External SATA drive: USB 2.0 vs eSata Express Card?

[thinktwice]

Hi,

I own several Thinkpads T4x (from T40 to T43p) and want to recover data on a large 3.5'' SATA hard drive.

I would like to optimize the transfer speed through the cable.

Initially, I planned using the QuickPort Combo from Sharkoon*, which offers USB 2.0 connectivity and is priced around 42 USD in my country.
http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/1319
(* Why the Combo? Because I'm also interested in IDE and 2.5''/3.5'' compatibility for the future. I have not checked if non-combo models offer better speeds, but it is possible.)

But I thought later to USB 3.0 and eSata, which speed is ~ 10 times thus of USB 2.0.
I assume that eSata should better than USB 3.0 for data recovery on SATA disks, because I believe it uses the native interface of the disk (-I may be wrong-), avoiding conversion.
Hence, I expect better tranfer speed from eSata than from USB 2.0.

Luckily, I found that Sharkoon also offers its QuickPort Combo with eSata socket (priced ~53 USD in my country): http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/content/q ... ombo-esata

Hence, I wonder if it would be interesting to plug an eSata express card in the PCMCIA enclosure of the Thinkpad T4x like this one:
http://www.delock.de/produkte/G_61386/m ... anguage=en

Of course, the speed of the connectivity inside the PCMCIA socket cannot be neglegted, and this is my question: what the faster to connect the external SATA drive?
- eSata + eSata express card adapter in the PCMCIA enclosure?
or
- USB 2.0?

As it appears there are some compatibility issues between old Thinkpads and some express cards, I also would be pleased to hear about good and bad experiences.

Thank you very much.

[RealBlackStuff]

PCMCIA is slow as molasses, regardless of what adapter-card you put in there.
The eSata card you mention is an express card/34 and does not fit in any of your laptops (fits newer T60 and up).
Get a universal docking station with USB3.0 instead: http://www.amazon.com/SATA-Hard-Drive-D ... B005Z1CBII
eSata is too rare.

[Adda]

Expresscard 34 devices can be used in 54 slots, I'm using a SIIG Expresscard 34 firewire card in my T43p.
I takes a it of 'aiming' to get it plugged in, but once you get the hang of it it's OK.
I have seen some frames that can be plugged in to 54 slots to make using 34 card easier, it's just apiece of plastic though, the connector in both types of slots is the same.

[thinktwice]

Thank you RealBlackStuff and Ada.

Following Adda's advice, I searched for an eSata express card/54 on SSIG's website and found this product (~80 USD today) : http://www.siig.com/esata-ii-expresscard.html

Also, Delock seems having the same kind of product, which is also described being eSata II:
http://www.delock.de/produkte/G_61382/m ... anguage=en
In Switzerland, I can find it for about 40 USD : http://www.1000ordi.ch/46139

From what I understand, such cards only use some of the pins in 54mm wide enclosures. Exact?

@RealBlackStuff: When you tell that eSata is too rare: do you mean this has a consequence on the price of adapters, compatibility issues with some disks, or whatever else?

@Adda: Could you tell if you observed better speed than USB 2.0 (and how much) with your express card, of if you suffered from the possible slow speed that RealBlackStuff mentioned?

I plan to use the express card only for data recovery, so the quicker the connection with the disk, the better. I believe eSATA is very close to the SATA standard but with different voltages. Isn't it?
Also, isn't eSata better than USB 3.0, because closer from how the disk works ?

They may also be some express cards with both eSata and USB 3.0 sockets; I haven't searched yet for such one.

One more question: for optimal speed, should one use something that plugs instead of the CD?

[Adda]

Only choose SIIG if you want the best quality and want to pay for it, they are quite expensive.
The reason I chose to get a SIIG firewire card is because I have Echo Audiofire2 audio interface, it's very picky so to make sure it would work I got the SIIG.

PCMCIA (found in T40-42) is slow, expresscard (found in T43, upper slot, the lower one is PCMCIA) is fast no need to worry about performance there.

However, I haven't actually tested the speed of my firewire card, my Audiofire2 doesn't need much bandwidth.

the connector on expresscard 34 and 54 is the same, only the width of the body of the cards is different.

I'd go for a Delock USB 3.0 card, it's compatible with more devices (not only HDD's but all kinds of USB devices) and is almost as fast as eSATA.