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AcomData SMBXXXU2E-Blk External Enclosures
Customer Reviews for acomdata SMBXXXU2E-Blk Aluminum 3.5" Obsidian Black USB 2.0 Samba Enclosure Kit - Retail
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Price: $29.99
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Review Summary (80 Reviews): Rating + 4
OverallLast 2 WeeksLast 6 Months
Excellent Rating + 5 51ReviewsExcellent
newegg
63%
Good Rating + 4 15ReviewsGood
newegg
19%
Average Rating + 3 9ReviewsAverage
newegg
11%
Poor Rating + 2 2ReviewsPoor
newegg
3%
Very Poor Rating + 1 3ReviewsVery Poor
newegg
4%
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Reviewer Product Review
Will
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/7/2010 6:59:30 AM

Rating + 4 WORKS Great!


Pros: I Was amazed at Newegg's fast shipping. I ordered on Tuesday and received on Wednesday (next day). This is my first experience using an external HD enclosure, and I am very pleased with the speed. I also switch between ide and sata drives and love this feature. I read reviews that said the power cable or SATA cable was reversed, but I had no problem - I simply installed the HD outside the unit, then flipped the HD end over end to put it into the enclosure.
I was also able to read a HD I couldn't read in the computer.
I use Microsoft Windows XP and 7, and Linux Ubuntu and it works great with all systems.

Cons: Time consuming to take enclosure apart and switch out Hard Drive and put back together again, but not a big deal for me. The Pros far outweigh this little con.
I have left the enclosure apart when switching back and forth among different drives, but I'm not sure if that's proper - Have to be very careful not to touch anything sensitive or electrical.

Other Thoughts: I'm happy and satisfied with this unit. I am very happy with Newegg.

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riveter
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/5/2010 3:47:05 AM

Rating + 5 Works Great


Pros: It does what it's supposed to. I have an IDE drive installed with an NTFS partition for backups and a FAT 32 partition for my PS3. I use it for backups of my main PC and for watching videos on the PS3.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Good quality product at a good price.

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reseng
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/4/2010 4:47:20 PM

Rating + 3 works ok


Pros: I've only tested it with my older IDE drives, 20G-80Gig. Worked with both Linux and WinXP just fine.

Cons: Mechanically poor layout internally. The IDE connector is rigid and the IDE-power cable was difficult to use. Feels like I'll snap the IDE connector off of the circuit board if I use it too much.

Other Thoughts: I originally bought this so I could swap in/out a bunch of old hard-drives, but due to mechanical reasons I think that it would break if I swapped more than 5 or 6 times.
HOWEVER, I'd probably buy a second one because it is very functional.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/17/2009 1:20:45 PM

Rating + 5 Product works OK


Pros: Works OK on the IDE and SATA drives.

Cons: A bit bulky, but I can live with it.

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JJ
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/28/2009 7:38:00 AM

Rating + 4 Samba Enclosure


Pros: The installation of the drive was accurately spelled out in the instruction manual. The the drive up and running within 30 minutes of removing from the old enclosure and into the new one. Order another like item to support a backup drive.

Cons: At this time no qualms with the product.

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Dante
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
11/21/2009 8:12:58 PM

Rating + 5 By far my favorite drive enclosure


Pros: Slim profile, attractive led (blue for power, red for activity) on top of front cover, passive cooling via vents and generous use of aluminum.
The case itself is not much larger than a standard 3.5" drive, and there are perforated aluminum sheets that enclose the drive inside the outer shell, which is also aluminum. Al is great for getting the heat away from the drive. Some enclosures literally cook the drive and drives can be too hot to handle after hours of heavy access. Not so with these.

Comes in black, red, and blue.
You can get a SATA-only and USB 2.0 only version like this one, or you can pay about $10 more and get a SATA + IDE version that also has 2 firewire ports on it!

Inside the cage, you can screw the drives down so they don't flop around. The drive slides neatly into the SATA plugs, couldn't be easier! It takes me about 2 minutes to swap drives in these cages. The only thing that would make it faster is to use thumb screws on the back panel.

Cons: None that I've found. This model is the "bottom" version with only SATA and USB, but you can also get a cage that does BOTH SATA and IDE, and has USB 2.0 and Firewire, so you can step up to that one if you want that flexibility.

Other Thoughts: I've used the SATA only drive primarily, but I keep a couple of the SATA + IDE cages around since I do have a number of old IDE drives that I'll use now and then, and when a friend calls w/ drive issues, you never know what they'll have and you can bring the combo cage and be prepared for both.

I've used other cages, and none seem to keep drives this cool. They are USB 2.0 so you can drop huge files on the drive and it's not going to take all night.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/15/2009 10:55:35 AM

Rating + 5 Does what it's supposed to


Pros: Cheap
IDE and SATA interface

Cons: quality of internals

Other Thoughts: I had an old hard drive I needed to get a ton of files off of and used this to access the drive via USB. After taking ownership of the drive under Windows Security settings for the drive I was able to access and transfer all of the files with ease. Great product for the price

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/12/2009 2:45:02 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent


Pros: Awesome, easy to swap HD
No problems

Cons: None

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JT
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
11/7/2009 10:00:03 AM

Rating + 1 Unreliable


Pros: solid construction

Cons: The only thing I can rely on with this unit is that it will disconnect from any pc during file transfers.

Other Thoughts: Buy a different brand. 4 years ago i spent half this price on a cheap, plastic bytecc enclosure - that still works without fail. this fancy metal enclosure with the ooh-ahh blinking lights failed after 1 month.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/7/2009 7:26:04 AM

Rating + 4 Not Bad, But Not Perfect...


Pros: This unit works with both sata and ide (I've tested)...Easy to swap, and everything's included (screws, ac adapter, USB cable). Fine for temporary, occasional use.
Solid construction, nice light, and sticky rubber feet are nice.

Cons: Gets a little hot with my older Maxtor IDE, but stays relatively cool with a newer SATA WD drive...probably just the drive itself, but still could vent better in my opinion.

Other Thoughts: If I end up using this in a more permanent way, I'll definitely drill some vent holes in the side. Connections are a bit cramped with the extra wires for both sata and ide drives inside, but that's to be expected, so not a con really.

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Maverick
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/4/2009 7:25:03 PM

Rating + 5 Great Product Extends Use Of Old IDE Hard Drives


Pros: This product works great and accepts either PATA or SATA 3.5" hard drives. My first one from NewEgg has worked so well this past year, I just had to buy more just like it. The small footprint it has makes it indespensible for extending the use of all my old IDE hard drives.

I've used it with every Windows 64-bit OS made for my backups of my Windows operating systems. Windows One Care and Microsoft Security Essentials use this unit flawlessly for backups with my very old, but still working well, Maxtor 80GB 133 DMA hard drives.

Since all my computers now use SATA drives, I hated to do away with those old great Maxtors from as far back as 2001 - several of them having performed 24/7 for as long as 8 years! One of those early drives was $300 when purchased, but the speed improvement over 66 DMA was well worth it at the time. Now these old drives can finish their lives as backup drives for several of my computers - and if one dies, I can just pop one of my SATA drives in place.

Cons: The units are USB plug and play, and quickly recognized by Windows, but you do need to turn them off and on as needed using the rear mounted switch. Otherwise, the drive never spins down to idle as it would installed in a computer bay.

The blue/violet LED lets you know the power is on and if the drive is in use, but the blue power LED is a bit bright. Instead of violet, a separate green LED might have been a better choice for showing active drive use. However, the lights really are no problem as the units are turned off most of the time in my use.

Other Thoughts: These units are solid and well constructed of aluminum - so drives noise is keep to a minimum. The drive installation is simple using the provided user manual. Now I can just sit back and relax. OS backups just got a lot easier. With the great USB 2.0 transfer speeds used here, backups and transfers only take minutes using the Acomdata Samba - and your choice of hard drive.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

GreyFox
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/25/2009 7:55:05 AM

Rating + 5 Acomdata 3.5" case


Pros: Attactive case with a base wide enough for good stability. SATA and IDE connections.

Cons: I did not notice any change in the light to denote activity when formatting my new hard drive.

Other Thoughts: I bought this to check out some older IDE drives as well as to use as a primary backup with a new SATA drive. From the manual, it looks like it wants a SATA drive with 1.5GB transfer rate, but the 3.0 GB transfer rate drive seems to be working (formatting it now). Seems like a good value so far.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/15/2009 1:10:10 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Works great. Have used it with ide and sata hdd. Good to retrieve data off old hard drives that won't boot or use as an external usb drive for storage.

Cons: It's a little flimsy but pretty solid once together.

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jokono
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/14/2009 6:57:46 AM

Rating + 4 Good & Cheap


Pros: Good price.
Both PATA and SATA.
Not ugly.
Does what it claims to do.
Good transfer rates.

Cons: It's not terribly difficult to work with, but not the easiest I've used either. If you're going to be swapping drives often, I'd go for a SATA docking station instead.
Has company logo emblazoned on the side. Just a minor, cosmetic annoyance IMO.

Other Thoughts: I bought this for my Wii. It works for my purposes, using a 320GB drive.

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Tropheus
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/10/2009 6:25:00 AM

Rating + 5 Fantastic 3.5" Enclosure


Pros: Hard drive installation is very easy and simple. Enclosure construction is durable aluminum, and inside is well designed. Dissipates heat quite well. Its more versatile than most since it supports both Serial ATA (SATA) and the older Parallel ATA (PATA) type hard drives.

Cons: Face and back (ends of enclosure) are plastic, not aluminum. Just keep in mind how inexpensive this is, and you'll easily forgive this minor negativity.

Other Thoughts: This is an inexpensive, well built, and simple drive enclosure. This is a great value, and I would recommend it!

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wbutvinik
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/8/2009 4:35:19 AM

Rating + 5 Works Perfect


Pros: inexpensive, works for both SATA and IDE

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I have 5 old hard drives from previous computer, Now I can put them to use. Some are SATA and some are IDE

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jim
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/4/2009 10:36:43 AM

Rating + 3 Drive will not spin down


Pros: works

Cons: Drives will not spin down in this enclosure.
Not sure if this is "feature" or defect.
MFG's tech support has not responded to question about spin down.

Other Thoughts: Has power switch, but would rather have drive automatically spin down when not in use.
If looking for enclosure with power management, look elsewhere.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

BWM
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/20/2009 7:58:21 AM

Rating + 2 Experience Just OK


Pros: Assembly was straight-forward; no issues. PATA (IDE) drive I installed in the enclosure worked fine.

Cons: Sata drive I installed in the enclosure would not "mount" for Vista and thus is not usable. Vista can see the disk, but USB will not assign a drive letter for use. User "manual" not very helpful. A google search returned some relevant suggestions, but so far no go. The sata drive is the reason I bought the enclosure, so this is disappointing.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/12/2009 7:49:20 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Very easy to set up and use. Having both the SATA and IDE is great for pulling data off any old drive you have laying around.

Cons: None really.

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njasfer
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/10/2009 4:35:21 PM

Rating + 5 Nice


Pros: Nice to use IDE or SATA, easy connection and xp and win7 recognised it with no problem

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: hard drive are not easily changed but I can spare 2 minutes in my busy life to do it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/1/2009 6:53:33 AM

Rating + 5 Pretty Sweet


Pros: On/off switch. Price.

Cons: "Slightly" difficult to use ide drive.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

CalcProgrammer1
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/30/2009 12:35:51 AM

Rating + 5 Supports SMART on newest PC Wizard


Pros: In my first review I mentioned that this drive did not support SMART information. However, with the latest version of PC Wizard, this enclosure's chip can now be accessed and all of the drive information can be pulled. It seems to depend on your PC's controller, though, as my newer laptop shows all the information fine while my older desktop can only see basic information and temperature. This may depend on if your PC has SATA or not, as my laptop has SATA while my desktop only has IDE.

Cons: N/A

Other Thoughts: I've already reviewed it in detail, just thought I'd mention that it supports SMART information on some PC's.

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Gremelin
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/28/2009 12:08:14 PM

Rating + 5 This is THE ONE...


Pros: This is a great external enclosure; I love knowing that should I decide to upgrade in the future that I can re-use it for SATA (I'm using it for PATA currently on a 750gb hd).

The transfer speeds are pretty good, roughly 20 MB/s and the setup was a breeze (just move the SATA cord out of the way, push the PATA port into the drive, and you're ready to go!).

I plan to buy this enclosure again in the future with new drives.

Cons: I wish the power adapter wasn't "brick" sized, a standard "cord" sized adapter with an "in line" brick would have been much better.

Other Thoughts: I don't understand why people are complaining about the light; I have it sitting next to my desk in a dark room and it's not really THAT bright; I think the MyBook next to it is just a little dimmer...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ahcollins
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/19/2009 9:55:55 AM

Rating + 5 Great dual use external drive


Pros: Allows you to use both IDE or Serial Drives. Instructions were on paper and electronic via the included cd. The instructions on the cd were more detailed however. Solid feeling drive with an attractive finish. Easy On/Off switch and a cool blue light on the front.

Cons: No fan, but i don't notice the drive getting hot. Serial Drives only run at 1.5mb/s. Need to set the jumper on your serial drive.

Other Thoughts: I got this drive when my motherboard went out so I could access my files since my PC was the only one in the house with serial connections. Newegg shipped the same day that I ordered and I was up and running in 3 days.

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RS
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/5/2009 7:17:32 PM

Rating + 3 Product OK though Mail-in rebate never honored


Pros: Flexible, able to use ide and sata. Seems stable during operation when used as a sata drive upto 500 GB.

Cons: Connections are not the easiest and take some effort, but seem stable once done. Would not advice for regular testing of drives.
Mail-in Rebate is worthless. I sent in the 10 dollar rebate and had no answer for 6 months and when I called I was directed to an email for customer service and that is another black hole. No answer yet.

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accrajoe
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/27/2009 10:40:05 AM

Rating + 5 1TB works


Pros: PATA and SATA supported! This is just what I wanted since I have old PATA drives but will be buying SATA only from now on. Windows XP recognizes the enclosure quicker than others I've owned, and although I was worried at first, I'm glad that my 1TB drive is compatible. No glossy exterior means no ugly fingerprints. The shell takes a while to heat up too (but that could be a bad thing). The drive once installed is very secure, so you don't have to worry about the drive moving around if you're carrying the enclosure somewhere.

Cons: Although the mounting method makes it secure, installation is a pain (there's always a trade-off). I used to swap drives constantly with my older snap-in enclosures, but I definitely will not be 'screwing around' with this unit as often. With 1TB I probably won't need to anyway. The power LED on the front is very bright. The back panel seems a bit flimsy and, oddly, is secured by only two screws, even though there are four holes.

Other Thoughts: My cat's breath smells like cat food.

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Ezmooch
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/25/2009 5:45:34 AM

Rating + 5 Simple, easy to use


Pros: Easily connected the 4 drives I had sitting around (3gb,40gb,200gb,250gb). Nice metal casing, snazzy blue led. Easy to assemble/disassemble, 4 screws hold the back panel.

Cons: Somewhat cramped inside, but it fits.

Other Thoughts: I have not used this as a long term storage device yet, as I purchased it to copy off files from a variety of drives I had sitting around. It is great for what I wanted.

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Rob
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/14/2009 11:21:00 PM

Rating + 5 You can trust it.


Pros: Worked on all 5 drives I've thrown at it, 1 SATA and 4 IDE ranging from Seagate, Maxtor, WD and Hitachi.

Cons: Drives can be a bit tough to loosen from IDE.

Other Thoughts: Tried on 4 different computers and worked in XP, Vista and Win7RC without any problems or needing install disks. OS easily installed without any hiccups.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/4/2009 8:19:38 PM

Rating + 5 Solid external enclosure


Pros: Rock solid external unit. No USB disconnects or resets as with cheaper units. I picked this up during a sale but it's really worth it, whatever it's priced if you're looking for a dual interface enclosure.

Cons: Zero so far.

Other Thoughts: If you ever need to trade out the drive with another be ready for a lot of unscrewing. This case is super secure.

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TimT
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/19/2009 5:20:53 PM

Rating + 3 Generally Nice Unit


Pros: Nice exterior design, quiet, works with both SATA and IDE. On/off switch is a good feature, too. It works well on every PC I have attached it to.

Cons: Four items:
1) The internal chasis is a pain to work with - don't expect to swap drives quickly.
2) The rebate process is a joke - it's *estimated* by AcomData that my check with be deliver 18-20 weeks after I submitted the rebate, not the 10-12 weeks on the form.
3) The power adapter is huge! Plan on losing about three plugs on a surge supressing power strip.
4) A minor issue. Why would the include only two screws to secure the back plate of the unit (it has four holes)? Is the 1-2 cents they saved per unit really a benefit to them? In my mind, it makes a decent looking product appear unfinished.

Other Thoughts: Probably a better than average unit for anyone who wants to install a drive and use it as a backup. However, in my business where I'm swap drives frequently, the unit in general does not really cater to this. You would think that a unit supporting both SATA and IDE drives, AcomData designed it for quick drive changes. Not the case.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Lazerball
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/17/2009 4:03:21 PM

Rating + 2


Pros: Works with my PC.

Cons: Does NOT work with my PS3.

Other Thoughts: If you are buying this to use with your PS3...don't! Find another enclosure that's confirmed to be compatible with Sony's top console.

0 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

soccerluver13
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
6/3/2009 8:49:16 AM

Rating + 5 Great Little Enclosure


Pros: This thing is easy to use. Installation was a snap. Connection to my computers was flawless. This thing even survived of a ~2-3 foot drop!
I have two of these, and have installed three drives between them. Everything went perfect every time.

Cons: More expensive then some other enclosures, but it also has a much better quality.

Other Thoughts: When installing a pata drive, I removed the little sata cable, as it was kinda tight in there.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

jsor2112
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/30/2009 3:53:41 PM

Rating + 1 Great enclosure but I never got the rebate


Pros: Very easy to swap drives. A no frills enclosure great for computer techs. I leave mine open on my bench so I can back up my customers data with ease.

Cons: I never got the rebate from Acomdata and it has been over 3 months now. I have left several messages and sent emails and have not got 1 response. That is why i am only giving this 5 egg product only 1.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Sage
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/28/2009 6:37:34 PM

Rating + 4 Nice Unit


Pros: Great Unit, easy to use, works flawlessly, near silent operation

Cons: Too many screws (what? I'm lazy)

Other Thoughts: Ran luke warm with the drive running at full speed for hours

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shoe
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/15/2009 3:21:47 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent


Pros: Works great!

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: I had to set the ide harddrives I've hooked up as slaves, contrary to the instructions. I have had no heat related problems.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/9/2009 2:18:29 AM

Rating + 5 NewEgg saves the day!


Pros: Sturdy construction, runs COOL (with passively-cooled aluminum case), great documentation, reliable data transfer. I have pushed this thing, putting it to work for hours every day with sustained heavy access. It works very well. Quiet, too.

Cons: A little cramped inside, but it's not a big deal. Not ideal for swapping out drives using a single unit unless the unit is used without the case. Again, not a big deal.

Other Thoughts: I've purchased 2 HD enclosures from different major retail stores in the past. Each one has failed - one fried when the data transfer was interrupted, and the other has power supply issues. This one seems to be much more reliable so far. Time will tell. I'm happy with this purchase. Thanks, NewEgg. Very fast shipping.

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clhartjr
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/6/2009 5:27:41 PM

Rating + 5 Well Built Enclosure


Pros: I bought this enclosure to retrieve data off of several old hard drives. The computers that they came from were either dead or so old and slow that getting to the data was a problem. This worked great. Install the HD, plug it in and it shows up looking like a USB drive.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: When I'm finished with the data these drives will make a good backup.

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Somthinsup
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/3/2009 11:46:31 AM

Rating + 1 Not so good


Pros: plugged right in and my computer found it. Was able to retrieve some of the data.

Cons: Worked for about an hour, then died. I think it was from overheating. There's a metal shield that surrounds the drive. Guess that's for heat disipating. It really needs a good fan.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/30/2009 6:36:46 AM

Rating + 3 Jr's IT Services


Pros: Works with both SATA and PATA. Nice for working on hard drives without having to open your own computer case.

Cons: You have to unscrew the back of the enclosure every time to open and close it. Very annoying. But what do you expect for the price?

Other Thoughts: It works for the price.

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coolpe
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/27/2009 5:10:28 AM

Rating + 5 Value for Money


Pros: Sturdy construction, silent operation, easy installation

Cons: None so far

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Rich
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/26/2009 8:50:34 AM

Rating + 5 Excellent box for older drives


Pros: - Works with older IDE drives you have lying around
- No issues with Linux or Windows
- Easy to open and drive does not rattle around inside

Cons: - No fan to keep cooler (standing it vertical mitigates this)
- Blue light is VERY bright, luckily it's at work where I don't use it in the dark

Other Thoughts: I have this connected to a laptop with another similar drive in a RAID array. Works extremely well and I would recommend this casing to anyone looking for a budget enclosure for an older IDE drive.

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Tek0
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/23/2009 11:10:49 PM

Rating + 5 Great Buy


Pros: It was very easy to install. It took about 10 minutes to install my HDD to the case. Able to use my HDD under 20 minutes.

Cons: Only had the external case for a day now and seems to do pretty good.

Other Thoughts: The case gets a little warm but normal. I just wished there was a small fan to get some airflow. Overall, it was a great buy.

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Dingbat
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/21/2009 9:39:47 PM

Rating + 4 Works good, a little tight inside


Pros: This enclosure works great, and always does what it's supposed to do. It's compact and can stand either vertically or flat. The metal case is very sturdy.

Cons: Two big issues have caused it to lose an egg. First, the power supply. It works fine, but feels a little cheap being the 'brick' type that covers up other plugs. Secondly, for SATA disks, at least the one I put in it (WD 'Green' 1TB), the connectors are on opposite sides than they are in the enclosure. So, it's a stretch getting them to reach crossing over each other, and you can't really use a longer SATA cable due to the tight space nor can you mount the drive upside down. I feel like it's putting tension on the board's connector, and I hope it doesn't some day break off.

Other Thoughts: I bought this enclosure for two reasons. One to have an external drive using old disks I already have, and two to have something that I can use to get stuff off of drives when an open PC isn't handy. It's fine for my first use, and for the second, the cabling issues aren't that big of a deal because I don't need to close it up and pack it all in, plus there's no issue with PATA drives.

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Pvt WhoOkid
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/8/2009 10:00:47 AM

Rating + 5 Great Enclosure


Pros: -Very Easy to setup.
-Nice and compact
-Has 2 way adapters Sata/ide

Cons: cables has me a little worried, but you can manage them within the enclosure with no problems. Just don't be all careless and in a rush.

Other Thoughts: I love it, I connected my old IDE Drive and got a tone of my old stuff back. Works great with my SATA drive too, get it! It works like a champ!

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/7/2009 1:37:36 PM

Rating + 3


Pros: I think this is a great way to use the extra hard drive you have lying around. It's a great way to add a hard drive to you system without having to put it inside.

Cons: The only thing wrong is that i wanted to swap out 2 hard drives and it was very time consuming changing the drives, once you put the drive and screw it altogether, you would want to leave it that way.

Other Thoughts: You only need this if you don't have any room inside your case for another hard drive.

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tdiggs
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/1/2009 1:02:06 PM

Rating + 5 Sturdy


Pros: Very sturdy and stable construction. Could easily withstand a good bit of abuse.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: cabling may be tricky when installing hard drive. Kinda looks like a microphone from front angle.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/1/2009 11:13:01 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Simple installation, hard disk is securely fastened, passive cooling makes for quiet operation, stylish enclosure looks good next to my other computer hardware.

Cons: No major cons (see other notes).

Other Thoughts: Large power brick gets in the way, UBS cable is a little short for my liking as it won't reach the back of my tower easily, SATA and interal power cables have to be "stuffed" into place.

Overall this is a nice looking and well built enclosure at a decent price. I really like it and would recommend it.

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DJW
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/26/2009 8:25:45 AM

Rating + 4 Good Product


Pros: Easy installation. Worried about overheating at first, but was pleasantly surprised when using a 400GB Seagate HDD for over 4 hours in it, that it wasn't burning up. It was warm but no warmer than it would be inside the PC. All in all well worth the purchase.

Cons: none so far... just be sure to set jumpers to Master on IDE drives

Other Thoughts: Considering purchasing a second one for another Seagate HDD I have to add to my PS3.

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channelup
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/25/2009 4:25:20 PM

Rating + 5 Great Value


Pros: Arrived Quickly.
Smaller than other similar models from other companies.
Easy assemble with my older style hard drive.
Works with IDE and Sata connections

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Love Newegg and its products

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MikeyR
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/22/2009 3:20:36 PM

Rating + 3


Pros: On/Off switch is a nice feature. Case is strong and the base is fairly solid. Ample space inside the unit for both size hard drives but read cons.

Cons: Power adapter is bulky and will occupy two outlets on a power strip. Not much ventilation, the front panel has vents, the back has a few small slots. Four screws remove the back panel and allow the unit to slide out the front. If you plan on changing HDDs it will be a pain. IDE connector is fixed on circuit board and power connector is real tight. The SATA cable and power connector provides more flexibility.

Other Thoughts: This is not the type of unit to swap HDDs out constantly. It works great as a one drive, one time external drive but not one where you need to swap different drives over a period of time.

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ScoopSquad
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/20/2009 2:57:18 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent Product, A must buy


Pros: Easy installation of hard drive into enclosure, plug and play detection, able to use SATA, PATA, and IDE drives.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Highly recommended purchase if you are looking for a 3.5" hard drive enclose that is solidly built and easy to use.

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jinsungy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
3/17/2009 10:23:34 AM

Rating + 5 good buy


Pros: Setup is pretty easy. I put an old 60GB IDE hdd in here and it runs perfectly. I like the power switch so I can turn it on very quickly anytime I need it.

Cons: There's an inch of space left after putting in the hdd, so it has room to pop out, but I put padding in there so that won't ever happen.

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drew
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/12/2009 1:56:35 PM

Rating + 4 Great kit!


Pros: very good kit for the money (got a ten dollar rebate right now too!)

very easy install. For those worried from the other reviews that your IDE drive may be difficult to install, don't worry. simply unplug the power cable that has the molex/sata power plugs, plug in the molex connector while it's disconnected from the little circuit board then simply slip the drive into the IDE connector and then re-connect the small power cable connector. took all of 10 seconds on both of the Samba kits I ordered.

Cons: very small quibble here and that's the IDE drive could potentially come out of the socket if it takes a hard hit to the front of the enclosure. There's about an inch of extra room between the inner front wall of the enclosure and the front of the drive with no padding or anything to hold it in place. the drive is simply being held in place by the ide pins and the socket. I had a few pieces of stiff packing foam I was able to wedge in there to make them more secure.

Not a HUGE deal as I would ordinarily be careful with the drive anyways but you never know and it would be a dirt cheap modification to ACom's kit to add some type of padding in there. Not a deal breaker by ANY means though.

Other Thoughts: Very easy to assemble, I like the fact that it uses a standard little circular power cable and both drives were read and worked right away in vista, windows 7beta and xp.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/12/2009 9:50:56 AM

Rating + 3 False Information


Pros: This external enclosure is very easy to set up and install either a PATA or SATA hard disk.

Cons: There is no pushbutton backup on this device. The information on Newegg is incorrect. However, the manual also says that it should have pushbutton backup, but after speaking to a technician at Acomdata I have confirmed that is not the case. He said they put that information in the manual for in the future they might release a Samba drive with the pushbutton feature.

Other Thoughts: The whole point of this purchase was so I could have an easy backup device with a physical push button, but this enclosure will obviously not work for that function.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/6/2009 9:10:21 PM

Rating + 5 Great enclosure, great price


Pros: So far, it's worked with every hard drive I've put in it, including about 5 IDE ones and a couple of SATAs. No problems with recognition either. The case itself looks pretty nice, and feels solid, not cheaply made at all. Drive removal/switching is a snap, too.

Cons: The light is really bright, and a sort of irritating shade of blue and violet that hurts if you stare into it. This was remedied by putting a piece of electrical tape over it, though.

Other Thoughts: It's a solid product so far, and I plan on buying another one soon. They come in so many colors, too!

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
3/3/2009 11:11:55 AM

Rating + 5 Great data, solid construction


Pros: Not particularly well-priced (I picked it up for $20, but $30 seems a bit much) but a fabulous enclosure. The aluminum enclosure does a good job of keep the hard drive cool, even when on for long periods of time. Works perfectly with IDE and SATA, and includes the power connectors (so all you need is an internal hard drive.)

Cons: The included USB cable is pitifully short, but it's the standard USB-B plug so it's easy to replace. Also, the power adapter is large and won't let you plug anything else in; I would have preferred a brick like a laptop or similar. This is just nitpicking though; it's a great enclosure regardless.

Other Thoughts: The external hard drive will be recognized as a USB drive. I put in a standard Seagate 1TB and everything works fine.

The blue LED turns purple when there's drive access, but I never realized it until a few months ago since the change is so subtle. Of course, if that doesn't concern you then don't bother...

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Kirk
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/15/2009 10:02:54 AM

Rating + 5 Excellent for price class


Pros: Excellent component for its price class. Very compatable (both in terms of supported drives, and supported OS's).

Cons: Minor nit: cramped interior. Could have extended overall case length by a half inch to give a little extra room internally. As it is, a lot of stress is placed on internal wiring to get the drive in place.

Other Thoughts: This component is for more casual use and users. The passive cooling may not be suitable for heavy/extensive disk use. Users who frequently swap in drives might look to a more robust/roomy case. Note: always fully reassemble case when using drive, as the shell acts as a heat sink for the drive.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
2/12/2009 2:26:41 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Decent design (maybe could have put the logo in black print on the front facia as well), acceptable enough construction, clearly written and illustrated manual (minor error on pg. 22 highlighting sata instead of pata connector ;))

Cons: The screws in the rear facia were very cumbersome and required undue force. Honestly, metal on plastic like that is just asking for trouble...good chance of breaking after a couple of changes.

The AC plug of the cheap looking wallwort isn't polarized and easily slips out of socket.

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ChrisF
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/10/2009 5:41:33 AM

Rating + 4 Nice, but with a few shortcomings


Pros: Industrial art deco styling, PATA/SATA versatility, surprisingly decent instruction manual.

Cons: Sub-optimal internal SATA cable layout, plastic mounting tray, wall wart power supply, no fan.

Other Thoughts: The styling of the case is nice...I really like the industrial art deco 1930's look. Front and rear caps are plastic, while body is aluminum. The unit accommodates both PATA and SATA hard drives...nice! The internal circuit board was obviously designed as a PATA-only board originally, with SATA connections added later. The connectors are in the right location for PATA drives, but are on the wrong sides for SATA drives. This requires you to twist the short SATA cables all over the place to get them connected. Drive mounts to an internal plastic tray, not metal. The included manual is surprisingly decent...nicest I think I've ever seen. I bought two of these (one for a 1TB SATA WD drive, and one for a 250GB SATA Seagate drive), and they work great with my Linux system. As others have mentioned, the power supply is one-piece design, and you have to plug the wart directly into an outlet. Case was mildly warm after 24 hours of use. Overall, I'm happy with them.

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CalcProgrammer1
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/9/2009 10:10:43 PM

Rating + 5 They do have an activity light...


Pros: Contrary to a previous review, these enclosures DO have an activity light. The power LED is blue and the activity LED is red, both are behind the same clear plastic diffuser so that they blend. Under heavy usage the red LED will cause the blue light to turn purple. That indicates that the hard drive is transferring.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Mine's still running strong!

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/9/2009 1:57:35 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Easy to install IDE hard drives
On/Off switch
IDE/SATA capable

Cons: Blue light on the front is a little too bright for my tastes

Other Thoughts: It took me less than 5 minutes to pop in an old IDE drive I had sitting around collecting dust and I had another 160GB of storage available.

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ranchhand
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/9/2009 7:09:06 AM

Rating + 5 Good Product


Pros: Solid construction, quality components. I ordered two for image backups, both work fast and flawless. Instantly recognized by XP, load within seconds. SATA and PATA compatible which is nice. Good product. Headsup: see Other Thoughts below.

Cons: Very minor catagory, not really a con... nice if they had a little LED that would blink when the drive is active, just to let you know. Not really necessary though, just look on your monitor and it will tell you what's happening.

Other Thoughts: When using a PATA/IDE drive, beware the jumper on the rear! Instructions said to set drive to Master. XP recognized the drive as a USB2 Mass Storage device, but would not assign a drive letter. Also not visible in Disk Management, not recognized in the BIOS. Moved the jumper to Slave - no good. Took a chance and moved the jumper to Cable Select, and *wallah* XP saw it immediately, assigned a drive letter and no more problems. SATA drives are no problem, recognized and assigned a drive letter within 5 seconds, both of them.

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Doug
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2009 3:56:00 PM

Rating + 5 Buy this!


Pros: Works fantastic, does both IDE and SATA, nice aluminum case, uses a regular round style power jack (so many of these use a PS/2 plug for power, ick!).
RECOMMENDED!!!

Cons: Case is not vented. Although the black aluminum case does conduct heat pretty well, for heavy use a unit with a fan would be better.

Other Thoughts: If you're a handyman you could cut holes in the case and add a fan.

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Eduardo
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/29/2009 4:07:51 PM

Rating + 4 worth 20 bucks


Pros: Easy enough to assemble, good connectors, switch & cables, works with SATA & IDE drives, recognized quickly by XP. Nice finish & overall appearance.

Cons: Unit is a little taller than needed (maybe for airflow?). Has an inner plastic tray to mount the drive to, with a thin metal shell between h'drive and the aluminum case (but remember it was only $20 with rebate). It all fit together fine though.

Other Thoughts: All & all a decent value, other SATA/IDE combo enclosures I've seen cost $40 &up.
And if switching drives often makes you friggin' traumatic then buy a Dock instead.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/27/2009 8:14:29 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: put a 320 gig 7200 rpm drive in and everything works perfect.....

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: none

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/26/2009 12:28:40 PM

Rating + 4 It works


Pros: Like the title says, it works.
Very inexpensive.
I've tried both SATA and IDE drives and XP can access the data.

Cons: Cheap construction. Flimsy, even.
Not designed for frequent changing of drives. Unscrew the cover, connect the drive, screw down the drive, screw the cover back on. Well, screw that.
Wiring is cramped and makes it difficult to put the cover back on.

Other Thoughts: I only use this unit for backups (and drive cloning), so it is disconnected after each use. I don't intend to use it often, so it should last me awhile. If I was using this every day, I'd worry about it falling apart. Between the cramped wiring and the flimsy construction, something is going to fall off sooner or later without using great care.

However, I give it 4 stars because it does what it says it will do.

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IT Data recovery guy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/25/2009 4:44:31 PM

Rating + 4 Tight enclosure kit


Pros: Easy to assemble. Simple operation. Compatible with all drives I am using at this time. Does what it is supposed to do.

Cons: USB interface doesn't seem to be automatic, generated errors in Vista and XP stating that the USB wasn't recognized, remedied by power cycling the unit.

Other Thoughts: Great product for the price. Newegg exceeded its stated expectations of delivery as usual.

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Mark
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/23/2009 9:25:03 PM

Rating + 5 So Far So Great


Pros: - Easy Installation
- LED isn't too bright, plus separate purple-ish activity LED
- Hard drive is quiet inside
- mildly warm to the touch after a 6 hour continuous backup of files to it
- Great user manual. The company thought of everything when writing it, including diagrams, connectivity, etc.
- Works with Mac OS 10.5
- Product very well thought out and engineered by Acomdata.
- IDE and SATA

Cons: - A little larger than expected. Pros more than make up for it.
- Could be a little sleeker
- Does not include footpads for when it is seated horizontally. I had it seated like this initially. It doesn't cause vibration. Enclosure may scratch though.
- Stand needs to be unscrewed from enclosure to place unit horizontally. This could be a problem if you decide you want to carry the enclosure around with you.

Other Thoughts: I bought this to replace an old USB enclosure that would not play nicely with Mac OS and then decided it wanted to die on me. Don't know what happened. Anyway, I'm using a 250GB WD 250GB Hard Drive in it.

Installation is a little less than very easy. But, with or without the manual, you can figure it out pretty well.

As far as the enclosure, it is a bit large lengthwise. There is about 1" gap from the front of the hard drive to the front of the enclosure. I assume that space is there for airflow purposes since this unit does not use a fan.

I will buy another one. I looked at many different enclosures before settling on this one. I hihgly recommend.

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DIDesign
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/21/2009 11:27:42 PM

Rating + 3 50 / 50


Pros: Nice design, all the cables are integrated, and makes adding a drive very easy.

Cons: Bought 2 of these 1 for a customer and 1 as a shop tool. The second one failed miserably. It works for about 5 to 10 minutes then the drive is unresponsive and it locks up explorer. Might be a fluke but maybe not.

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13sqMadDog
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/14/2009 11:18:40 AM

Rating + 5 acomdata Samba Black HDD Enclosure


Pros: Fast shipping, arrived in perfect shape, looks great! Drive was easy to mount. Cables are a little tight, but it seems like there is exactly the right amount of free space for them to tuck neatly in.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: The manual says to use the Master setting on the drive. I'm using an extra WD 80GB IDE drive I had laying around, so I moved the jumper to Master, installed the drive and XP found it.

When I had everything working, I powered the drive off, moved the USB cable from the front of my PC to the back. When I turned it back on, it sounded like it found it, but it never showed up. After some troubleshooting, I found that I had to remove the USB Mass Storage Device driver from Device Mgr, power it off, then back on before XP would find it again. I also tried to use the Add Hardware wizard, but when I selected the USB Mass Storage Device option, I would get the error: '"Device cannot start. Code (10)'. AcomData's website says this is a power issue and I may need to send it back.

I decided to change the jumper on the drive, so I changed it from Master to Single drive (removed the jumper completely). Re-installed it and it works like a champ. Problem solved.

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Gotme3kids
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/2/2009 7:46:22 PM

Rating + 5 acomadata external HD enclosure


Pros: Arrived on time in perfect shape. The enclosure itself works perfectly. I installed an old 2GB drive just to test and there was no problems with Vista Ultimate.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Go ahead and get one ot two to keep those old harddrives instead of tossing them out with the old computer.

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Mazinger
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
12/31/2008 8:17:26 AM

Rating + 5 best enclosure I've seen for the $$


Pros: Sturdy power button, wiring, connectors

Power on off, so the drive doesn't have to keep spinning if it's connected to the USB.

A/C adapter is not a 2 piece design

Supports IDE+SATA

Can be formatted via USB unlike other models which require them to be installed in a PC first

Runs cool for passive cooling

Cons: Tight fit to tuck wires,same as a ton of these enclosures, but it's not that serious.

Case screws are self tapping, could eventually be stripped if your inclined to constantly remove drives, but again it's not that serious.


I did have a weird problem at first. My PC kept detecting and unloading the device after it was connected for 15 minutes. When I went to format, it crazily kept doing it like 10 times in a row. USB icon in systray gave a high speed device is connected to low speed hub message and told me to select the suggested hub that supports 2.0, which were all 8 USB ports on the machine in cluding the one it was connected to. I unplugged and shut down the enclosure and rebooted the pc. I hooked up the enclosure again and powered it on and didn't get the message again. I hope this was a weird isolated issue and that it's definitely working at 2.0. I'll download some software to test it later on.

Other Thoughts: A fine build. Power toggle button is sturdy as is the internal connectors and gauge of wire.
You'll see an aluminum insert thats removable and encases one side of the case. There are no instructions about it. Make sure it's against the drive and tucked around the corners to disipate the heat.
The SATA connector can be removed from the PCB board for xtra room. The Molex power has the SATA chained off the end.Take your time and follow the picture of the correct way to bend the SATA power chain underneath and in a notched area. This will put the least amount of strain on the wires. It would have been better if a simple Molex to SATA adapter was used to eliminate the xtra wiring or gave it another 1/8" room.
The base is super easy to attach and remove, not sure why this stumped people. It's tongue and groove. The light is not super bright either.

With the rebate, it's a very nice case for what I have seen and read about other enclosures. You must get one.

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CalcProgrammer1
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/28/2008 8:00:27 PM

Rating + 5 Good Looks, Good Price, Great Product


Pros: This is a nice enclosure! It looks great, is easy to assemble, and works on almost any OS because it shows up as a USB Mass Storage device. I put a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB in it and it picked it up at full SATA 300 speed and formatted fine. USB transfers are reasonably fast, 25MB/s average in Vista, can reach 30+ depending on drive's seek time. The finish is nice and the assembled drive feels solid. The cords are nice, not cheap or weak. Works fine with IDE drives too, put in a Maxtor DiamondMax 20 (7200RPM 120GB) and it worked fine, also hitting 20+ MB/s during transfers. The indicator LED on the front glows blue when the drive is on and also has a red LED that flashes on activity. I would definitely buy another one of these should I ever need another external drive!

Cons: None, really, cables are a bit cramped but nothing you can't manage with a little effort. Doesn't report SMART or other drive info to the PC, but it does show the drive's name as the USB device name. External power supply is a pain if you're using a laptop, but, after all, 3.5" drives need a 12V supply which you can't get from a laptop.

Other Thoughts: Excellent product, works with my 1.5TB drive even when my onboard SATA 150 controller refuses to boot with the drive in (awful cheap Silicon Image chip). SATA/IDE compatibility leaves it open for swapping drives should you decide to move the external drive into your PC later. I have used this in Windows Vista 32, Windows Vista 64, Ubuntu 8.10, and Windows XP. I'm sure it will work in most other OS'es as well.

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Skaard4Life
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/23/2008 2:33:25 AM

Rating + 5 another great buy


Pros: PATA or SATA easy to install old drives for extra storage. Put a thermomitor on one and drive stays cooler than in the computer case. Slide on base is real easy if you just loosen the nuts slightly and slide it on then tighten. Overall for the price excellent buy. Bought a total of 4 now. Best way to test old hd's and make inexpensive external drives.

Cons: None so far.

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dprozzo
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/28/2008 10:39:06 AM

Rating + 5 Excellent


Pros: Solidly built, good fit and finish. Easy assembly with good written instructions. No fan noise is a plus. Became only warm (not hot) when I created a DVD from files stored on the external drive.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: Regarding previous comments about not being able to power down the hard drive - hard drives are always spinning when they are powered on, even if there is no disk activity. This applies to internal drives as well.

As always, great packaging and shipping from Newegg.

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Jason2TF
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/30/2008 7:53:10 AM

Rating + 4 Simple and Effective


Pros: Worked like a charm. In general, the moving of my old PATA drive into the enclosure was simple. After that, it was just plug in and go. The manual is paper and more than sufficient - a nice thing to find these days.

Cons: As a result of keeping things as small as possible, the enclosure becomes a little difficult to work with at times. The wires attached to the PCB don't have to most room to exist once the drive is inserted. Also, attaching the drive to the controller was slightly tough (but not bad at all). The attachment for the foot plate could also be more direct.

Other Thoughts: A definite buy if you need a SATA/PATA enclosure. Don't waste your money on the overpriced ones at the big box stores that tend to be less flexible (this was 1/2 the price, smaller and better).

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/26/2008 3:51:11 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Works well, hooked right up to my laptop after I put a SATA drive in it, Windows had no problem recognizing the drive.

Cons: Feels a little hot, definitely not as hot as my other External Hard drive, so I'm not sure if that's the drive or what.

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ITReader
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/25/2008 8:58:48 AM

Rating + 5 Easy to handle, easy to use


Pros: Comes with extra screws, only two holding case on the back. I hate when vendors tighten everything down anyways, especially when it isn't needed. Easy to take apart, followed manual just to be sure all parts were in place. Once you figure out the cabling, drive fits no problem.

Cons: None for $15 after rebate

Other Thoughts: I'm tired of bad parts in most tech these days so I figured I'd build an external HD myself. Installed a Seagate 250GB (from NewEgg of course!) since I don't need a ton of extra space. Cheaper than most external hard drives (used 16MB cache Barracuda, better than most IMHO)

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oz
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/6/2008 3:51:49 PM

Rating + 5 Very Nice Enclosure!


Pros: The end caps and base/stand are plastic, but they are of good quality and are nice and sturdy, so I'm okay with that. The remainder of the enclosure is metal. It's very simple to assemble, then simply plug it in and it works. I've already transferred lots of very large files and small files back and forth between this external drive enclosure (now containing an old IDE drive) and another external drive (pre-manufactured unit) and no problems at all with any of the transfers either direction.

Cons: There's nothing about this enclosure that I can complain about, at least yet.

Other Thoughts: I'd certainly buy another one if I should need another enclosure in the future.

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Patrick
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
5/22/2008 8:52:59 AM

Rating + 5 Excellent enclosure for the price


Pros: This enclosure I found locally and tried it out and it is an excellent product for price. I recently disassymbled some computers and they had some fairly new 250GB hard drives in them. I bought this enclosure mostly to use to test the drives to see if there was any data I needed to get off of them and such, but I loved the lines of this product, and the looks. Plus it was so easy to use, and these enclosures support both PATA and SATA drives. I am on here to buy 2 more from New Egg (they have the best prices) and I am going to use my old drives for storing music and videos that I need space for. I love the different colors as well, so I can keep track of which one has what on it more or less.

Cons: The base of these enclosures use a weird nut and bolt type of groove thing on the bottom of the enclosure that confused me a little at first, but the documentation both in print and on the enclosed CD really helped. The base sort of slides onto the bottom using the nuts that are $crewed onto the bolts, and you just tighten them up after sliding them on. It was a little tricky at first, so if I had to give this enclosure a "con", that's the worst I can say.

Other Thoughts: These drives come with a very good manual, but they also have a CD that has an even more extensive manual in .pdf format that was very helpful to me in putting this thing together. For all intents and purposes, you can't beat the value for the money here.

Also, one trick that I have learned is that internal hard drives usually have much better warranty's than external hard drives, so buying the internal hard drive and putting it in an external enclosure has saved my bacon in the past, so I have tried and used many hard drive enclosures in the past. These have been by far the best bang for my buck.

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