SABRENT USB 3.0 to SATA External Hard Drive Lay Flat Docking Station with Built in Cooling Fan for 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD [Support UASP and 22TB] (EC-DFFN)

What's Good About the Sabrent EC-DFFN External Docking Station1. The case is lightweight and well made.2. It works well. I was able to transfer about 500gb of data per hour.3. It's quiet and attractive.4. It utilizes USB 3.0 which is about 10 times faster than 2.0.5. The included cables are just the right length.What's Can Be Improved1. The price. I paid $32 for mine.2. The screens meant to protect your fingers impede the fan's air flow.3. The rubber feet need to be taller to improve the fan's air flow. The current design creates a lot of back pressure that prevents the fan from operating at its full capacity.The Sabrent EC-DFFN external USB 3.0 docking station is well made. However, it can be improved. Read on if you would like to learn how to modify the case and improve its air flow. That's important if you are going to be running your external hard drives for long periods of time like I do.*********************************************ONE WORD OF CAUTION:Take your time, you don't want to damage your docking station's case.Tools You'll NeedA small Phillips head screwdriver, an Exacto knife and a thin knife or a razor blade. All three will work. This modification takes about 15 minutes to complete.Parts You'll Need1. Four — 6 x 3/4" Flat Head Screws (Phillips Head) Note: 6 is the diameter of the screw.(These are used to mount the rubber feet.)2. Four — 6 x 1/2" Pan Head Screws (Phillips Head).(These are used to mount the grill to the fan.)3. Two — 80mm Computer Fan Grills (sometimes listed as 8cm grills).4. Four new rubber feet approximately 1/2" by 1/2" inch is ideal. However, the ones pictured in the photos are 1/2" tall by 3/4" wide (tapered, cone-style feet). I already had those, so that's why I used them.How to Improve the Air Flow on the Sabrent Docking Station(Be sure and refer to the pictures for additional help.)1. First, make sure it's unplugged before you do this modification.2. Remove the rubber feet on the bottom of the case. They are glued in place.3. Remove the screws that you find underneath the rubber feet.4. Remove the screws holding the fan in place and remove the outer screen.5. Use an Exacto knife or a thin knife blade to pry open the bottom of the case.6. With the bottom off, wiggle the fan loose from its four anchor posts.7. Remove the inner fan screen.8. Slide the fan back onto the posts and press into place.10. Reattach the bottom of the case.11. Mount the grill onto the fan by screwing it in place with the Pan Head screws.(Indented side of the grill needs to face outward from the case.)12. Attach the four rubber feet to the corners of case with the Flat Head screws.(You have now completed the modification.)In my opinion, the docking station doesn't need a grill to protect the inward facing side of the fan because the lid and the drive you insert already do that — just be sure and turn off the power before opening the lid. The fan stops spinning in about three seconds, and only runs when there is a standard hard drive installed. It does not run if you insert an SSD drive because they don't get very hot and don't need the extra cooling. The docking station automatically senses if the drive you have inserted is an SSD or standard (spinning disc) hard drive.Note: If you decide you want to install an inner fan grill you can. Just remember it will make the grill on the bottom bulge out another quarter of an inch. If you do install an inner fan grill, be sure and insert it with the indented portion of the grill pointing towards the inside of the case.Things You Need To Know Before You Connect And Use The Sabrent Docking Station1. Insert your hard drive and connect all the cables to the case and your PC before you power it on.2. Turn off the power to the case before you disconnect the hard drive or cables.Note: Once you have powered down the docking station, you do not need to turn your computer off to disconnect it. Think of the docking station as a flash drive you have to power on to use and power off to disconnect.Some Useful Hints You Need To Read Before You Begin This Modification1. Don' t be in a hurry.2. Be careful when you pry open the bottom of the case. If you slip with the knife, you'll scratch it.3. It will be easier to remove the bottom of the case if you use a small, stiff wire that you have formed into a "J-style" hook and slide it into one of the holes left by the removal of screws. Pull up on it as you pry open the base. (A paper clip works great.)IMPORTANT — PLEASE READ:Before you put everything back together, take the appropriate screws (Flat Head or Pan) and semi-install them into the holes in the posts that hold the fan and the rubber feet in place. SCREW THEM IN ONLY HALF WAY to avoid stripping out the plastic threads and then remove them. Doing that, presets the screw hole and makes it easier for you to reinsert them when you do the final installation of the rubber feet and fan grill. However, be careful not to over-tighten them. To work properly, they only need to be tightened to the point that they are snug.One final note, when not in use, turn off your Sabrent Docking Station. It will help extend the life of your hard drives.It's just a guess, but I believe this modification almost triples the air flow — keeping your hard drive nice and cool. That's important if you have tons of data to transfer, as hard drives can get very hot if not properly cooled.By the way, the largest drive I have used in these docking stations is a 10 terabyte drive. So far, they have worked flawlessly.

I would give this drive dock 10 stars out of 5 if I could. The cooling fan makes an immense difference when using it on enterprise and data center drives which run hot and rely on large amounts of airflow to stay cool. The fan is quiet but effective, standard and enterprise drives fit in easily and securely, and data center drives fit comfortably snug. The access door for swapping the drive is a great design which I do not fear will wear out quickly like on sliding door enclosures, though I do wish it had something like a small tab or magnet to latch it. The speeds achieved with this enclosure are identical to what I get with a shucked WD MyBook 12TB, a shucked Seagate Expansion Plus 8TB, an SSK sliding enclosure, and Orico 3.5" enclosure, and a shucked Buffalo 3TB; you will be limited by the speeds of the spinning disk before ever hitting the enclosure's limits.

Second sabrent product and works as great as the last. I was able to reformat my old 3.5 drives easily with this. i love that it has a power button so i can switch drives without unhooking cables.

(ENGLISH REVIEW)A firmware update is required for drives 3TB and above!Reading other reviews I already knew that there was a risk that it would not recognize the disks with the highest capacity at 2 or 3 TB. And indeed when I received the drive, I put in a 3TB 3.5" hard drive and it would not read it. The Windows computer manager disk manager recognized a disk but told me that it had a GPT protective protection. Then I tried with a 512GB SSD and it did read it to me. I immediately remembered a couple of reviews that indicated that the same thing had happened to them and they had to contact the manufacturer's technical support, who was slow to give them the solution, which was to update the firmware of the device.As it was night time I did not want to wait to contact SABRENT technical support the next day. So first I went to the SABRENT website to find the Firmware download. Since I bought the EC-DFFN model that has the fan cooler, I downloaded a firmware updater tool (May 2022) that indicated me for that model. But when I ran it, it didn't work and it still wouldn't read the disk for me.So, I proceeded to google and found a user on Reddit (GranMasterSword) who had the same thing happen to him and posted the solution there. He indicated that the EC-DFLT model (without fan cooler) and others had the compatible firmware, and so he searched for the firmware for EC-DFLT and came up with various firmware updates. But for greater precision, when searching for the firmware corresponding to the DS-UBLK model, also compatible, a common firmware version appeared (April 2022). With that version I proceeded to update the firmware of my SABRENT device, at the end of the updater it asked me to turn it off and on again, and it immediately recognized me and read my 3TB hard drive.I am not giving it 5 stars because it seems terrible that they do not sell the equipment with the firmware update, or that they send the solution with the purchase, because I am a computer technician and I was able to solve it on my own, but most should expect to contact technical support and take time to get the solution.(RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL)Es necesaria una actualización de firmware para discos de 3TB en adelante!Leyendo otras reseñás ya sabía que había el riesgo de que no reconociera los discos de mayor capacidad a 2 o 3 TB. Y efectivamente al recibir la unidad, coloqué una unidad de disco duro 3.5" de 3TB y no me lo leía. El administrador de discos del administrador de computadora de Windows, me reconocía un disco pero me indicaba que tenía un protección protectora GPT. Luego probé con un disco SSD de 512GB y sí me lo leyó. Enseguida me acordé de un par de reseñas que indicaban que les había sucedido lo mismo y tuvieron que contactar al soporte técnico del fabricante, quien tardó en darles la solución que era actualizar el firmware del dispositivo.Como era de noche no quería esperar para contactar al soporte técnico de SABRENT al día siguiente. Así que primero fui a la página web de SABRENT a buscar la descarga del Firmware. Como yo compré el modelo EC-DFFN que tiene el fan cooler, descargué una herramienta del actualizador de firmware (mayo 2022) que me indicaba para ese modelo. Pero al ejecutarlo, no funcionó y todavía no me leía el disco.Entonces, procedí a googlear y conseguí en Reddit a un usuario (GranMasterSword) que le había sucedido lo mismo y publicó allí la solución. El indicaba que el modelo EC-DFLT (sin fan cooler) y otros más tenían el firmware compatible, y entonces buscó el firmware para EC-DFLT y le salieron varias actualizaciones de firmware. Pero para mayor precisón, al buscar el firmware correspondiente al modelo DS-UBLK, también compatible, aparecía una versión de firmware común (abril 2022). Con esa versión procedí a actualizar el firmware de mi dispositivo SABRENT, al finalizar el actualizador me pidió apagarlo y encenderlo de nuevo, y enseguida me reconoció y me leyó mi disco duro de 3TB.No le coloco 5 estrellas porque me parece terrible que ellos no vendan el equipo con la actualización de firmware, o que enviaran la solución con la compra, porque yo soy técnico de computadoras y pude resolver por mi cuenta, pero la mayoría debe esperar contactar a soporte técnico y tardar en obtener la solución.

Great item to access many types of hard drives. I have several other Sabrent items and all have worked flawlessly.