notebook internal SATA drive question

I have a laptop drive that I need to recover data from. I'm planning to buy a hard drive enclosure kit so I can connect it to another computer via USB. I removed the drive from the notebook, but I don't recognize the connection type it's using. It doesn't connect directly via cables, but instead has a set of pins that just go into grooves in the drive cage. It doesn't look at all like SATA cables will connect to it.

The drive is a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 100GB serial ATA drive: http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...a74c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&locale=en-US#

An image of the drive's connection type: http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/9454/drivezs3.jpg

Does anyone recognize this connection, and know if I'll need an adapter to connect this to an enclosure kit?

 

NewEgg has 2.5" SATA Enclosures... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817362001

FYI, laptop drives never use cables...the drive will slide directly into the enclosure and will connect.

 

Looking at NewEgg, they have 11 listed for 2.5" SATA drive enclosures.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...53807124+1054107131&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=92

Any of these should work, correct? (My apologies if this is obvious, I've never had to recover from a laptop drive before, just want to make sure I don't order the wrong thing)

 

Ok cool, thanks for the link!

 

The main advantage of my linked one is that it runs only off of USB...which means that if/when you're done recovering that data you now have a portable second drive for your notebook.

 

Really, all 2.5" enclosures should run only off USB, since the drives only need +5V and usually a bit over 500mA. Since it's over 500mA, that's why lots come with two USB connectors -- to make available 1A worth of power (500mA on each port by spec). One is usually chainable because you don't need the full 500mA on the secondary.

If you just need to copy files over instead of utilizing Apricorn's backup and cloning software (where the extra $20 comes from probably), I suggest a Vantec Nexstar3. Since your drive is SATA, you'll need the USB2.0 + eSATA version. It is $20 cheaper than the Apricorn, and look pretty slick too, so you're not afraid to whip it out in public. It's a fingerprint magnet and comes with no extra software, but it's the best bang for the buck that I can find. Barely twice the height of two stacked 2.5" drives, minimal extra weight, fits in your pocket, comes with a pouch.

 

I really wouldnt plug the HDD directly into the laptop by taking the other SATA drive out. The different drivers can cause havoc on your OS. Use an enclosure.