Express Card for eSATA - Vista 64-bit

I'd like to be able to hook up an external hard drive and maybe even a DVD drive to my T61 via an express card with eSATA ports. Anyone using one with Vista 64-bit? I've been looking and I found a few that look like they might work, but nothing that blatantly says Vista 64-bit is supported.

Recommendations?

 

Which ones have you been looking at?

 

Newegg

The Rosewill RC-605 SATAII ExpressCard 2 x SATA. I went to the rosewill.com and found a "64-bit Windows" driver, but it doesn't specify Vista. I would think it would work but.... Here it is at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839200006

Also looking at the BELKIN F5U239 SATAII ExpressCard 2 x SATAII:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839314005
There is a user review on newegg that claims he is using it on Vista (don't know if it is 32-bit or 64-bit) and that Windows Vista update installed a newer driver than what is available for download on the belkin.com website. That sounds strange to me

The full list is here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&SubCategory=421&N=2000260421

 

I know that Kevin did a review on the BELKIN one. He says it would work for XP and Vista (odd for Vista since it's not even listed under the official sys. req.), but doesn't specify which bit. Maybe you can PM him about it.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3790

In the meantime, I'll keep researching on the others.

This one says it supports Vista 64 bit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839113008

 

Thanks! Looks like Kevin was impressed by the Belkin card. I think I'll ask Kevin to see what he knows about 64-bit support.

I purchased something from Vantec awhile back and wasn't impressed. Maybe their express card adapters are OK. Nice to know that is an option. I'll have to search for some reviews on that one.

 

Wooo Hooo! I just went shopping... again

Looks like eSATA express card is gonna be no problem for Vista 64-bit! Kevin's review for the BELKIN F5U239 eSATA II ExpressCard, says that it is recognized as a "Silicon Image SATA controller". So that got me to thinkin', "I don't need drivers for a Belkin card... I need drivers for a Silicon Image Controller!"

So then I found all the latest drivers here: Silicon Image

It seems that most of these eSATA express cards use the same Silicon Image Controller drivers. I downloaded drivers from Belkin, SIIG, and Rosewill and they are all the same Silicon Image Drivers. However, the latest drivers are found on the siliconimage website link that I posted above. I have also found that the silicon image chipset is the most highly reliable and compatible chipset as far as SATA is concerned.

I ended up ordering the SIIG SC-SAE512-S1 eSATA II ExpressCard 54. At less than half the cost of the Belkin Card (after $20 rebate) it seemed like a no brainer. This card does not support RAID (the Belkin F5U239 and the SIIG SC-SAE 612-S1 does support RAID, but I'm not interested in that).

Hope this helps someone. I'm going to use this for blazing fast speed to a 3.5" internal WD SATA II HDD that is enclosed in my external ICY DOCK enclosure. BTW, I highly recommend this external enclosure for a tool less / easy to use hard drive enclosure. Swapping out hard drives literally takes about 30 seconds.

I will also be using the ExpressCard/eSATA for the highly praised ( cdfreaks.com review) Samsung SH-S203B DVD Burner which is a 5" internal SATA Multi-DVD Burner that will be enclosed in the Galaxy METAL GEAR 5202AUAS USB 2.0 & eSATA External Enclosure.

It will be easy to say goodbye to the factory MAT SH!TA DVD drive!

I'll try to remember to post back how this works out when the goods arrive.

 

Awesome stallen. I'm glad you got the OK on the express card. Definitely come back with a report. You got me interested in them too!

 

I have this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839229001

Works with XP, Vista, Linux (both x86 and x64 flavors) and cheap too =)

Oh this one supports RAID.

And I don't know if it will working a MacBook Pro or not 'cause I don't own one, but this one's 34.

 

Cool!

I was actually avoiding RAID support. I read on club.cdfreaks.com that controllers with RAID support are having issues with SATA optical drives. I dunno.

Also, I read in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=94114&page=39 that the 34mm express card might not fit securely into a 54mm express card slot. However, that was on an Asus V1J laptop. Perhaps the T6x has a better express card slot. Here is how he had to rig his express card slot to keep it from wiggling around:


Is yours fitting securely on the T60?
Have you tried running a SATA optical drive on the BYTECC BT- ECES2 SATAII ExpressCard?

 

If you mean if the card wobbles a little 'cause of the fact that the slot is 54 and the card is 34 then yes it move a bit. And the card can easily to accidentally slipped out when you hit it (cause it bulges up, but I've learn to not hit it). As with the card flexing a bit, I'd expect it as there's a empty PC Card slot under the ExpressCard slot.

So its fits securely as long as I don't hit it to hard (as in I don't hit it in the direction that would cause the card to slide out).

As with using a SATA optical drive, I haven't tried that yet. My question would be how do solve the power issue?

 

^^^ Thanks for the information.

The external enclosure that I ordered has it's own power supply. Click on the links below to check it out.

 

Oh, BTW, that galaxy external enclosure is just about the only cheap option out there. I would prefer something more like this: http://www.satadrives.com/sadual5inbay.html but it is a little out of my price range.

For anyone interested in Blue-Ray or HD-DVD optical drives. I have learned that the galaxy external won't fit these drives. At least not the LG GGC-H20L BLU-RAY HD-DVD Reader since it is too long to fit inside the enclosure. There is probably something available from satadrives.com like what is in the link above that might work. Eventually the LG GGW-E10L Blu-ray EXTERNAL rewriter will be an option for those that are interested.

 

Anytime.

Yeah, I like the 54 card as it has the ports side-by-side so it doesn't budge, but I didn't feel like spending $80 on a eSATA card when $30 sufficed.

 

Yeah, the SIIG eSATA 54mm card is currently $35 after $20 rebate. A sweet deal, but probably not sweet enough if you already own a working eSATA card.

 

I was concerned about driver support when it came to using an expresscard/eSATA adapter and an external SATA optical drive, but I am happy to report that Vista 64-bit hasn't let me down yet!!!

SIIG SC-SAE512-S1 eSATA II ExpressCard 54
ICY DOCK enclosure (to hold a 3.5" SATA II Hard Drive)
Samsung SH-S203B DVD Burner
Galaxy METAL GEAR 5202AUAS USB 2.0 & eSATA External Enclosure (to hold the Samsung SATA DVD Burner)

I'm using the above on my T61 without any troubles at all. I just inserted the express card. Installed 64-bit driver. Everything works great. I have already ripped and burned a couple DVDs with the new DVD drive.

 

Good to know it works well on vista x64 .
I was actually considering the SiiG card but haven't heard much about it till this thread. A local dealer carries it - it carries only this card and another obscure brand.

 

Hi Stallen and all

Just thinking of buying an expresscard eSATA adapter to hook up with my T61 and I'm wondering if the T61 BIOS has an option to boot off eSATA drive (via expresscard adapter). Could you please test this?

I also have Vista64 installed on my T61 harddrive and would like to have Vista32/Linux installation on an external one. The reason for doing this is that -- I want to run another OS on my Thinkpad without messing up with the one already installed on the internal harddrive (need to keep my production environment as clean as possible). Dual-boot is not an option though.

Is this achievable at all with the T61? Thanks a lot in advance for any help you might offer.

 

I can't give you a solid answer. I don't have another OS on my external drive to try. However, I can give you some information that might help.

When I go into the BIOS the external hard drive attached to my eSATA ExpressCard adpater is not shown. Also, when I press F12 to temporarily set the boot device it is not recognized there either. It looks to me like it isn't recognized until Vista and the driver for the ExpressCard loads. So that doesn't sound good for what you are wanting to do.

There might be another option you could consider. Are you aware of the SATA Ultrabay Adapter? It will hold another 2.5" hard drive. I have the ultrabay adapter. I use the factory 60GB HDD and a 160GB HDD in the adapter. It is so easy to swap out the DVD drive for the ultrabay adapter. It literally takes about 10 seconds to swap them. Anyway, with a SATA hard drive in the ultrabay adapter it is recognized in the boot sequence in the BIOS. It also is shown when you press F12 during boot up. So I'm guessing that that would work. If you don't know how to remove the DVD Drive and insert an ultrabay adapter, have a look an the videos in my sig.

 

Thanks for your post. Just wanted to confirm that your suggested method works!

After reading your post, I (almost) immediately rushed out and buy a SATA ultrabay adapter, installed Vista32 on the ultrabay harddrive and everything worked like a charm. I had to use my USB DVD-RW drive for Vista installation though.

 

I'm glad that worked for you. Just curious where did you buy your ultrabay adapter. Sounds like somewhere local since you are already using it. If so I'm surprised. I can't ever find Lenvo parts like that anywhere but on-line.

 

I'm living in Bangkok, Thailand. There are lenovo stores here that they sell parts and accessories (batteries, DVDROM drives, harddisks, etc.). I was lucky to get my SATA adaptor though, since the guy at the store told me that they didn't usually stock this kind of stuff.

I got it for $49 though.