Serial ATA hard drives on dvd recorders ?

[joecass]

Wondering if hard drive recorders with standard IDE drives can use SATA drives instead ? I know the SATA connector and power supply cables are different, are there conversion
cables available ? The available supply of replacement IDE hard drives seems to be dwindling, when I look on line there are very few models available, unless they're refurbished. I'm
thinking in advance, when the hdd drives start failing on my hdd video recorders, can the switch be made to SATA ? Sorry for the dumb question !

[SLK001]

You can get an IDE controller to SATA drive converter. I got one on eBay for less than $5, shipping included.

[orsetto]

You'd be surprised, but many supposedly "SATA" DVD recorders work exactly that way: the basic recorder chassis was designed years ago for IDE, they moved to SATA for the same reason you cite: lack of available cheap IDE drives. Instead of retooling the entire chassis, several mfrs just added a circuit that converts incoming SATA to EIDE on the mother board. I wasn't aware there were easily available adapter cables, however: excellent tip from SLK001! Gonna get me a couple of those straightaway, you never know when they might be useful...