Using SSD as boot drive over eSata - Enclosure or powerd cable?

[rotini]

Hello everyone -

I am going overseas and bringing my work laptop which appears to have an eSatap (powered) port. I would like to be able to use my main boot SSD (Intel 160 GB) which I use in my home PC as a boot SSD for my work laptop.

At first I was looking at external enclosures, but am now wondering if it would be better to simply use a Sata to eSatap (or esata+usb) cable instead. Would the eSatap port provide enough voltage to power the SSD as a boot drive consistently, or would I be better off using an external enclosure with a power supply? It looks like eSatap ports typically provide about +5V while Sata ports can provide +12 V - will this be an issue?

If I must go the external enclosure route, I would like something that doesn't limit the eSata transfer rates AND is highly dependable/safe for my SSD. The Thermaltake BlacX external enclosure/dock (ST0005U) I've been looking at looks great EXCEPT that it limits the eSata speed by not bypassing the USB chip, which apparently severely limits speeds if you're using a SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153071

Thanks to everyone in advance!

 

[noidea_77]

This will not work! Because of the different drivers required for your laptop, your pc windows will not even start on the laptop.

 

[rotini]

Bummer - my friend told me that he was able to boot an alternate drive through USB. I just assumed eSata would be a better choice.

Are you saying that if I were to use an alternate drive I should just do a clean install of Windows in order to use that as an alternate boot drive?

 

[noidea_77]

Yes. A clean install and the added laptop drivers (chipset, network, video, sound). Problem: windows will ask for a new activation, if you "reuse" your license key.

 

[rotini]

Thanks - so a clean install will work.

How about using an eSataP port in lieu of a dedicated hard drive enclosure? Pretty sure my laptop has a powered esata port - price not a concern issue here simply because they'll come out to roughly the same.

 

[rotini]

Bump - anyone able to answer my question?