KINGWIN KF-91-BK SATA Black Aluminum Mobile Rack

Pros: After I upgraded the fan on these units, and (often) did required re-tapping of the threaded holes for mounting screws, they gave me / are giving me VERY satisfactor performance. The drives I have in them run quite nice and cool. They work reliably. BUT I did have to modify them to get to that point.

Cons: Fan supplied was whimpy, and likely to fail, and didn't push much air. I replaced this with a Sunon maglev high quality, thicker fan. And since the new fan pushed FAR more air than the old, I cut it back with a 30 ohm dropping resistor. That way, I still get 3 times the air movement, BUT the fan is being run a 'way under its rated speed and capacity, so should last pretty near forever. About half the time there were minor problems with the tapping of the holes for mounting. I had to re-tap 'em with a handy, hard-metal screw. On one the p-channel 8 pin SOIC MOSFET transistors used as switchs on the 5 and 12 volt lines blew out, locking it in "ON" mode regardless of how you turned the switch. I bought some generic 8 pin SOIC p channel mosfets at Mouser, desoldered the old ones and soldered in the new ones, and all was well after that.

Overall Review: This is a bargain SATA rack, and you get what you pay for. It works, but is VASTLY improved by a few minor fixes and upgrades (re-tapping and better fan). I actually LIKE it... but a novice or non-tinkerer might not be able make best use of it.

Pros: Allows for easy swapping of HD, without opening the case. Full SATA speeds. No power supply issues.

Cons: NOT hot swappable (you will need to reboot - even with Win 7). Not tool-less (requires you to screw in your HD to a tray). You need to use 4 screws, as my HD was really lose inside the tray. The removable tray needs to be locked in to enclosure using a supplied key. If you lose the key, the rack become useless.

Overall Review: If you need to swap HD only infrequently, this is a way to go. I have to very occasionally work with HDs other bring in. This is a perfect solution. I tried external USB cradles, but I found USB speeds to be way too slow for large data transfers. I never tried to run OS from this enclosure, I am not sure that would work.

Pros: Had first one for six months and like it. Bought one more and two extra trays. No fan noise and no problem installing HD's. I like the dust plate that flips down when you remove the tray.

Cons: I don't like plastic 'cause it's cheap. But nothing broke yet.

Overall Review: You can't treat these rough. Handle them with care and they will last. Turn the key before you pull on the handle. If you break it, new trays are resonably cheap @ xx bucks from Newegg.

Pros: I have owned many of these over the course of many years. They all still work fine once you get past their little quirks and replace the useless fans. - Pass-through bus supports all speeds that I have tried. KF-91s from 10 years ago work at modern speeds. - Locking feature helps prevent accidental removal. - Bay is not as long as the old KF PATA bays, so they fit in most cases without trouble. - This latest version of the PCB supports both 4-pin and SATA power connectors.

Cons: - These are not enterprise-grade bays. You can't jam them in and out and knock them around like you can with the more expensive stuff. Get a more expensive bay if that worries you. For home server or workstation use, they are fine. - The fans are junk. They are cheap, single ball-bearing 40mm fans that will fail within months. The first thing I do after buying these is replace the fan. - Tray insertion needs to be done with some care. I have never broken one of these, but I always slip the trays in gently. If they don't slide in smoothly, something is wrong. - Older models had a bit of play in the latch mechanism. A little extra shove was needed to get the SATA connectors to fully seat. Make sure that the drive is mounted as far back in the tray as possible. - Airflow is rather suboptimal, due to the open design of the frame. Air is not force through the bay the way that it should be.

Overall Review: Some time ago, I bought a bunch of replacement fans for these and that is what I always use. They are thick, server-grade, dual-BB fans. They are very noisy, but move some serious air. Toasty SAS drives are kept cool. When used in a workstation, I run them on 5V instead of 12V. They run silently and still create enough of a breeze to provide some moderate cooling. To improve cooling, wrap the top and bottom of the rack with thin plastic (I just tape part of a plastic bag to the top and bottom). This will force air through the tray. There are probably better trays available now, but at the time these were the best bang for the buck. I keep buying them because of the compatibility. Other models and manufacturers have come and gone, but I can still buy these and they do work.

Pros: Easy to install.

Cons: Fans fail after about 1 month and cause a lot of commotion! You could try disconnecting the fan, but then the 'fail safe' prevents it from spinning up. Not a good option for a server hot swap. The fans are too unreliable. Customer has had to have me out twice in two months to replace the cages at his expense for my time.

Overall Review: These will be thrown in the trash and replaced with better ones. Can't have down time due to shoddy workmanship. p.s. If your going to fail safe the unit so it wont operate without the fan, at least put a decent fan in the unit!!!!

Pros: Cheap, easy to insert/remove. Use on a daily basis.

Cons: Fan spazed out a few tomes but its ok now. Top drive enclosure cover is flimsy & rattled. Need to insert drive before booting windows 7.

Overall Review: Not much of a manual but the product itself is pretty straight forward.

Pros: Provides inexpensive and sturdy protection system for removable hard disks.

Cons: Power switiching circuit can easily be damaged by static electric spark when touched with locking key. I solder a grounding wire to the locking key installation clip to prevent this from happening.

Pros: Works on just about any SATA HDD. Aluminum construction and well made, plus you can use either SATA Power or covnentional 4-Pin Molex Power. I have a 1.5Tb, 750Gb and 500Gb Seagate SATA-II drive in them and they are working GREAT!

Cons: Documentation is nonexistant - literally. That's the only reason I'm only giving 4 eggs. Otherwise a great product. Installation is straightforward but you need some "operational" info or you will wonder why they won't power-on.

Overall Review: Okay, you can use either SATA Power or 4-Pin Molex Power connectos(s). You have to use the key and lock the drive in place for it to power-up, otherwise it looks like the drive is dead - so make sure you have everything connected and lock the drive with the key and it should power-up normally. This took me a few minutes to figure out.