While listed as only for a 2.5 HDD, has anyone tested this on a Desktop 3.5 HDD?

This will not work on a 3.5 drive. The USB power supply is 5V. The 2.5 drives only use a 5V power rail, which is why this works on them. 3.5 drives have a 12V power rail, along with the 5V power rail. To run a 3.5 drive, you need an external 12V power supply. There are interfaces that come with it.

USB 3.0 to 2.5" SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable w/UASP ... Great! Is this thing USB 2.0 backward compatible in case I need it that way?

I've been able to use these with SSD's and USB 2.0. Usually laptop HDD's pull too much power to work on 2.0, and I've seen a couple older ones pull too much for 3.0. I work in a computer repair shop where we use these things like crazy, and it often depends on the drive you're using, and whether your USB port is able to push the power it's supposed to be rated for. Feels like a coin flip if you're working with a platter drive, but SSD's do fine.

2.5" drives don't require a power adaptor? All I need is this cable?

Yes. I had an SSD drive connected to the back of a server's USB 3 port for weeks without issue with no external power adapter.

Is this compatible with the Samsung Data Migration / Magician tools? They will not detect my drive with the other adapters I own.

I just ran into this issue with a Samsung 500 Gb 860 EVO SSD. The Samsung Magician Software did not see the SSD. There was a suggestion on one of Samsung's support sites (user community) that the bios settings for the HDD controller could be at fault. I checked mine and they were set to RAID (even though I don't have a RAID configuration). The recommended setting is AHCI. I changed it to AHCI (despite the warning that the computer might fail to boot) and rebooted. Rebooted without an issue, but Magician still didn't "recognize" the SSD as a Samsung "compatible" drive. I then downloaded Samsung Data Migration tool, which is really what you need for the cloning. IT WORKED. So as indicated elsewhere, there is some issue with certain combinations of Samsung software and the newer SSD's. I will try to remember to test it with an older USB 2.0 -> SATA adapter I've used in the past without issue. In the end, the cable worked as advertised.

Brand	StarTech
Connector Type	Sata/Usb
Cable Type	SATA
Compatible Devices	Laptop, Personal Computer
Special Feature	Data Transfer
Compatible Phone Models	No Compatible Phone Models
Recommended Uses For Product	Indoor/Outdoor
Color	Black
Connector Gender	Male-to-Female
Data Transfer Rate	5 Gigabits Per Second
Shape	Flat
Number of Pins	7
Frequency	60 GHz
AC Adapter Current	1.5 Amps
Unit Count	1.0 Count
Item Weight	1.44 ounces
Model Name	USB3S2SAT3CB
Specification Met	No
Indoor/Outdoor Usage	Indoor, Outdoor
Number of Items	1
Customer Package Type	Standard Packaging
Wattage	7.5 watts
Maximum Voltage	5 Volts
Outer Material	Plastic
Manufacturer	StarTech.com
UPC	006503085469 065030854696
Global Trade Identification Number	00065030854696
Standing screen display size	2.5 Inches
Hard Drive	Portable
Wireless Type	Radio Frequency
Number of USB 3.0 Ports	3
Item model number	USB3S2SAT3CB
Hardware Platform	OS Independent
Product Dimensions	19.7 x 1.9 x 0.4 inches
Item Dimensions LxWxH	19.7 x 1.9 x 0.4 inches
Batteries	1 AAAA batteries required.
Language	Italian
ASIN	B00HJZJI84
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer	No
Date First Available	December 27, 2013

StarTech SATA to USB Cable, USB 5Gbps to 2.5in SATA I II III Hard Drive Adapter, External Converter for SSD or HDD Data Transfer

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