VPN: SMBXXXUFABS-BLKacomdata SMBXXXUFABS-BLK Silver / Black Enclosure Kit
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 Rating: Review Date: 07/15/10 |
acomdata SMBXXXUFABS-BLK Silver / Black Enclosure Kit
Cons:
Includes pretty much every cable under the sun, except a mini 4 pin firewire cable/adapter; it must be purchased separatelyDocumentation could be clearerCustomer support might as well not existBright blue LED might annoy some
Pros: Accepts 3.5" SATA hard drivesOffers USB 2.0, IEEE 1394a & 1394b as well as eSATA connectivitySupports daisy chaining through the second FireWire 800 portIncludes USB cable, 6 pin IEEE 1394a cable, 9 pin IEEE 1394b cable and shielded eSATA cableKensington security slotPower switchSolidSilentSpeedyStableSexy? Naw, but it's definitely good looking. |
The Samba Quad is the top choice for those who need an enclosure that will accept large hard drives whilst offering great versatility.Installing a 2TB WD Green hard drive inside of this enclosure was a breeze. Even though the included documentation could use some work, I was able to put everything together in a short amount of time. The overall build construction of the unit is excellent. The casing is made of aluminium and has a very solid feel to it.I had my doubts about the absence of rubber spacers on the hard drive tray, but I was relieved when I powered on the enclosure and heard nothing but silence. In fact, I had to put my ear against the casing to hear the faint hum of the hard drive inside of it. This is only possible because of the fanless design.By the way, if you're worried about cooling, let me tell you something: you'll be fine with pretty much any 3.5" hard drive that is not a high performance drive. It makes no sense to trap something like a Caviar Black or a Velociraptor inside of a tiny enclosure. Not only do they run hot, but the enclosure will bottleneck their speed anyway.Back to the product. The controller is an Oxford Semiconductors OXUF934DSB (use your Google-Fu to find the documentation) which effectively supports 3.0Gb/s speed. Acomdata's included manual states that the hard drive must be set to legacy mode. However, after contacting their customer support, I was told that the documentation was outdated and that the mistake would be corrected future prints of the manual.But here's the important part about this product: It works. I've tested every port with positive results. It's a speedy, stable enclosure. We'll see how well it holds up in time, but for now, it's a great product that does what it's supposed to and does it well.Hell, at that price, it better be half-decent, eh?Edit: I did receive an answer from Acomdata's customer service. It took longer than expected, but the delay was not unreasonable and the response was satisfactory. For that reason, I award Acomdata's Samba Quad enclosure a 5/5. This review was modfied by poster @ 07-16-10 01:28 PM