I have had this product for nearly 8 months now and serves me well. I know some people have mentioned problems with the driver not being include but a quick visit to the website will take care of that (you can even install the driver right after you order it so that when it arrives you can just plug it in and go.) If you have Windows 7 (might be available as well on Vista, haven't checked) Microsoft put out a optional update in Windows Update to handle USB 3.0 drivers. Just click on it and install it, and that should work as well. I have had no problem or complaints with this device. Some have said it is flimsy but most expresscards are anything but sturdy, and its not going to fall apart under normal use or anything, just be aware of it if your moving your laptop around as you would if you had any kind of device dangling off the side of your computer like your flash drive, wireless mouse adapter, etc. and this will be a non-issue. A great product and now is an even better time to get it with more usb 3.0 items hitting the market. I give it the thumbs up! StarTech.com 2 Port ExpressCard SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Card Adapter (ECUSB3S2)
The USB 3.0 adapter defintely adds speed to USB 3 devices. But the driver for the card was not included on the enclosed CD and the USB connections on the card are very flimsy. I am afraid it will not last very long.
This 2 PORT USB 3.0 Expresscard Card works great with both the XP Professional and Windows 7 Proressional systems I have tried it in. I am using both 32 bit and 64 bit Windows and the included driver loads quickly without any issues. From the time I opened the box until the time I had it working was less than 10 minutes. My speed tests indicate I am getting the full USB 3.0 speed of 4.8 Gigs. I would highly recommend this USB 3.0 card to anyone that wants to step up to USB 3.0 speed and keep their older laptop.
This is a two port super speed USB 3.0 Expresscard Card. The driver does not come with the product but is easily obtained from the Startech website. I downloaded the driver for 32 bit Windows 7 before the item arrived so that when the expresscard arrived I would just plug in and play. The expresscard did not recieve five stars because the expresscard DID NOT come with the external power adapter. The external power adapter is necessary for the expresscard to provide enough power for USB 3.0 powered devices. USB 2.0 devices work fine with the expresscard without using the external power adapter; I tested several printers, flash drives, ipods, USB 2.0 external powered hard drives, Evo 4G (including USB tethering function, disk drive function, and charge mode), and SDHC cards (using usb adapter) and they worked fine without using the external power adapter. The only real problem I have had with expresscard is when I plugged in my USB 3.0 Western Digital My Passport Essential (500 GB) hard drive (a portable hard drive that is powered entirely by USB port) and started a write operation the expresscard port would "eject" the expresscard. USB 3.0 ports are designed to provide 80% more power than USB 2.0. Thus when I tried to write to the My Passport Essential hard drive using the USB 3.0 ports on the expresscard, the device would attempt to draw the full power of a USB 3.0 port, which is greater than what the expresscard port could provide and therefore my computer would "eject" the expresscard. That problem is completely solved when the external power adapter is plugged into the expresscard. I was transferring data (180 GB+) from an USB 2.0 external hard drive to the USB 3.0 Western Digital My Passport Essential while using the USB 3.0 expresscard with the external power adapter the USB 3.0 Western Digital My Passport Essential was 50% faster than when it was using a USB 2.0 port. Since the limiting factor in the data transfer from the USB 2.0 external hard drive to the USB 3.0 hard drive is the transfer speed of USB 2.0 hard drive, I suspect that speed of the USB 3.0 expresscard is actually much faster than stated above.
I have this card installed on a laptop running Windows 2008 R2 Server. When I installed the card, I tried to look for the drivers on the included CD, only to find they weren't there. At this point, I attempted to use Google to find the drivers for the card and couldn't find them. I had looked for drivers for the "ECUSB252", but the card was actually labeled the "ECUSB2S2". Once I searched for the correct card, I was able to install the drivers and it worked flawlessly.
With my external USB 3.0 hard drive, the performance is excellent and on-par with the internal 7200rpm hard drive. Build quality is excellent. Highly recommended, just beware of the drivers.
The disc that is enclosed is very confusing, if not worthless. I had to go to the StarTech.com website to download the latest driver. I have a 64-bit Satellite dual booted with Windows 7 Professional (x64) and XP Professional (x86). I only found one driver for this device. When I tried to load on Windows 7, it was installing into "Program Files (x86)," so I stopped the install and contacted StarTech via chat. I was told that the one on the website is the latest, and it works on both x64 and x86. The technician did not seem too well versed, as he admitted that he had no idea where the software installed. Anyway, driver installed in Windows 7 with no problem; however, in XP I had to tell the Hardware Installer to load driver from D:\Mos24Ser\winxp (note: change D to where XP Professional is installed on your system).
My next problem was a very loose ExpressCard/34 in my /54 slot. Very, very touchy! Seems that StarTech has a bracket to resolve this problem. (ECBRACKET). My personal (temporary) workaround is a carefully folded cardboard wedged beside the ExpressCard.
Then I tried to run my 500 Gig drive (housed in 3.0 Connected External Enclosure). I noticed a red led and a flashing blue one. The drive was constantly seeking.) I again contacted StarTech via chat AFTER waiting 25 minutes on the phone. This technician was on the verge of rude as he told me that I now needed to get an external power adapter "5V, 2000mah, Plug Type H, Center Tip Positive." When asked if StarTech had such an adapter, I was told "No." Having been a former Tech Support Engineer myself, I'd say that he's fortunate to not work for my boss. He implied that the problem was my fault for not studying the specifications. (OK, I should have, but that tech needs to learn diplomacy!)
So... drivers installed now, and Express Card happily powered with a Rhino 2500mA DC Adapter (set to output 5 vdc), I am indeed quite pleased with my new 3.0 SuperSpeed USB. My external drive is so fast that it rivals the internal one. Great product, but needs work on installation instructions and technical support. - Startech - Beware - Accessories - Expresscard'
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