Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 84 down vote favorite
8

I'm on a Thinkpad T510 and I accidentally plugged my Razor USB mouse into the eSata port not realizing my error because it has been working fine this whole time. Does this seem a little odd?

share|improve this question
5  
Never heard of such a thing! But how awesome! – BloodPhilia Sep 1 '10 at 17:24
18  
It's a combo port... – Garrett Sep 1 '10 at 17:35

1 Answer

up vote 115 down vote accepted

It sounds like you have a USB/eSATA combo port AKA eSATAp. Which enables you to use either the USB or the eSATA on that particular port.

alt text

Picture taken from: techarena's forum.

eSATAp is also known as Power over eSATA or eSATA/USB Combo. eSATAp port combines the strength of both eSATA (high speed) and USB (compatibility) into a single port. eSATAp devices are now capable of being self powered. On a desktop workstation, eSATAp port can supply 12 V to power up a 3.5" hard disk drive (HDD) or a 5.25" DVD-RW without needing separate power source as compared to eSATA and USB 2. On a notebook eSATAp port can supply 5 V to power up a 2.5" HDD/SSD as compared to eSATA. Many notebooks are now equipped with this combo port. A list of notebooks with this new port is available here. eSATAp can be implemented in all machines with a spare SATA port. These machines include PC notebooks, desktops, Apple Mac Pro, and Linux or Unix servers. This makes eSATAp an easy, economical, cross platform solution for external storage.

Serial ATA (Wikipedia).

share|improve this answer
26  
Damn, that's cool. I couldn't believe the OP's question until I saw your answer. – Spiff Sep 1 '10 at 17:40
You're right, it's the Power eSATA. Good info! – ioSamurai Sep 1 '10 at 17:46
11  
Welcome... to the world of tomorrow! – Humphrey Bogart Sep 2 '10 at 13:24

protected by Diago Sep 27 '10 at 17:00

This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.