VANTEC NexStarLX NST-375LX-BK 3.5" Black USB2.0+RJ45 Ethernet External Enclosure

Pros: This NAS / Hard Drive Enclosure is super flexible and sports some sleek styling. Glossy black exterior and gorgeous electric blue LED status lights. I have mine connected to USB (so my BluRay Player can play the media) While the LAN port allows me to control the files on the hard drive from any PC on my network. Both connections Simultaneously. Sweet!

Cons: The hard drive is a SUPER TIGHT fit. The screw holes for the bottom of the HDD do not line up properly, but that is fine because my enclosure will not be mobile.

Other Thoughts: I used a 3rd party software to format my hard drive FAT 32, and the enclosure reads the entire drive as a single partition.

Pros: Makes a great door stop or paper weight.
It will talk to windows XP haven't gotten it to work with windows 7

Cons: Will not work with Mac when connected as a NAS. The case needs to be 1 inch bigger on all sides.

Other Thoughts: the temp sensor wire needs to be longer and the manual needs to better state and picture where to put the sensor. mine broke before i even got the drive installed.

Pros: May look good as a paper weight.
Can still RMA it with the egg

Cons: Arrived DOA. Power turns on, drive and fan spin but the device is inaccessible through the Ethernet port nor does it show when USB connected. HD format was verified good. Conclusion. This makes a pretty paper weight.

Other Thoughts: Hope RMA is honored by the egg, Otherwise this would be a pricy paper weight

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. We do provide a one year warranty from the date of purchase on your product, so feel free to get that exchanged for a brand new unit.
Please contact support@vantecusa.com
Best Regards, Vantec

Pros: It fits my needs perfectly. Cooling fan is temp controlled and sufficient for even hot drives, relatively quiet too. Supports FAT32* but read cons... Small and attractive enclosure, decent Power Brick. Works perfectly (FOR MY NEEDS***) for few years now.

Cons: Buggy firmware, will corrupt the drive if you transfer files to it via Ethernet (NO joke...!) Slower than a snail over FTP, slow over Ethernet (2-4MB/s).

At first I felt insulted by Vantec for such miserable product I paid $60 for...!

Then later on I accepted it for What It Is and now I even like it...!

Other Thoughts: As I said fits my use perfectly, as I use it as MP3 server for my home network. Plenty fast for music files, puts hard drive to sleep when not in use, wakes up when needed.
BUT I MUST add files via USB, ETHERNET WRITES will corrupt the FAT32 File System.

Keep that in mind, with similar needs it will serve you well for years to come.

And you can put the old IDE Drives to good use.

Pros: Owned this unit for several years now and haven't had a problem with it. I only turn it on when I need to use it and it sits next to my router in a closet for periodic backups.

Cons: Yes it is slow but I wasn't expecting huge speed based on reviews. I had to remove passworded folders as I couldn't get them to map correctly in Windows 7 but that's no biggie.

Pros: Ethernet and USB in the same package.

Cons: Low transfer rate over Ethernet.

Other Thoughts: The product works as expected, the transfer rate over Ethernet is very slow (was plugged into a 10/100/1000 network switch), much better over USB.

I got a defective unit, it works ok but the LED indicators don't lit, was a gift sent to other country, cannot be replaced or returned, just check your unit as soon it arrives.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. We try hard to provide our customer with the best service. If you have questions about our products, please feel free to write to us for assistance at support@vantecusa.com. We will try our best to answer your questions and help you setup the device to work correctly. Thank you for looking into our products. We do value your patronage.
Best Regards, Vantec

Pros: Good interface, easy setup. Good network file transfer speed, decent FTP transfer speed. Great product for the price. Multiple shares, access accounts, easy administration.

Cons: When first plugged in, the front LED lights didn't work. Turns out the LED connection cable wasn't plugged in properly. Fixed that, very simply, and haven't had a problem since.

Other Thoughts: For the price and feature set, I haven't found a better NAS device.

Pros: Sees network quickly. Good utilities. USB works great. Tech support is helpful. Attractive package.

Cons: Network is slow, slow, slow. Transfer speeds miserable even with two bios updates.

Other Thoughts: It's got everything going for it besides lousy network spped. But since I bought it for network speed, I'm very disappointed.

Pros: Extremely easy to configure. Supports Samba shares and FTP. Allows you to create FTP users with access to specific directories. Allows password protection for directories. Very attactive and quiet.

Cons: Extremely slow transfer speeds and data corruption over Ethernet. Averaged about 3 KBps while using FTP to tranfer files to the NAS. External power supply.

Pros: I like the products size and look.
I found the set up to be very easy although the HD was a little cramped in there.
The Fan is quite and hardly noticeable.
Drive speed was better than other NAS drives I own.
User interface is simple, easy to use and easy to update

Cons: I find the HD spin up time to be a little long
I also was not able to make the fan automatically come on
Documentation was a little on the limited side. Pretty much, it says install drive and then connect. I would have liked more detail on the temperature sensor

Other Thoughts: I like it so much I am buying another one