Inateck FE2004: Turn your old hard disk into a USB 3.0 external drive [Review]

You can of course buy ready to use external hard drives, but should you have a spare 2.5 inch disk from an old machine lying around it's easy enough to pop it in a case so you can use it for backups or transferring files.

There's lots of choice when it comes to buying an external enclosure and most of them aren't very expensive, so what makes this offering from German company Inateck attractive?

Firstly it looks smart with a smooth matt black finish. It's slightly larger -- to the tune of about 1.5 centimetres in length -- than a ready-made WD Elements external drive, but it's still small enough to slip into a pocket. It's USB 3.0 so you can take advantage of the faster interface though it is of course backwards compatible with USB 2.0. You get a connecting cable and a printed instruction leaflet in the package.

A nice feature of the FE2004 is that it's tool-free so there's no fiddling around with tiny screws to install your drive. The cover simply slides off with a clip to hold it in place when it's closed. You can use any 2.5 inch SATA hard drive, including SSDs, providing it's between 7.5 and 9mm thick. Just push the disk into the connector and there are foam pads to hold it in place and prevent it from rattling. With the disk installed you simply plug in to a USB port and away you go, it's fully plug and play compatible so no need to install drivers.

The FE2004 currently costs $12.99 on Amazon (£11.49 in the UK). You can buy drive enclosures for less but the tool-free design of this one is a neat touch, especially if you work in support and you need to swap drives around on a regular basis. The smart looks are an added bonus.

You can find more information and a full spec on the Inateck website.