Sharkoon SATA QuickPort Home review

The SATA QuickPort Home is a stylish external hard disk enclosure that won’t look out of place next to a hi-fi or home cinema setup. The brushed aluminium body and smart-looking status LEDs can easily be mistaken for a Blu-Ray player or set-top box.

Its two drive bays can hold one 3.5in and one 2.5in hard disk, which slide in easily and are held securely. Building this external hard disk won’t take much time or technical ability.

Encasing hard disks into a case can create a lot of heat, which could easily lead to problems if there isn’t sufficient cooling. Fortunately, Sharkoon has fitted the SATA QuickPort Home with a fan, which provides plenty of cooling. We also found that it was very quiet, so using this external disk won’t ruin the peace and quiet of any room.

Around the back, there’s eSATA, which can be used to connect another disk, or connect the whole device to your PC. If your PC doesn’t have an eSATA port you can convert an internal SATA port using a blanking plate that will cost less than £5. Alternatively, there are separate host and slave USB ports.

Behind the front panel there’s a USB port and a multi-format card reader that supports SDHC and Memory Stick cards.

Even if it’s more likely to sit on a desktop than underneath a TV, the SATA QuickPort home looks great, and is a simple way to get access to multiple hard disks. It’s a great choice if you have an old disk that you’re not sure what to do with.