The IT Nerd

After swapping my wife’s SSD for a faster one to solve an issue with macOS High Sierra, and in the process running into a serious issue that I had to deal with, After I dealt with that crisis, I needed to do something with her old SSD. So I decided to turn it into an external hard drive. To get there, I used the Orico USB 3.0 Type C 2.5″ HDD Enclosure. It promised a tool free install. And they were right on that front. Here’s all I had to do:

Press the button on the right hand side of the enclosure:

This allows you to swing open a door that allows you access to the innards of the enclosure:

Slide the drive into the enclosure until the drive clicks into the place. It only goes in one way so you can’t screw it up. Then you close the door and you’re done. Declare victory and have a beer because this only took 3 minutes. Yes, I timed it. Here’s the result:

It’s a metal enclosure that feels like it’s a quality product. I’m pretty sure that this will survive whatever you can throw at it. Now this enclosure comes out the box with a USB 3.0 to USB-C cable as the enclosure has a USB-C port. So while this is perfect for use with my MacBook Pro or my wife’s MacBook Pro which are both USB 3.0, you’ll need to acquire a USB-C to USB-C cable to use it with a newer MacBook Pro with USB-C. That’s a bit of a #fail. But at $25 CDN at my local computer store, it’s cheap enough that I can overlook it. If you need to repurpose a 2.5″ drive, this enclosure is a great way to go.

My wife and I needed to get cases for our external hard drives during our road trip to Newfoundland. My wife and I chose two different Orico products. In her case, she chose the Orico 2.5 inch Portable Hard Drive Protection Bag because of the color:

This is a moistureproof, dustproof and antistatic case made for 2.5″ hard drives. The outside has a bit of a nylon shell on the outside which is purple because my wife liked the color on this case.

In my case, I chose an all black Orico Portable Hard Drive Carrying Case:

This case is made of high-quality EVA waterproof material. That makes it durable, wearable, scratch resistant and not easily deformed.

In either case, you get this on the inside:

On the left, you get a mesh net, on the right you get a strap. Here’s how I utilized this space:

Here you can see the Western Digital My Passport For Mac hard drive. Everything fit without an issue and in either case, my wife and I had no issues. Both cases are about $20 CDN at your local computer store. Pick one up to protect your external hard drive.

Something that I used to keep my various electronics charged was this new piece of tech that’s in my laptop bag:

This is the Orico 4 Port USB Charger. It’s very small and easy to pack. Plus it has adapters for the UK, Aus, and EU that slide on top of the foldable prongs that you would use in North America. That means that you can use this charger in dozens of countries. Something that is very classy is that it comes with a felt bag that you can use to keep everything in. The charger supports 100V – 240V so you can use it anywhere that you can plug it in. Each USB ports puts out 5V which means that your devices will charge quickly. I used this on my recent road trip to the east coast of Canada and I really appreciated having it as I could plug it in anywhere and it got my devices fully charged quickly.

The best part is that it was less that $25 CDN and is available in your choice of white or black. That makes it an easy call if you need a USB charger for your next trip overseas.

I’m always on the lookout for stuff that can make my life easier when I travel. So when I saw the ORICO 20W Universal Power Plug Travel Converter & Adapter on sale for $14.99 CDN at my local computer shop, I grabbed it:

As you can see from the front, you can plug in any AC from anywhere on planet Earth. It covers 100-240V which means that whatever you plug in will work. But it has one weakness:

It only has a North American power plug. That really limits what you can do with it as you can’t take it overseas without an adapter. However, it does have one redeeming quality:

It has four USB ports that will charge your devices at 5V and 2.4A per port. That means that all your devices will get charged quickly.

So, is this worth it? Maybe if you need to charge multiple devices or you need to use devices from overseas in North America. But it isn’t worth it if you travel in my opinion. But at $14.99 CDN which was down from $24.99, it won’t break the bank to have lying around just in case you need it.