Scythe Kama Connect 2
Testing Methodology and Results
Published: 29th January 2008 | Source: Scythe-EU | Price: £25.00 |
Testing Methodology
I must admit that I was quite stumped initially as to how to test the Scythe Kama Connect 2. I mean basically you connect all the leads, connect your chosen storage devices and then power it on....and it should work, right? Although, it's hardly the kind of performance testing that you'd expect from us at Overclock3D. Anyway I've chosen to assess the Kama Connect 2 on two fronts: compatibility and speed.
Compatibility
Scythe market the Kama Connect 2 as being compatible with ME/2000/XP and Vista flavours of Windows, and that the unit is universally 'Plug and Play' compliant. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my copy of Windows ME :p and I don't have a copy of Windows 2000, so XP and Vista will have to do. I will be installing the Kama Connect 2 on machines running Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista to ensure that there aren't any compatibility issues.
Speed
Any storage device connected to the Scythe Kama Connect will essentially be transferring data via the USB bus. Now the USB 2.0 bus has an absolute, or raw data rate of around 480Mbps which would be pretty impressive if we could achieve that kind of bandwidth. However, the effective rate (read: realistic data rate) is around 40Mbps or considerably higher for bulk transfers if no one else is sharing the bus. I decided to test the HDD over USB 2.0 bus speed using HDTach vers. 3.0 for XP, and Sisoft SANDRA for Windows Vista.
Now on with the testing...
Test Results
Compatibility
I'm happy to say that the Kama Connect 2 played happily together with both Windows XP and its younger sibling - Vista.
Both the Pioneer CD/DVD burner and my Seagate SATA II drive were installed as USB devices. Mmmm...SATA II/PATA over USB.
Speed
As I expected, my 80Gb Seagate HDD was turned into an 80Gb flash drive in one swoop. Although the speed isn't what you would expect from the HDD, it was certainly functional and perfectly acceptable for transferring files.
SiSoft Sandra reported similar findings in Windows Vista.
Let's head over the page to see what conclusions we can draw from todays review of the Scythe Kama Connect 2...
Most Recent Comments
Very well written review Matt! 
Looks to be a good idea as well.
Looks to be a good idea as well.
Honestly can't they think of another damn name, everything they make is called a Kama Connect, Kama Bay, Kama Meter. 
Nice review anyhow
Looks a very neat idea as you said.
Cheers!
Nice review anyhow
Looks a very neat idea as you said.
Cheers!
LOL, silly name GREAT product!
Nice job guys.
Nice job guys.
Nice review, and for that kind of price, i might get one myself.
Shame there's no firewire as my usb is playing up thinking its 1.1 and restarting explorer.
Shame there's no firewire as my usb is playing up thinking its 1.1 and restarting explorer.
It's a great idea, i know i wish i had one for the many hard drives i have lying around. Nice review too Peeves.
Thanks for the feedback guys it's much appreciated. The Kama Connect 2 is certainly a handy little item, and one that could possibly be further improved by including firewire too.
Good review mate. I think I will actually go and buy one of these because I cant count the number of times I've had to install friends/family hard disks in my machine to get their data off when their PC's have fooked up.
Thanks Jim. The Connect 2 would be perfect for that application, please let me know what you think if you get your hands on one
Great review. Nice bit of kit tbh. At the price it is, I`d look to get one just to have it handy.
There firewire options or esata ?
hehe u could use one of these on that new Macbook that has nothing.
There firewire options or esata ?
hehe u could use one of these on that new Macbook that has nothing.
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Scythe Kama Connect 2