the usb port(s).

Also bought an aftermarket ultraybay slim SATA adapter, but I'm waiting for good MLC SSD drives to fall in price before I'm going to use it.

[schen]

I've also very recently bought an aftermarket USB enclosure for ultrabay slim devices (ebay seller notebookelite), and am very happy with it. It allows me to use my dvd-writer powered through only the usb port(s).

Also bought an aftermarket ultraybay slim SATA adapter, but I'm waiting for good MLC SSD drives to fall in price before I'm going to use it.

It sounds like we're both in the same boat waiting to get a good SATA deal before trying our HDD adapters. I'll look at the eBay seller that you used to see what your enclosure looks like since mine is just a little adapter that plugs onto the back of the drive. I suspect that it's probably the same or very similar to yours on the inside.

[yak]

How about those LQE 2nd HDD adapters on eBay? Those appear to be the cheapest ones. Anyone knows how good in terms of build quality they are?

[AGoodSolution]

FWIW, I've successfully used the "incompatible" SATA UltraBay adapter with PATA systems including a T40.

There is a plastic grommet near the connector but it is flimsy enough to be snapped off with a decent grip and pair of channel lock pliers or you Dremel it off with the grinder head.

Aside from the square bezel, everything fits perfectly w/o voltage anomalies and we even boot our T4's from the SATA drive and no problems.

This concept seems to be a point of disagreement in the ThinkPad community especially on the LINUX side since some builds can't support it, some builds only partially support it and the variations seem almost endless.

But we're happy we don't have to carry PATA and SATA UltraBay adapters since the SATA attachment is dual functioning and leaves us extra room in our luggage for more hard drives instead of hard drive adapters.

[yak]

Today I got the 2nd PATA HDD adapter for my T60 from the it-glasses eBay seller (same as OP).

The adapter is clearly not an original one, however, this was stated in the item description. The overall build quality is good, the adapter fits nicely into the laptop and doesn't stick out. The quality of the connector is very good, almost indistinguishable from the original (from by combo drive).

What I didn't like was the sticker, the IBM logo was partially cut off at the bottom. I decided to remove it which turned out to be quite difficult. I had to unscrew the top and wash out the rest of the glue.

I like the fact that it has an access LED. However, it is red, sticks out about 1mm and the LED used is the clear one. These LEDs have no color when turned off (simply transparent) and when lit, they look somewhat good only if you're looking straight at them. It is also a bit bigger than the one shown in item description but that's not a problem. I decided to change it out and replaced it with a standard green LED I had laying around. The new one required a bit more voltage so I also had to change out the resistor from original 5.6KOhm to 1KOhm, otherwise the LED would be too dark. I also used some scotch tape (inside the caddy) to keep the LED in place so that it does not stick out. The result is very nice, looks professional and the green plays nicely with the rest of ThinkPad's LEDs.

Having the caddy open I was able to see what's inside - not much. There's a single board with both connectors (2.5" PATA, UltraBay IDE), the leads go straight from one to another without any chips or other components. There's also the resistor for the LED (SMD) and cable connecting the LED and the board.

The rounded piece of metal seen on the side of the caddy seems to be pointless. It should probably provide grounding for the HDD but it isn't connected to anything. I decided to leave it out.

All in all, I'm quite happy considering the low price. I will be using this caddy with the Samsung HM160HC 160GB drive. HDTune shows an average transfer rate of 52.3 MB/s which is a much better result than what I was getting while using this drive in an USB enclosure.

[schen]

I like the fact that it has an access LED. However, it is red, sticks out about 1mm and the LED used is the clear one. These LEDs have no color when turned off (simply transparent) and when lit, they look somewhat good only if you're looking straight at them. It is also a bit bigger than the one shown in item description but that's not a problem. I decided to change it out and replaced it with a standard green LED I had laying around. The new one required a bit more voltage so I also had to change out the resistor from original 5.6KOhm to 1KOhm, otherwise the LED would be too dark. I also used some scotch tape (inside the caddy) to keep the LED in place so that it does not stick out. The result is very nice, looks professional and the green plays nicely with the rest of ThinkPad's LEDs.

Nice work! I'm not nearly so energetic so will probably just use mine "as is" w/o mods, although I'll be the first to applaud your industriousness though.

[Harryc]

This same seller has a 2nd HDD Adapter that fits in an Ultrabay enhanced slot without a gap...nice.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0262572991

[schen]

All in all, I'm quite happy considering the low price. I will be using this caddy with the Samsung HM160HC 160GB drive. HDTune shows an average transfer rate of 52.3 MB/s which is a much better result than what I was getting while using this drive in an USB enclosure.

I finally got my SATA UtraBay Slim adapter into use yesterday so I thought I'd update this thread. Newegg had(has?) as a special on the Hitachi 320Gb/7200rpm (7K320-320) drive on special for $79.98, plus there's a $20 mail in rebate and I had a $10 off email coupon so it was a pretty good deal.

Now I have just under 300Gb of faster internal storage for our fleet of T4x and R5x machines.

[Ed E.]

Thanks to all for this discussion. I am going to get one of the Ultrabay Slim HDD Adaptors, and maybe the USB gizmo, too, and implement it into my new backup strategy. See my new topic in the T4X forum for my new backup/recovery strategy - 'T43 backup /recovery strategy'.

[yak]

Ed, just a tip. Later it may be difficult to locate your thread when it will be pushed down by newer threads. Therefore it is always a good idea to provide a direct link.

Here's a link to your thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75005

[newyorkpaulie]

I've been curious for some time about the random Chinese UltraBay Slim HDD adapters that you see on eBay.

Don't know if it's the same (Hong Kong) guy or not, but I bought one and liked it so much that I got another from him. I have a dock with an ultrabay slot. I fitted one of these adapters with a hard drive for backups. It's much faster than using a USB-attached drive.