Icy Dock MB882SP-1S-2B 2.5-3.5-Inch SATA HDD/SSD Converter - Black

It's worth noting that Icy Dock produce 3 very similar models of 3.5" to 2.5" SATA caddies: MB882SP-1S-1B MB882SP-1S-2B MB882SP-1S-3B The -2B version reviewed here is a 2 part unit with a removable lid and a solid base into which the 2.5" drive is inserted and pushed back against the SATA connector by hand. And this works perfectly: you can press the drive into the SATA connector with as much or as little force as you need until it hits the stop. Beware of the -1B version, however, which has a sliding base to automatically 'push' the drive into the SATA connector when the lid is closed - that version works very badly indeed. I buy lots of 2.5" to 3.5" SATA caddies for use in servers with 3.5" hotswap bays and these work perfectly. Performance is no different from a directly connected drive. I'm using SSDs in all of these units, so heat/noise isn't of particular concern, but if you were using a very warm spinning disk, you might need to provide additional cooling.

This product was quite expensive when I ended up paying £12 for this, plus £5 postage. However for the price, it delivers completely! As the manufacturer and other reviewers state, the dimensions of the dock are exactly those of your average 3.5 inch hard drive. My case has a strange caddy system which infuriates me no end but at least holds the drives in place, and this one offered no extra challenge. If your case can hold 3.5 inch drives, it can hold this. You connect the 2.5 SSD or hard drive to a little converter INSIDE the dock, and there are ports attached to the OUTSIDE of the dock. I prefer this to having a direct connection between SATA/power cables and the drive as I'm worried about damaging my SSD. Not sure how realistic the risk is, I think I'm just paranoid! Pads are provided to help fit the 2.5 SSD/HDD snugly inside the case. No problems arose from that bit, though the locking mechanism put me off a little - before I realised that the backing of the enclosure held the tab which in turn held the drive in place. I think this could've been done better (quick lock/quick remove metal pins to hold it in place perhaps), but admittedly the holes aren't always in the same places on the drive, whereas this solution works for most drives. There are cooling holes, so hot air will be able to vent, and it doesn't look like this case, being made of hardened plastic, will melt in action any time soon. Overall, it's flexible and I imagine will work for most 2.5 inch SSDs and HDDs (I use the Crucial CT064M4SSD2 64GB M4 SSD with success) and on inspection it should fit virtually any 3.5 drive bay, and is hot-swappable with other cases. Four stars for this one, I think £12 was a little too much, but otherwise a fantastic product!

I bought this item after having to return the Icybox IB-2535StS HDD converter, which was awful quality and had an issue with the size of screws it needed to attach it to the removable 3.5" drive bay in my PC. This Cremax ICY DOCK MB882SP-1S-1B really is so easy to use, the build quality is excellent and the data transfer speeds haven't been affected at all. I'm using an OCZ AGILITY 3 SATA III 2.5" 60GB SSD for my OS and it fits perfectly. It's exact the same size as a standard 3.5" HDD, all the screw holes line up perfectly and it took at most 5 minutes to install. You simply slide the lid of the HDD converter open and place the SSD in the bay. Once you are sure you've got the SSD in the right way and the connectors line up on the back of your SSD with the connectors on the converter then you close the lid, making sure it makes a reassuring click to confirm that the connectors have been pushed into place, then you just install it into your HDD cradle (if you use a removable 3.5" cradle of course?) as the screws on the base of the converter as previously mentioned the screw holes are perfectly positioned. It's well worth the extra £4-5 that it costs. Highly recommended.

Unlike the other IcyBox unit "Icybox IB-2535StS 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch HDD Converter" this one has the RIGHT screws for the job! I chose one of the other units because they have an aluminium tray which might help with cooling, but was really annoyed that the screws on the other one were the wrong thread for any 3.5" hard drive. Anyway these units work great. The PCB has no electronics, just a set of tracks to connect to the box's connector. Very tidy result. Anyone complaining about a lot of money for plastic should take a second look at their car... Many folk don't use the realtively large capacity of their hard drive, so this is a good way to replace the HDD with a smaller, far faster SSD (you can get a 64 for £35). A good way to revive an ageing PC for less than £50 all-in. Guy Hemmings

Like a lot of the other reviewers, I bought this to put an SSD into my cheesegrater Mac Pro. I read the reviews, which are largely either 'works perfectly!' or 'didn't work at all', so due to a lack of alternatives available in the UK, I decided to take a punt. When it (and my new SSD) arrived, I promptly followed the instructions for slotting the drive into the Icy Dock, and the Icy Dock into my Mac Pro, and it didn't work. I checked the SSD worked fine (it did) and tried again it with the Icy Dock, and it still didn't work. Not one to be beaten by technology, however, I decided to investigate further before returning it to Amazon, disappointed. I undid the three phillips screws holding the circuit board into the Icy Dock so I could get a better look at what was going on, and quickly realised that despite the Icy Dock's design, the SSD wasn't slotting completely into the connector, and due to its tight fit, it was making it difficult to slot it in any further (or notice this was the case). after working the connector a couple of times while detached from the case, I reassembled it, and lo it all works now. Moral of the story - if you think it doesn't work, check the inner drive is slotted in to the connector all the way, because it probably won't be. It's not a great design!

Unlike other 2.5" -> 3.5" adapters, this one retains the connector layout of the 3.5" drive. This means it can be attached to pretty much any kind of drive bay mounting bracket, and work with no issues. This is not limited to the MacPro either, but works fine with all other kinds of drive bays that can accept hot swap/hot plug 3.5" drives. The only downside I can find is when inserting the 2.5" device, it might help to remove the little adapter circuit board, attach it to the drive, and then insert both together. I found it very difficult to get a good connection to the 2.5 device if I didn't do this. This has been mentioned by other reviewers, and my experience was no different to theirs. Apart from that, this is a massively useful product, which I strongly recommend.

I bought this for a 2008 Mac Pro (3,1) and it fits perfectly. Just one thing to watch out for: if you think you've connected the SSD properly but your computer can't see it, check if the SSD is thinner than the standard 9.5mm. If it's too thin, it may not be automatically pressed home when you put the lid on. I have a Samsung 830, which is only 7mm thick, and it took a few tries before I figured out how to make it snap onto the connector properly. The trick is that the socket on the SSD pivots slightly, so once you've slotted it into place, you can tilt it up a little and push against the raised rear edge of the SSD to snap it on. When properly pressed home, the plastic prongs at the ends of the case's internal plug should be completely hidden (there's a video linked from the product page on Icy Dock's website that demonstrates how it should look). Little plastic springs in the lid stop the drive from flapping around once the lid is put on, despite its less-than-usual depth. Having solved that problem, there's nothing much to say about the rest of the case. It screws onto the Mac Pro's drive sleds using the original Apple screws, slots into place perfectly and works as expected.

As per many other reviews here it was a struggle to get it to work to connect an SSD (Samsung 840 Evo) to a Mac Pro (2008 model). Initially the SSD was not detected by the Mac when mounted in the Icy Dock adapter, even though it was recognized when mounted in an external USB enclosure. All Mac Pro drive bays worked with other drives so everything pointed to a problem with the Icy Dock and I was beginning to consider returning it. Thankfully the solution is to be found here in some helpful reviews. I will repeat it here to save you looking for it: Unscrew the PCB in the Icy Dock (it's just 3 screws), plug it directly into the SSD (it takes a firm push to get it fully in, perhaps it could be done without removing the PCB but it's very counter-intuitive to need to push it so hard), screw the PCB back in, close the Icy Dock, place it back in the Mac Pro. Now it should work. It's really a poor design, but in the end I still give it two stars because (PS: changed to 1 star later): - There aren't many products like this. - It feels cheap, but at least it IS cheap. - In the end, it works. Thanks to all who mentioned the solution before me and saved me a lot of hassle. PS: I also had a screw receptacle sliding out of the Icy Dock case, as described by reviewer A. K. Sheikh. It was easy to push back in but I can't help thinking that the stupid thing could, in theory, fall off from the Mac's metal caddy if it happened to all four receptacles. In practice this is not very likely to happen, and some glu could surely sort this out. But this really is PATHETIC build quality. So I'm removing 1 of the 2 stars. It can be made to work, but just get something else if you still can!