This device does what it says on the box, connects through USB 3.0 and lets you easily load a hard disk. Your operating system may fight your actions.
Welland sells a similar device for permanent mounting in a 5.25" drive bay. If you want to process all your hard disks through the one machine, the permanently mounted device might be the better choice. The internally mounted version requires a spare drive bay and a spare SATA connection. I considered purchasing one for my main desktop machine but I have several machines and occasionally need to connect a disk to each one. All my machines have USB 3.0. The USB 3.0 version is the best choice for my use.
Be careful when ejecting a disk
The device has a lever operated eject mechanism. The lever is at the back and the disk pops out the front. You need one hand to hold the device down so it does not slide around, a second hand to push the lever, and a third hand to catch the disk before the disk falls on the floor.
This is one area where the internally mounted version would be better. You do not need a hand holding the device down if it is mounted inside a computer. I may add some non slip pads to the bottom of the ME-752S to stop it sliding around so I can use one less hand.
When you push the lever, the disk resists then suddenly pops out. I had the ME-752S near the edge of a desk. The disk slid the short distance across the desktop then fell on the floor. Fortunately the disk was empty and old, disposable. After that I pushed the device toward the back of the desk and placed a rubber mouse mat in front of the device to catch ejected disks.
Performance
I tested with old hard disks used for backups. USB 3.0 is faster than any of the disks. When copying large files across USB 3.0, the speed depends on the disk and is almost the same as SATA. There is more overhead required by USB, compared to SATA, but modern processors are so fast the extra overhead is invisible. You might notice it on a small netbook or an old notebook.
Small files are different. Their speed depends on the operating system. When a disk is inserted into an internal drive connected through SATA, or an external drive connected through eSATA, the disk is usually treated as permanently connected, the directory information is cached by the operating system, and copying many small files is fast. If all your files are gigabyte length videos, USB 3.0 and SATA will work at about the same speed.
USB connected disks often do the opposite. The operating system treats them as temporary, similar to memory sticks. Every file is opened painfully slowly because everything is individually checked for every file. if all the files you are copying are small files, like the millions of tiny configuration files in Linux applications, a USB connected disk will be slower than a SATA connected disk. The difference varies by operating system.
In some cases you can vary the speed of a USB connected disk by changing how it is mounted. I did not test any of the fancy mount options.
Virus checkers will also slow everything down. In the SATA case, the virus checker checks one after the disk is mounted. In the USB connected case, the virus checker may recheck every time you access a file. That can really slow things down if you browse the disk a few times before copying.
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