What does an eSATA do?

[netadict]

I have an eSATA port on my new laptop, what is it useful for? Can I convert it into a USB3 port with some peripherals

 

[cyclic]

A bit of reading will explain all, personally I wouldn't want it converted to anything.

What is eSATA

 

[kbrady1979]

External SATA port. It is great for using an external hard drive with a laptop as it's faster than USB.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

depending on the laptop it can be both an ESata AND an USB 2.0 or 3.0 port. Can you post the laptop model? I can look up its spec sheets. (you can too by googling)

 

[netadict]

I think it's an eSATA only port. My laptop is a Dell 1z XPS

 

[crankypenguin]

I would recommend a Esata hub to attach to that badboy so you have more Esata plugs to play around with

 

[bobafetthotmail]

I think it's an eSATA only port. My laptop is a Dell 1z XPS

Nothing found with this name. Check underside it, there should be a sticker that tells the model name, otherwise you can post a screenshot of the port.

Having looked at laptops with similar names (and because I know how rare are e-sata ports on laptops), I'm starting to think it could be an HDMI or a DisplayPort.

 

[DavidE]

depending on the laptop it can be both an ESata AND an USB 2.0 or 3.0 port. Can you post the laptop model? I can look up its spec sheets. (you can too by googling)

Can you explain how a single port can be used for both SATA and USB without some type of converter?
SATA and USB are different connectors and cables.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

Sure, it is called eSATAp. It's kind of a white fly, I know.

It's basically two physical ports joined together. Too bad that it's not more common, because it's neat. I guess that's because e-sata didn't really catch on.

 

[DavidE]

Cool, thanks.
I hadn't heard of that before, or seen it used.
Gotta wonder how reliable it is, as it is "not approved", so it seems more like a BETA to me right now...

 

[bobafetthotmail]

All laptops with it I have seen did operate either kind of devices without a hitch. The ones that still worked at all anyway (unrelated issues).

EDIT: Not that it matters a lot, as I've seen and tested around 10 laptops with it since 2008 (the year eSATAp was introduced).

 

[netadict]

I'm sorry I got the model number confused, it's a Dell XPS 15z

about the ports:
I have two USB2 ports, one esata USB3 port, an HDMI port and another smaller port ( looks like a mini usb port) that has what looks like a letter D beside it. You can see them all in the following image if you zoom in a bit
http://www3.pcmag.com/media/images/259167-dell-xps-15z-ports.jpg

 

[dsperber]

I'm sorry I got the model number confused, it's a Dell XPS 15z

about the ports:
I have two USB2 ports, one esata USB3 port, an HDMI port and another smaller port ( looks like a mini usb port) that has what looks like a letter D beside it. You can see them all in the following image if you zoom in a bit
http://www3.pcmag.com/media/images/259167-dell-xps-15z-ports.jpg

Well, the 15Z seems to be discontinued.

Found the details:

Here's the story on the 15 which does not seem to have any eSata port.

And on the 15 they're USB 3.0 ports, all of them. The "power share" on one of them is what I take to mean is just the Dell description of an "ALWAYS ON" USB port, which you can use to charge devices (e.g. phones) from with a USB cable even if the laptop is powered off and the lid closed (assuming the laptop is currently connected with an A/C power cord to its power connector). Lenovo has their USB "always on" port at the rear of my W530 laptop.

And yes... that "D" is the mini-DisplayPort digital video output (to connect to any monitor accepting DisplayPort cables, either mini or full-size, or even through a DisplayPort-to-DVI or DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter cable).

 

[netadict]

Thak you for the clarification dsperber