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    What do you use your eSATA port for?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by scodoublet, Aug 11, 2011.

  1. scodoublet

    scodoublet Notebook Enthusiast

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    Just wondering what everybody uses the eSATA port on the right side of the m17x for. I know you can use it with external hard drives but I have no clue what else it could be used for.
     
    scodoublet, Aug 11, 2011
    #1
  2. alienb

    alienb Notebook Guru

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    USB Mouse.
     
    alienb, Aug 11, 2011
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  3. panzer06

    panzer06 His Imperial Majesty

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    As a boot drive for test configs. It's one of the reasons I ditched ASUS G73. That and the ability to use the R3 as a monitor.

    Cheers,
     
    panzer06, Aug 11, 2011
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  4. scodoublet

    scodoublet Notebook Enthusiast

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    What would be an advantage of using the eSATA port for a USB mouse?

    @panzer06 that sounds like a nice set up!

    Do you have any recommendations for a good external drive to use with eSATA? I'm looking for something to just store music, pictures, movies, and such. I'm curious if there are any drives out there that would be powered by the eSATA port and not require the use of a power adapter. That's not necessarily a requirement for me but it would be a lot more convenient.
     
    scodoublet, Aug 11, 2011
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  5. biobak

    biobak Notebook Enthusiast

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    Charge my Logitech mouse when my laptop is off.
     
    biobak, Aug 11, 2011
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  6. panzer06

    panzer06 His Imperial Majesty

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    No powered e-sata w/o the 2 cable USB combo connector.

    I have several but I really like the nexstar3 2.5" enclosures since I have plenty of spare drives.

    Walmart.com: Vantec 2.5" SATA to USB 2.0 and eSATA NexStar 3 Hard Drive Enclosure, Onyx Black: Computers

    Amazon.com: Vantec NexStar 3 NST-260SU-BL 2.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0 and eSATA External Hard Drive Enclosure (Midnight Blue): Electronics

    Cheers,
     
    panzer06, Aug 11, 2011
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  7. scodoublet

    scodoublet Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks a lot for the recommendations! I'll check those links out more in the morning.
     
    scodoublet, Aug 11, 2011
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  8. Jas71

    Jas71 Notebook Evangelist

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    Charging my phone/iPod while the laptop is on or off.
     
    Jas71, Aug 11, 2011
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