In this thread the OP mentions a USB adapter for connecting an HDD “externally”...so I started searching and got ‘whelmed by the available choices.

I’d probably want use it on both Linux (CentOS 7) and Windows 10 ‘puters to evaluate and clean up old drives and, perhaps, do some Linux installations thereon.

I’d appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

You would likely be okay with any major reputable brand. What are some of the ones you are considering?

I need to get at both [E]IDE ans sata drives, and have used various caddies (plug the drives in vertically) and cheap cables with a multi-plug. With the exception of a special one-off cable for proprietary mSATA which I got direct from China, the cables were a dead loss. The caddies tend to be loose, and the connection occasionally drops.

However, based on good reviews elsewhere on LQ, I got a Vantec USB3 adapter - wasn't the cheapest by any means. As it happens, it's still unused in the box, so I can't rate it for you ...
Gotta get it out one day.

scasey,

Yes, the choice is bewildering. I suspect that many are simply the same items under a different brand name.

All you can do is search for one that has high 5 star and low 1 star feedback, such as this Alxum one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alxum-Conve...s&sr=1-10&th=1

I've bought a couple of no name SATA cables, they work OK on my Intel/AMD computers, but one of them doesn't work with my RaspberryPi computers.

If you're planning on using the same drives over and over like I do, I tend not to even mess around with any adapters I need to plug in time and time again. I like to just throw them right in an external enclosure like this Orico one I've used and treat them like a store-bought external HDD/SSD like a WD Passport or the like. Options for 2.5 and 3.5 inch, SATA and IDE exist, and they cost the same (or often cheaper) than the cable-style adapter setups.

I've been using a Thermaltake external SATA docking station for some time for transfer massive amounts of data between systems at home without bringing the LAN to its knees---especially if one system is a laptop is normally connected via wifi. (Or if, in many cases, both are). It neatly handles the normal 3.5" drives as well as the laptop form factor. Works like a charm though it is a bit of a throwback to the days of sneakernet but what the heck else would I use a 120GB laptop drive nowadays if not for file transfers?