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Addonics Technologies is now shipping a conversion kit intended to give you an even broader selection of hard-drive technology: It offers a way to convert a 2.5-inch internal parallel ATA drive into an external Serial ATA drive.

The resulting drive is capable of connecting either to a PCI Serial ATA adapter with an external port (priced at $37) or to a CardBus Serial ATA adapter ($55), according to Addonics. The drive model must be of 9mm height, and the kit can be powered from either a USB port or an AC/DC power adapter (data and power cables are included). The Addonics Mini ExDrive carries a list price of $55.

Intro to Serial ATA

Serial ATA is the first major improvement in the way internal hard drives connect to the motherboard since the days of DOS. As a serial interface, it promises faster throughput and thinner cables than the fastest parallel ATA standard. Thinner cables improve airflow, reduce heat problems, and make it easier to work inside a computer.

Though the connections on the external kit are quite neat and trim, changing the external connections on a parallel ATA drive--as this kit does--will not change the drive's internal interface. However, this is not a big concern now, since the real-world performance difference between current parallel ATA and Serial ATA products is minimal--especially with a 2.5-inch drive, which is unlikely to be capable of approaching the speed limit of its parallel ATA interface. The advantage of the Addonics Mini ExDrive should be apparent in the better performance it gives relative to a USB 2.0 or FireWire external drive.

It's easy to find external USB 2.0 and FireWire drives these days. And the first Serial ATA internal hard drives have been out for months. But the Addonics product is an early venture into external Serial ATA drives.

Also, like IDE, Serial ATA was designed to work inside the computer. Addonics President Bill Kwong acknowledges it was "never planned as [an external interface] up until recently. There will be a standard, but it has not been defined."

Nevertheless, Addonics is marketing an external device without waiting for a standard, Kwong adds.

"Serial ATA is Serial ATA. If there's going to be a change, it's just [going to be] a small change in the connector." Addonics' external connector is merely a sturdier version of the internal standard, Kwong says.

Product Setup

With a form of 5.12 by 2.95 by 0.52 inches, the Addonics Mini ExDrive is designed to be carried. But you pay a storage price for that small size: It takes only the 9mm-high 2.5-inch drives. The faster, higher-capacity, 3.5-inch drives won't fit.

Unlike USB and FireWire, Serial ATA doesn't provide electricity from the computer to the devices. To address this, the Mini ExDrive comes with both an AC adapter and a USB cable whose sole function is to supply power. (Note that most external hard drives require a separate power adapter along with their USB or FireWire data cables.)

On the other hand, you're more likely to successfully boot off an external Serial ATA drive than one connected through USB. Although USB is theoretically bootable, the reality is problematic. One of the difficulties is that some operating systems, including Windows XP, won't boot from an external drive. But XP sees any Serial ATA drive as an internal one, so you get around the problem.

How do you plug an external drive into an internal Serial ATA connector? Addonics is also preparing to sell a bracket and cable to move the connection outside. Not part of the package, it will probably sell for about $15.

A few months ago Addonics was also early with a Serial ATA conversion adapter that makes existing parallel ATA and ATAPI drives compatible with the new standard.

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