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Intro:
ASE Labs prides itself on giving you fair and honest reviews for all types of computer products. This is one of the reasons that ASE Labs has been around for over seven years and keeps going strong. Today ASE Labs has the Eagle Tech N-Series Pro Serial ATA to USB2 Hard Drive Enclosure on the review bench. The fair and brutally honest review follows.
About Eagle Tech:
Box:
The Eagle Tech retail packaging is white and orange with black accents. This color scheme is pretty unique and should make the product stand out.
Specs:
It only has a one year warranty. That is pretty low. No word on Linux support, but it does work fine (if the drive is detected by the unit).
Parts:
Along with the enclosure, you get a USB cable, the power adapter, a quick start guide, a CD full of software (not for Linux), and a stand. The package is pretty good, there is a discount coupon for a data recovery service as well. I don't know why you would need that when you're backing up your data... right?
N-Series Pro:
The unit is black with gun metal color accents on the sides. Both sides of the unit have a mesh design to allow airflow in since the unit does not have any fan to actively cool the hard drive. Since the entire enclosure is metal, it acts as a giant heatsink and should dissipate heat well. The two sides are held together by four flat head screws. I hate flat head screws. When have you seen a computer peripheral recently that used flat head screws? There's eight of them that need to be taken off and put back on. The screw holes are recessed so it makes it that much more difficult. The plus side is they don't strip.
The back of the unit contains the USB plug as well as power and the on/off switch. There are no other connections elsewhere on the unit. The N-Series Pro contains two LED, a blue one for power and a red one for activity.
The bottom (or top) of the unit contains the various labeling and the recovery service number in case of a catastrophe that can easily be avoided by using this to back up your main hard drive.
Intro:
ASE Labs prides itself on giving you fair and honest reviews for all types of computer products. This is one of the reasons that ASE Labs has been around for over seven years and keeps going strong. Today ASE Labs has the Eagle Tech N-Series Pro Serial ATA to USB2 Hard Drive Enclosure on the review bench. The fair and brutally honest review follows.
About Eagle Tech:
Quote
Eagle Tech is a trusted supplier to many Original Equipment Manufacturers. Our extensive experience in manufacturing high quality PC components that meet and exceed customer application requirements has enabled us to grow beyond manufacturing. We are not just a manufacturer, but a high quality technology solutions provider dedicated to the modern computer users market - both mainstream and enthusiast.
We know how important your data is and we strive to provide our customers with reliable power supplies and thermally efficient chassis like PC cases and external enclosures. We constantly monitor consumer needs to ensure our product lines are always up-to-date with the latest innovations. If there is a better way to store and access your important data, we will work hard to make it happen for you - at affordable prices, rugged constructions and stylish designs.
Most importantly, everything we do is based on a culture of customer care and trust that makes it an enjoyable and hassle-free experience. We guarantee it!
Box:
The Eagle Tech retail packaging is white and orange with black accents. This color scheme is pretty unique and should make the product stand out.
Specs:
Code
.
Internal Interface: SATA
External Interface: USB 2.0
Transfer Rate: 480mbps (USB)
Supported Hard Drive: SATA (Serial ATA-150 / Serial-300)
Power Source: External Switching Power Adapter(5V/12V 2.0A)
Power Input: 100~240VAC, 50/60Hz
Certification: FCC, CE Certified
Microsoft O.S. Support: Vista/XP/2000/ME
Others O.S. Support: Mac OS 9.0 or higher
Dimension: 8-2/3" (L) x 4-3/4" (H) x 1-1/4" (W)
Internal Interface: SATA
External Interface: USB 2.0
Transfer Rate: 480mbps (USB)
Supported Hard Drive: SATA (Serial ATA-150 / Serial-300)
Power Source: External Switching Power Adapter(5V/12V 2.0A)
Power Input: 100~240VAC, 50/60Hz
Certification: FCC, CE Certified
Microsoft O.S. Support: Vista/XP/2000/ME
Others O.S. Support: Mac OS 9.0 or higher
Dimension: 8-2/3" (L) x 4-3/4" (H) x 1-1/4" (W)
It only has a one year warranty. That is pretty low. No word on Linux support, but it does work fine (if the drive is detected by the unit).
Parts:
Along with the enclosure, you get a USB cable, the power adapter, a quick start guide, a CD full of software (not for Linux), and a stand. The package is pretty good, there is a discount coupon for a data recovery service as well. I don't know why you would need that when you're backing up your data... right?
N-Series Pro:
The unit is black with gun metal color accents on the sides. Both sides of the unit have a mesh design to allow airflow in since the unit does not have any fan to actively cool the hard drive. Since the entire enclosure is metal, it acts as a giant heatsink and should dissipate heat well. The two sides are held together by four flat head screws. I hate flat head screws. When have you seen a computer peripheral recently that used flat head screws? There's eight of them that need to be taken off and put back on. The screw holes are recessed so it makes it that much more difficult. The plus side is they don't strip.
The back of the unit contains the USB plug as well as power and the on/off switch. There are no other connections elsewhere on the unit. The N-Series Pro contains two LED, a blue one for power and a red one for activity.
The bottom (or top) of the unit contains the various labeling and the recovery service number in case of a catastrophe that can easily be avoided by using this to back up your main hard drive.
Page 2
Installation:
After removing the eight flat head screws that I hate so much, you have access to the internals of the unit. You are given four philips type screws for the hard drive mount, why couldn't they just use philips for everything?
The serial ATA connection is standard for data and power. The unit is hot swappable (as all serial ATA drives are since it was built into the standard).
You need to flip the unit to the bottom of screw in the drive. This is pretty bad if you aren't careful. The drive is heavy and without at least one screw supporting it, the serial ATA connector is being bent by the weight of the drive. Make sure you hold the drive up while you're screwing it in. I like when the screws are done on the sides of the drive instead.
Pay no attention to this drive that I installed in the unit since it didn't work. You'll want to watch the video supplement that goes with this review below for the full action. Once the drive is secured, you put the two sides back on. In my case, one of the screw holes wasn't threaded properly and the screw kept falling out. I guess 7/8 screws aren't bad, right?
The unit does look nice and pairs well with a black computer setup. Black components are my favorite and this enclosure fits nicely on my desk. Looks can be a bit deceiving, though.
Testing:
The full video supplement for this review is included. I will highlight my findings here as well. The enclosure does not work with my two Maxtor drives I tried even though they are perfectly fine in every other serial ATA system. I use them to test RAID enclosures and also for internal drive testing. The enclosure works fine with a Western Digital drive. I really have no idea why it doesn't work with the Maxtor drives, but it seems that the enclosure isn't giving the drives enough power since they don't spin up. You can hear them trying to, but they just don't. The fact that they don't work is completely unacceptable to me. Any serial ATA drive should work. You shouldn't have to find a drive that works with the enclosure. I'm very unhappy with this situation.
The enclosure performance with a drive that works is pretty good. It was basically doing sustained 30MB/s reads and write which is what I would expect from a USB2 enclosure.
Conclusion:
The only saving grace for this unit is that the price is very cheap. I've seen this particular enclosure go for around $30 which is a great price for a serial ATA to USB2 enclosure. Unfortunately, I don't recommend this one since the problems I encountered outweigh the price benefit. It is the old saying, "you get what you paid for." That's certainly true in this case.
I'd like to thank Chris from Eagle Tech for proving this unit for review. I would love to try something else from Eagle Tech to see if this was just a one off thing and hopefully give them some better press in the future.
Installation:
After removing the eight flat head screws that I hate so much, you have access to the internals of the unit. You are given four philips type screws for the hard drive mount, why couldn't they just use philips for everything?
The serial ATA connection is standard for data and power. The unit is hot swappable (as all serial ATA drives are since it was built into the standard).
You need to flip the unit to the bottom of screw in the drive. This is pretty bad if you aren't careful. The drive is heavy and without at least one screw supporting it, the serial ATA connector is being bent by the weight of the drive. Make sure you hold the drive up while you're screwing it in. I like when the screws are done on the sides of the drive instead.
Pay no attention to this drive that I installed in the unit since it didn't work. You'll want to watch the video supplement that goes with this review below for the full action. Once the drive is secured, you put the two sides back on. In my case, one of the screw holes wasn't threaded properly and the screw kept falling out. I guess 7/8 screws aren't bad, right?
The unit does look nice and pairs well with a black computer setup. Black components are my favorite and this enclosure fits nicely on my desk. Looks can be a bit deceiving, though.
Testing:
The full video supplement for this review is included. I will highlight my findings here as well. The enclosure does not work with my two Maxtor drives I tried even though they are perfectly fine in every other serial ATA system. I use them to test RAID enclosures and also for internal drive testing. The enclosure works fine with a Western Digital drive. I really have no idea why it doesn't work with the Maxtor drives, but it seems that the enclosure isn't giving the drives enough power since they don't spin up. You can hear them trying to, but they just don't. The fact that they don't work is completely unacceptable to me. Any serial ATA drive should work. You shouldn't have to find a drive that works with the enclosure. I'm very unhappy with this situation.
The enclosure performance with a drive that works is pretty good. It was basically doing sustained 30MB/s reads and write which is what I would expect from a USB2 enclosure.
Conclusion:
The only saving grace for this unit is that the price is very cheap. I've seen this particular enclosure go for around $30 which is a great price for a serial ATA to USB2 enclosure. Unfortunately, I don't recommend this one since the problems I encountered outweigh the price benefit. It is the old saying, "you get what you paid for." That's certainly true in this case.
I'd like to thank Chris from Eagle Tech for proving this unit for review. I would love to try something else from Eagle Tech to see if this was just a one off thing and hopefully give them some better press in the future.