Antec MX-1 USB/e-SATA 3.5-Inch Hard Drive Enclosure | List Price: $69.95
Discount Price: $42.50
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Brand: Antec
Binding: Electronics
Features: - 3.5-inch USB/e-SATA external hard drive enclosure for PC
- Up to 480 Mbps USB transfer rate; 3 Gbps e-SATA transfer rate
- Dual-layer design reduces noise; patented blower keeps drive up to 15 degrees cooler
- Includes stand, USB cable, eSATA cable, and eSATA bracket
- 3-year limited warranty
Best fit case [Posted on 2008-12-20]
This is indeed a very good product from Antec. As many had said about its pros, i am gonna list few cons. There are no visible lights to see whether this unit is on or off...not a big deal unless you are figting with you pc to recognize your external HD. At that time it is quite annoying. I couldn't hear the fan running even when i take it close to my ears. I don't see a big difference in temperature too. May be the fan kicks in when the temperature is bit hot. My 1 TB WD Green runs quite cool and there may not be need for a fan cooling for it.
Note that velociraptor drives wont fit the case. Velociraptor drives are actually 2.5" drives with heat sink making them the size of 3.5" drives. But, when i wanted to connect that to take backup to my laptop, i removed the shell and it is quite easy to connect the circuit board alone to the velociraptor 300 and finish my backup.
Not That Great [Posted on 2008-12-26]
I use it with a WD 500GB hard drive. Sometimes my (XP) computers cannot recognize the device with message "USB device not recognized". I thought it might be a problem from the hard drive. And then I took the hard drive out and tested it on BlacX docking Station that I bought recently. The hard drive worked very well on the docking station. I googled for the problem and firmware and couldn't find anything useful.
I gave it 3 stars because of the above problem and the following reasons:
Positive: quite, cool, good-designed case, and easy to install
Negative: loose power connector, and bad LED location
Good so far... + "How To" [Posted on 2008-12-27]
I've had one of these for almost a month and it seems to work well. I recently bought another for my GF and hers works well too. Mine has had a WD 320G SATA2 drive installed, and hers has a 640G AAKS drive. Mine now has a WD 640G Black (AALS) drive which works equally well.
- For me everything fit well together and nothing was loose or rattling/noisy.
- I've had no problems with connectivity or speed with any drive I've installed in this case so far, though eSATA is more of a pain to deal with than USB. I have only used relatively recent SATA drives from Western Digital in this unit, FWIW.
- The fans are NOT very noisy on the units I received: If you get one that's too noisy for you, send it back to Amazon! If your drive is quiet, you'll hardly notice noise from this thing at all. However, all hard drives create vibration noise, and that noise can be transmitted through a flat solid surface like your desk. I keep my external drives either on the floor or sitting on top of my PC - the external drives I have all make too much noise (for me) while sitting on the desk. I have super-ultra-bionic hearing, though...
- The case IS PLASTIC, covered on top and bottom with a thin veneer of dark-anodized aluminum that seems to soak up debris from anything that touches it (finger oils, etc), but it cleans well with eyeglass cleaner and a clean towel.
- External hard drives like this take some work to install the FIRST time, and may need to be formatted once they're assembled. Assembly is easy enough, but if you think the instructions suck (and they do) and you haven't done this before, here's how you do it:
ASSEMBLY
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0) First off, be aware of static electricity - especially in Winter - and "ground" yourself if possible before you start work. You can easily damage something electronic with so little static electricity that you won't even feel it.
1) Turn the hard drive case upside down and remove the long screw on the bottom-front of the unit. The front of the unit has the Antec logo. ;)
2) Turn the unit back over and slide the TOP cover towards the FRONT of the unit and pull the cover up and off.
3) Inside the unit is a tray that holds the hard drive, and this tray also holds the electronics the hard drive connects to. Remove the two slightly off-CENTER screws on either side of the hard drive tray, then slide the tray to the FRONT. (Ignore the two screws at the BACK of the unit). Do NOT touch anything electronic if you can help it.
4) If you think you can do it carefully enough, pull out the plastic plug with the BLUE/WHITE wires (which power the hard drive activity light) - this will allow you to completely detach the hard drive tray from the case. It's not absolutely necessary, but it makes things easier. It takes some elbow grease, but don't force it. Do NOT pull the wires to disconnect the white plug.
5) Grab your SATA hard drive by the SIDES and place it on the tray, then carefully slide the drive into the SATA power/data connector until it's firmly in place.
6) Now carefully hold the drive and tray together and turn them over. Place a screw provided into each of 4 white rubber bushings, then tighten them all until they are ALMOST completely tight. Now tighten each screw down completely until they stop moving. This helps make sure you don't over-tighten any one screw and break something.
7) Now turn the tray over and place it into the case bottom, then slide the tray towards the BACK until everything lines up (you'll know when).
8) The two screws that hold the tray in place are tricky to re-install: I have big hands, so I just turned the entire unit over, placed a screw in the screwdriver, and pushed the screws into their place. For folks not endowed with XXL hands, a trick I use is to put a very little bit of scotch tape around the screw and screwdriver together, then install the screw a little, peel the tape off, then complete the job. Tighten the two screws until they don't move anymore.
9) Put the top cover back on and slide it BACK to lock it into place. Turn the unit over and put the one long screw back in and tighten it down.
10) Now plug your external drive power in (the flat side of the power connector goes UP into the unit if it's flat and horizontal). Turn the drive on and wait a few seconds. Now plug the USB connector into your PC and wait a minute until it's recognized. If the drive is new, you might have to format it - see below.
FORMATTING:
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11) If you're using WinXP, AND your drive is brand new and never been used, this is for you. Make sure the new external drive is plugged in, powered up, and connected to your PC. Now RIGHT-CLICK on the MY COMPUTER icon on your desktop, and select MANAGE from the menu.
12) The Computer Management window will pop up. Click on STORAGE, then click on DISK MANAGEMENT. A list of drives will appear in the right-hand window pane.
13) You SHOULD now receive a pop-up window that wants you to initialize a newly recognized drive. Click OKAY or yes, twice. Do NOT click on a check box to create a "virtual" drive.
14) In the last window you receive, you'll see a choice to determine which "format" you want the drive to be in: Leave your choice at (or change it to) "NTFS". You can change the name "New Volume" to almost anything you like - this is the name your hard drive will have when it shows up in Windows Explorer/My Computer.
15) Check the box that says "Quick format" and click OK (or Finish). After a minute or two your new hard drive should be ready to use.
Not the smallest, quickest, or cheapest, but the best [Posted on 2009-01-06]
This is definitely the best external enclosure that I have ever purchased. I have had one unit running with a WD hard drive running continuously for over a year without a problem. It is hooked up to my tivo so it gets constant use with very little down time (in case anyone isn't familiar with Tivo, aside from recording the programs you choose, it constantly record shows it thinks you may enjoy, thus it is almost always recording something).
The unit is so quiet, I sometimes wished I bought a quieter drive. The unit is designed well in that it can stack with additional units and does not obstruct the other unit's active cooling.
Antec MX-1 [Posted on 2009-01-08]
Great product. This is the second one of these that I have. The service was also great.
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