PC Storage Accessories

Card readers

What are Card Readers?

Card readers allow you to read and write data from/to a variety of supported formats. Simply plug in your electronic devices USB data cable or memory card into the corresponding slot on the reader to access the relevant saved data. You can then transfer the stored Images, video, music or other media to your PC for backup or further editing.

• Card readers are especially good for photographers, videographers and those who utilise memory cards regularly - Allowing for easy, instant access to the files required.

What formats do Card Readers support?

The readers come equipped with a variety of ports including, but not limited to:

• USB 2.0
• USB 3.0
• Esata
• Compact Flash ( CF I / II , Ultra, Extreme , Pro, Ultimate)
• Memory Stick (MS Pro Duo , MagicGate , Extreme , Ultra)
• Secure Digital (SD, SDHC, MMC , MMC Mobile , miniSD)
• Extreme Digital ( X card , Type H, Type M)
• M2 (Memory Stick Micro M2)
• MicroSD (Micro SDHC TransFlash)

How do Card Readers connect to a PC?

Card readers come in 3 main guises including: internal 5.25” (CD/DVD sized drive bay), 3.5” (Floppy disk sized drive bay) and external USB variants which are perfect for both PCs and Laptops or those with limited technical experience.

• If choosing an internal Card Reader double check you have the correct internal I/O ports free such as USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 headers, Audio headers, SATA and SATA/Molex for power. Without these you will not be able to connect the applicable IO port.

Docking Stations

What are Docking Stations?

Docks allow you to utilise standard internal storage drives such as HDD’s (Hard Disk Drives) and SSD’s (Solid State Drives) externally. They come in 2.5” and 3.5” single or dual bay compatible storage variant’s with most docks being interchangeable between sizes.

Docking Stations enable you to:

• Quickly access data on any drives you might have lying around
• Clone drives
• Use HDD’s and SSD’s as external storage

External Enclosures

What is an External Enclosure?

External Enclosures are designed to permanently house SATA HDD’s or SSD’s and allow you to use as an external storage device. By choosing an enclosure you can build your perfect storage solution from a standard 3.5” compatible desktop enclosure to a 2.5” portable rugged waterproof one - You are in complete control. Simply repurpose a drive you already own or install a newly purchased model to the enclosure and you are ready to go.

What are the differences between using a SATA HDD or SSD in an External Enclosure?

• HDD: Hard Drives are relatively cheap and high capacity making them perfect for external desktop storage. They are not quite as good as SSDs when it comes to durability and have much lower read/write speeds. If you are on a budget with large external storage requirements choose a standard HDD (3.5”) or if you require portability: a 2.5” HDD.
• SSD: Solid State Drives are fast, durable and lightweight. They are particularly suited to portable external storage due to the size and solid state design. On the other hand if you require a large capacity drive they are considerably more expensive than HDD’s. If you require performance, durability and small footprint a 2.5” SSD is the only option and will provide a far superior experience.

HDD Converters

Designed to allow the installation of one or more 2.5” storage drives such as SSD’s in a single 3.5” drive bay. HDD Converters are perfect for use in older chassis that do not have 2.5” bays or modern cases that only have a limited amount of allocated 2.5” space

Mounting Racks

A 5.25” Mounting Rack is designed to replace the front drive bays of a computer case with a specially designed mounting rack adaptor. This enables the installation of smaller 3.5” devices such as card readers.

Hot Swap Rack Mounts

Hot Swap Rack Mounts allow you to install either HDD’s or SSD’s into externally accessible but secured 5.25” or 3.5” drive bays. Usually the storage drive will slide into a specially designed caddy which allows for hot swapping and easy HDD replacement. Some 5.25” racks allow for multiple drives to be installed, replacing 2 or more of the cases external 5.25” bays.