Apricorn's upgrade kit lets you use SATA 3.0 hard drives and SSDs in an older PC.

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If you're contemplating the cost of a new Windows-based computer to catch up with SATA 3.0 hard drives, you might be able to get away with just a $49 investment rather than a complete PC overhaul. Apricorn's Velocity Solo upgrade kit gives you access to SATA 3.0 hard drives and SSDs -- all you need is an x1 PCIe 2.0 slot -- and a SATA 3.0 drive, of course.

Out of the box

There is no real "unboxing" for the Velocity Solo; Apricorn markets it in a run-of-the-mill, hang-it-on-the-wall blister pack.

There are a couple of ways to connect the Velocity to your drive, depending on the type of drive it is. If you have a 2.5-in.SSD drive, you can mount it directly on the card by sliding it into the SATA data and power connector bank on the Velocity Solo and securing it with the screws provided.

If, on the other hand, you've installed a new SATA 3.0 hard drive, you can connect the data port to a connector located at the top rear corner of the Velocity Solo. (The power connection needs to be brought over from your computer as you normally would with any such installed hard drive -- the power directly available from the card is insufficient for a mechanical drive of any size.)

Whether you've used an SSD or a mechanical drive (or both), once the attachments are done, just plug the Velocity Solo into an available x1 PCIe slot, screw it to the backplane, and you're ready to close up your computer and start things up.

Operation

Once powered up, your computer should automatically recognize the Velocity Solo and any drives attached to it. If your drive hasn't already been partitioned or formatted, you'll need to do that through the usual disk management options found in the Control Panel's Administrative Tools icon.

The EZ Gig software promised on the blister pack is actually a download from a section of the same website. EZ Gig is disk drive cloning software that will let you, for example, re-create your current boot drive onto your new Velocity Solo SATA 3.0 drive despite any variance in capacity between the source and target drives. You can then use the BIOS options available on your PC to make one of the Velocity Solo drives your new boot disk.

The EZ Gig software promised on the blister pack is actually a download from a section of the same website. EZ Gig is disk drive cloning software that will let you, for example, re-create your current boot drive onto your new Velocity Solo SATA 3.0 drive despite any variance in capacity between the source and target drives. You can then use the BIOS options available on your PC to make one of the Velocity Solo drives your new boot disk.

Bottom Line

Apricorn has always made some very credible niche products (like its Upgrade Kit for 5th Generation Video iPods) and not-so-niche products (such as the EZ Writer II portable DVD burner). The Velocity Solo doesn't go against that grain. Being able to add a SATA 3.0 disk system to a tired old PC without replacing the motherboard -- or the entire computer -- is a wonderful idea. And being able to install an SSD without trying to figure out how to fit a 2.5-inch drive in a 3.5-inch bay is even better. (Duct tape is not an effective long-term solution.)

I give Apricorn a big Geek Thumbs Up for the Velocity Solo.

Do you have SATA III desires but only an IDE budget?

Do you find yourself drooling over those new, high-speed PCs, but only have lint and a couple of quarters in your pocket?

Fear not! The folks at Apricorn have developed a way for you to upgrade that old PC to take advantage of SATA III, high-speed technology.

The new Velocity Solo ($49) Desktop SSD Upgrade Kit allows users of older PCs to install new 10,000 RPM hard drives or other SATA III or solid state drives (SSD) on their computers. Of course, you still have to purchase the drives.

We popped a Velocity Solo into an empty PCI/e slot on an older Hewlett Packard computer and were up and running in about five minutes.

The Solo gives you the option of installing a full-size drive and attaching it using a SATA III cable or slipping a 2.5-inch notebook drive into a slot on the Solo, eliminating the need for a SATA III cable.

We installed two 2.5-inch notebook drives --- one was a Seagate 750 GB Momentous XT and the other was a 250 GB drive provided to us by Apricorn for testing purposes --- switching them out and booting the computer from each drive.

Both drives worked perfectly and significantly reduced computer boot time, due to the higher spin rate of SATA III (up to 10,000 RPM) and, because we were now using SSDs, we were able to take advantage of their ability to read data at up to 6 GB/second.

The upgrade kit comes with a SATA III cable and EZ Gig cloning software, which you have to download from Apricorn's website. The software enables you to choose which programs you want to transfer to the new drive and simplifies the process of creating a new, faster boot drive. Check out Apricorn's website at www.apricorn.com for more information on the Velocity Solo and other Apricorn products.

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