Hard drive caddy with a difference!

[x_Mr_C_x]

I just got one of these and have to say it's the best bit of kit I've bought in a long time!

Not only does it work as a hard drive, it also allows you to copy multiple . ISO files to it. You can then load an ISO on the device with a switch at the side. It has a LCD display that you can scroll through your ISOs on and the device becomes a virtual DVD drive. You can even boot the PC from the selected ISO providing the PC supports loading from USB. In Windows the device will show up as both a CD drive and as a hard drive so you can load an ISO and use the hard disk at the same time. It also has a write protect switch which makes it ideal for PC technicians not wanting to risk infecting their PCs.

I'm a PC Engineer and have loaded ISOs of all of my O/S and Tool CDs on and it's worked flawlessly so far.

[Tim.Lad]

Now thats a good idea

[evilsatan]

I have just made a USB pen drive which runs multiple boot CDs but this sounds even better, thanks for the heads up mate!

[x_Mr_C_x]

I have just made a USB pen drive which runs multiple boot CDs but this sounds even better, thanks for the heads up mate!

Yep this is a piece of piss compared to making multiboot USB pens!

[evilsatan]

Where did you buy from? I have seen it on LinITX for just under £40, then I would get the Samsung 640GB to stick in it.

[koola2]

What is the biggest drive that can go into these?

[burner1]

Where did you buy from? I have seen it on LinITX for just under £40, then I would get the Samsung 640GB to stick in it.

I found that one as well mate... looks dead useful and not a bad price really... tempting!

[x_Mr_C_x]

Where did you buy from? I have seen it on LinITX for just under £40, then I would get the Samsung 640GB to stick in it.

Yep I got it from LinITX. I'd never heard of them before but thought I'd risk it and it was with me in 2 days.

[x_Mr_C_x]

What is the biggest drive that can go into these?

There is absolutely no mention of maximum size in any of the documentation or on the website so I don't think there are any restrictions.

The manual can be downloaded here to give you a better idea of what it's all about. At the time the manual was made it didn't support NTFS partions but mine came with a new firmware that supports NTFS. It was dead easy to set up:
I installed the drive (a 160gb I had laying around), Formatted it to NTFS, created a folder called _ISO, copied some iso files into that folder and that was it.

[evilsatan]

LinITX are reliable, they are the best for car PC kit but it is strange that they are the only retailer for this caddy! Especially as it seems to be unique and so useful. Will probably get one in the week.

[Northernbloke]

LinITX are offering them with a choice of 4 sata drives - up to 500Gb which seems to be the highest capacity they sell - looks a cracking bit of kit, may have to invest in one myself

[koola2]

LinITX are offering them with a choice of 4 sata drives - up to 500Gb which seems to be the highest capacity they sell - looks a cracking bit of kit, may have to invest in one myself

I am sure evilsatan will report back if he gets one and a 640gb drive.

[ZX7R]

I have ordered one from this company - order has been confirmed this morning. Now getting ready for dispatch.

[evilsatan]

Same as ZX7R, confirmed this morning but I will be getting a 500GB Samsung as they are £37 delivered at scan whereas the 640GB is £48 so no real saving and I won't fill 500GB anyway!

[Northernbloke]

Snap 500gb one coming my way as well

[danthescan]

I won't fill 500GB anyway!

Oh how often i have said that and have gone way beyond.

[evilsatan]

Oh how often i have said that and have gone way beyond.

On my home storage that's the case but with my portable HDDs I carry utilities and use it to backup client data when onsite. I have had a 320GB portable for the past 18 months and that's not even half full. Went for a 500GB rather than putting my 320GB in though due to the ISO feature Only problem is it is limited to 4GB ISOs unless you split them, not sure how easy this is.

[evilsatan]

Only 1 left in black, none in silver! Think they owe Mr C a commission

[Northernbloke]

Just got my "Despatched" email and tracking number

[x_Mr_C_x]

On my home storage that's the case but with my portable HDDs I carry utilities and use it to backup client data when onsite. I have had a 320GB portable for the past 18 months and that's not even half full. Went for a 500GB rather than putting my 320GB in though due to the ISO feature Only problem is it is limited to 4GB ISOs unless you split them, not sure how easy this is.

I'm not 100% certain but I thought that limit was when the device only supported FAT32 partitions. With the newest firmware it now fully support NTFS so I would expect that limit to have gone. I will see if I can find an ISO bigger than 4gb to test with as the ones I have on at the moment are all much smaller than that.