Rita--
I purchased it from Other World Computing, which was the source you first contacted mentioned in your post.
Yes, it comes with a USB 3.0 cable, and it is just like a "regular external hard drive", just more compact. Depending on the height of your table, the cable may be long enough to set up as you described.
On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
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