SATA is SATA (though there's at least two transfer speeds). An eSata or external SATA port is merely a standard SATA connector with a bit of metal shielding/reinforcement, mounted to a bracket or edge of an expansion card so a cable can be connected through the computer case.
What does have to be provided separately for an eSATA drive is power. A SATA uses four data wires, two for data to the drive and two for data from the drive, plus three ground wires. No power lines like USB. Power won't be a problem because the drive has its own power supply, might have a cable to plug into a USB port for power. I haven't received my drive yet, just ordered it yesterday. So yes, I can just make a hole somewhere in my PC case and connect the SATA cable to one of the four connectors I'm not using on my motherboard. SATA supports hot-plugging like USB, so the Safely Remove thing appears in the System Tray. (There's a little hack required for XP to make it NOT show that for internal SATA drives you'll never unplug.) If someone tries to sell you on some super expensive SATA cables, they're full of it, especially if they say anything about better signal quality. Digital signals are either there, or not. The ones and zeroes either make it from one end to the other or they don't. The most dirt cheap cables are junk and can cause data corruption, but anything above the bottom scrapings junk level is just fine. You'll want to go to a higher quality for eSATA use because you want a stronger cable for drives that will get moved and plugged/unplugged a lot. The same applies to HDMI cables. The bottom end cheapies will work fine, especially if you don't re-arrange your AV equipment frequently. Spend a bit more for the next step up and you'll never have a problem. The $100 HDMI cables with gold plated connectors and oxygen free coper wire are 100% BS, they're exactly 0% better for transmitting digital signals. Where this comes from is the high end cable hucksters want people to think in terms of analog video and audio, where thicker wires and the best connections actually do make a difference, though it rapidly tapers off as you get into the more expensive cables, to the point where it takes equipment like spectrum analyzers to even tell there's any better quality. --- On Thu, 1/8/09, Uwe Soltau <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Uwe Soltau <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [AP] Frame Size Problem > To: [email protected] > Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 10:59 AM > Gregg > I have an external drive with eSATA and USB as well which > is connected via > USB at the moment. I thought that connecting it to eSATA > instead may > increase the speed. > You want to run a SATA cable somewhere out of the back. > Does that mean you want to connect it to a SATA terminal on > the motherboard? > My computer supplier told me that would not work and one > would need a > special > eSATA connection on the computer side. > How have you connected yours and is it working? > Uwe > > > > <http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10800094> > > > > 500 gigabytes USB2.0 and eSATA for $79.88, minus the > $50 so with tax > > and shipping I bagged it for less than $42. :D > I'll just run a SATA > > cable out the back of my case somewhere. ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adobe-Premiere/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adobe-Premiere/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
