Vantec ezShare Adapter
PrintThis is the Air Jordan sneaker of sneakernets
Don’t be fooled by the Vantec ezShare’s unassuming looks. This simple six-foot white cable with its Type A USB plugs on either end is actually one of the easiest ways to quickly moves files between two computers. Just plug one end into an available USB port on a box running Windows (XP and up), and plug the other end into the second box.
A Windows Explorer–like app will auto-launch on each machine, letting you drag and drop folders and files between the two PCs. If this sounds an awful lot like Data Drive Thru’s Tornado (reviewed November 2007), that’s because the two products are pretty similar. The file-explorer UI and software functionality of both products are virtually the same. It’s close enough that we have a pretty strong suspicion that the underlying chipsets and software come from the same factory in China. There are a few key differences, though.
The first is the construction. The Tornado has auto-retracting cables, making it a nice portable package. On the other hand, the ezShare works with Macs. That’s right, by plugging one side into a PC and the other side into a Mac (10.4 or greater), you get the same Windows Explorer–like view and ability to drag and drop files between the two machines. That’ll make it even easier to switch from OS X to Windows 7 this fall!
We compared our original Tornado with the ezShare by copying files between a Win XP ThinkPad T60 Core Duo notebook and our midrange Core i7 Dream Machine running Windows 7 64-bit. It was virtually a tie, with both transfer cables taking about 530 seconds to move a 9GB file from the notebook to the desktop. Actually, we’re happy to report that we could even move the large file; after we published our review of the Tornado in 2007, some people reported problems moving files larger than 4GB, and we even subsequently experienced occasional issues when using Windows XP 64-bit. Data Drive Thru was never able to replicate the problem, however. It now seems likely that the culprit was some obscure configuration of the OS, as we didn’t experience any such conflicts with Windows 7.
A simple Windows Explorer-like interface pops up on both machines when copying files.
We also tested the ezShare with smaller transfers and moved about 1.34GB of image files in 96 seconds—top-notch performance for USB 2.0 transfers.
So what’s not to like? The ezShare’s presentation doesn’t exactly impress. While the Tornado makes for a tidy package, the ezShare looks like a plain, run-of-the-mill cable. But at $27 vs. $50 for the Tornado, we’ll live with the ugly cable. And with Mac compatibility thrown in to boot, the ezShare is an obvious winner. Now all it needs to win a Kick Ass is Linux support.
Vantec ezShare Adapter
File Sharing
Cross-platform support; low price; good performance.
Needle Sharing
Has all the style and grace of a plain white USB cable.
9
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Aarondsouzaa
December 16, 2011 at 4:48am
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somneim
April 21, 2011 at 7:33am
Finally something that I waited so long time to be put on the market. I love this stuff. Jerico at web hosting reviews.
monitasmith
February 27, 2011 at 11:54pm
The lake will be enfeebled out. Toxics from large parties around here have always cost a major problem for the community . gaming note book, gaming laptop, Sager NP8690
greatdoors
August 05, 2010 at 9:05am
My son has a mac laptop but recorded a movie on a sony camcorder that was not mac compatible. We can download the movie onto my daughter's pc laptop make a DVD and then get the information to my son"s mac. However, the mac cannot read the file. Will this Vantec cable solve this transference problem? Could use a little help. Thanks
lhatten
October 22, 2009 at 2:21pm
Price is about $25.00, and from their description the following quote: "Whether you have a PC or a Mac®, just connect and you are ready to go; no drivers or software installation is required."
Jesterace
October 22, 2009 at 12:05pm
Anyone else notice that this is listed under the PDF archive category?
bandeezee
October 19, 2009 at 6:54pm
I've bought USB transfer cable before, but I had to install software on both PCs that I was going to connect the cable to before being able to transfer anything. I found that to be pretty annoying, so I just wanted to know if there is mandatory software that needs to be installed for this to work or will it work right out of the box by plugging it in?
Any help is appreciated.
Atomike
October 19, 2009 at 10:05am
I have a question - at my work, security is a big issue. But I'm a video editor - and I can't have any security software on my editing computer for stability reasons. As a result, the security department won't let my editing computer on the company network. Would a device like this allow me to transfer files between my normal computer on the network and my editing computer? Would my editing computer (which again, has no security software) compromise my company's network?
nsk chaos
October 19, 2009 at 11:34am
dunno much about this issue but i would guess a yes if neither comp are hooked up to the cloud...
Atomike
October 19, 2009 at 11:54am
Naturally, one of the them (the non editing computer) is connected to the network - including the internet. Hence the question.
nekollx
October 19, 2009 at 10:04am
price would be nice
------------------------------
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Airheadq
October 19, 2009 at 12:39pm
"But at $27 vs. $50 for the Tornado, we’ll live with the ugly cable"
nekollx
October 19, 2009 at 12:42pm
*eggface*
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
devin3627
October 19, 2009 at 8:53am
this impresses me... i didnt have that when in 2004 when i tried software with two usb ports connected to each computer. vantec looks promising for sharing even. at a fair price if you have a little extra money to spend.
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