SABRENT EC-UEIS7 Aluminum 3.5" USB & eSATA External Enclosure - Retail

cheap, flexible ext. storage solution

Reviewed By: Doc Athlon on 1/25/2010

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: -Price
-Value
-Features-IDE&SATA-II internal connections, USB 2.0&eSATA external jacks
-Sturdy, mostly aluminum chasis construction with only the side panels (which hide your wires and drive screws) constructed of plastic.
-Understated/classic matte black finish
-dual LEDs (red & blue) for power and drive activity.
-Quiet active cooling with (1) 80mm fan.
-Flexibility in placement: (1) lying flat with exhaust fan facing up or (2) standing on edge with exhaust to the left or right

Cons: -Questionable reliability, reading previous reviews and with my experience of SATA power connector burnout after two months of extremely light use.
- As previous recent review mentioned: not much space for internal connections with a 3.5" HDD.
-As at least one older review noted: limited to USB 2.0 connectivity, externally, with IDE drive, and eSATA with SATA-II drive.
-Not truly hot-swappable if you're using it with SATA/eSATA configuration either, since, as at least one other reviewer noted, you will need to re-boot to get the drive recognized, unless you make your connections and power-up the drive before your PC.

Other Thoughts: -Does not include eSATA cable, so you'll need to purchase one of those if you are planning on using it with an SATA HDD, though you should be OK if you're planning on using this with only IDE, whether ATA-33, 100, or 133, since a short USB 2.0 cable is provided, along with the external power supply and cord.
-You might want to consider purchasing the extended warranty with this enclosure (and maybe the drive if you're purchasing a new one with it) to save the hassle of manufacturer's warranty service;>)
-I'm planning to update this when I find out what kind of response I get from the manufacturer.

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Reviewed By: on 1/15/2010

Tech Level: high - Ownership: more than 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: solid design and easy swapping of drives.

Cons: lots of wasted space around the edges

Other Thoughts: you can use the wasted space to fit other gadgets. i am adding a modification to the power led and the IC will fic nicely in the space along the side.

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Junk

Reviewed By: Reynaldo on 1/5/2010

Tech Level: low - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: looks nice if you need a external case that has nice blue light

Cons: didn't work returning could be that can't follow stupid instructions

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