StarTech Launch USB 3.0 All-In-One SATA+IDE Cable

With the raft of interface technologies permeating through time, it only makes sense that systems become a mix of old and new. For example, my grandparents still deal heavily with IDE drives, and my parents have only just made the jump to SATA (apparently it is still a new-fangled technology), despite having been the industry standard for several years.

As my parents moved to SATA, of course the new motherboards that accompanied them no longer have an IDE port. The solution to this was simple, get something like StarTech’s dual IDE + SATA bay for them to plug the old hard-drives into. Now StarTech have come up with the next iteration of the technology that you can fit in your pocket – a USB 3.0 cable with all the interfaces included.

From the outset, this cable provides SATA and IDE connectivity, albeit without power (thus having access to the PSU power outputs is a must), with plug and play / hot swap enabled. I could see this device perhaps used in conjunction with ASRock’s new range of Z87 motherboards that have a USB port on the motherboard itself. With this StarTech cable and ASRock’s setup users can place IDE/extra SATA hard-drives in their case easily enough.