Vantec NexStar SX NST-285U2-BK 2.5-Inch IDE to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black) (Black)
by Vantec USA
List Price:
Our Price: $13.99
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Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
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Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: Vantec USAModel: NST-285U2-BK
Product features:
- Mirror Finished Aluminum Casing Cools Down Your Hard Drive
- Easily Add Storage to Any System with USB
- Hot-Swappable: Plug and Play Without Rebooting
- Compatible with PC or Mac
- Support 2.5-inch IDE Hard Drive up to 250GB
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (3.3 Feet/1.0 Meter)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to B-Male Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)
- AmazonBasics Ultra-High-Speed HDMI Cable Braided (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters)
- AmazonBasics IEEE 1394 4-Pin/6-Pin FireWire Cable (6 Feet/1.8 Meters)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Vantec NexStar SX NST-285U2-BK 2.5-Inch IDE to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black) (Black)
Customer Review: So Far, Very Pleased
Summary: 5 Stars
I looked at many different 2.5 inch external PATA enclosures before settling on this model by Vantec. I received my new drive enclosure today and was very impressed.
The enclosure is incredibly light and very attractive (if that matters to you). It's made of aluminum, which also makes for good thermal conduction. I'm not sure how well this would hold up to being dropped, but for general use I think it would be fine. The unit can be secured using the for screw holes on the bottom of 2.5 inch drives. 4 small screws are included with the enclosure, which is nice. Once screwed in, the drive feels very snug and sound inside and is relatively easy to remove or swap out. For short term or temporary use, you could probably get away with using just 2 screws or none at all, but I wouldn't advise this for general use. The enclosure itself opens really simply, with the pressing of two buttons. The top and bottom panels remove easily to give nice access to the inside. There is an on/off switch rather than a button, which I like due to its simplicity. An LED let's you know the drive is on, but there appears to be no activity light, although I didn't really expect one.
The drive is fully powered via USB, by using a special USB cable (included) that uses two separate USB ports to get the needed power to spin the drive. One of the USB connectors has a female port built in, which I assume is to allow use of that port for something else, such as for a mouse. There is a connector for DC power, but no AC power adapter (wall plug) is included. This is fairly common, from what I can tell, but puzzles me. The advantage to not having a separate power cable seems to be to me that you don't need to carry around a power cable. But since you had to remember to bring your special USB cable, I don't see the big difference here, except that it could be argued that it's easier to have the one special-purpose USB cable rather than a USB and a power cable. I haven't decided yet if I like this. What do I do if I forget my cable at home? Can I use any AC adapter with this device? I'd be paranoid and need to check the voltage and wattage carefully first, and even then I'd probably feel ify about it.
My Windows XP computer recognized the drive in wonderful plug and play fashion. It "just worked". With the exception that the drive I used was uninitialized, unpartitioned, and unformatted (being taken care of as we speak).
From what I can tell so far, this is an excellent choice if you're looking for a 2.5 inch PATA enclosure!
**MY ONE COMPLAINT**
The one thing I'm most definitely not happy about is that the box for the drive, along with the included leather case (which is quite nice by the way) were MOLDY upon arrival! This is bad for many reasons. The biggest problem is that this indicates improper storage and potential exposure to moisture that could damage the product. Since this product is working fine for me, I doubt I'll bother going through the hassle of a return, but it's not ideal to have your brand new drive enclosure show up with mold. I bought mine through ANTOnline, but it came in an Amazon box, some I'm not sure who to blame here, it just sours an otherwise positive purchase.
More Vantec NexStar SX NST-285U2-BK 2.5-Inch IDE to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black) (Black) reviews:
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Description of Vantec NexStar SX NST-285U2-BK 2.5-Inch IDE to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black) (Black)
Form and functionality collide with style in the NexStar SX 2.5-inch External Hard Drive Enclosure from Vantec. With its mirror finish in two classic colors--- Onyx Black and Metallic Silver, the Vantec NexStar SX stands out from the crowd. The sturdy drive cage protects your hard drive while the aluminum case effectively draws away the heat, protecting your drive from overheating. The Vantec NexStar SX is a high performance, lightweight, and durable portable storage solution and lets you store your personal data in an enclosure with style!Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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