[section_title title=Introduction]
Introduction
- Manufacturer: StarTech.com
- Model: 3.5in Black USB 3.0 External SATA III Hard Drive Enclosure with UASP for SATA 6 Gbps – Portable External HDD
- Price: £47.99 (At the time of review)
Storage, there are so many options. Internal, external, 2.5″, 3.5″ HDD, SSD, USB, SD cards and so one. So how does one decide what they actually need? Well, it normally comes down to a specific use they have in mind. If you are buying a new camera or phone, you will more than likely need some sort of SD or similar card. Want to transfer files between two PC’s as easily as possible without taking up too much space? Well, a USB stick may be just perfect for that. However, some may want a bigger amount of storage and yet still need to be portable at times and that is where today’s review will come in handy.
Today I am taking a look at the 3.5in Black USB 3.0 External SATA III Hard Drive Enclosure with UASP for SATA 6 Gbps – Portable External HDD which simply put, is a hard drive caddy designed for 3.5″ drives, so it will also work with 2.5″ drives and uses USB 3.0 with UASP support to offer some pretty impressive transfer speeds, depending on the drive inside of course. The Hard Drive Enclosure features hot swap capability, up to 6 Gbps transfer speeds and is mains powered. All in all, it seems like a decent drive so why don’t we have a quick look at the specifications before jumping into the closer look!
Specifications
| Warranty Information | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 2 Years |
| Hardware | |
| Chipset ID | ASMedia ASM1053 – 6G |
| Compatible Drive Types (Type and Rate) | SATA |
| Drive Installation | Removable |
| Drive Size | 3.5in |
| Interface | eSATA |
| USB 3.0 | |
| USB 3.0 & eSATA | |
| Number of Drives | 1 |
| Number of internal 3.5 inch bays | 1 |
| Performance | |
| Hot Swap Capability | Yes |
| Maximum Data Transfer Rate | 5 Gbps |
| Type and Rate | USB 3.0 – 5 Gbit/s |
| SATA III (6 Gbps) | |
| UASP Support | Yes |
| Connector(s) | |
| Drive Connectors | 1 – SATA Data & Power Combo (7+15 pin) Female |
| Host Connectors | 1 – eSATA (7 pin; Data) Female |
| 1 – USB 3.0 B (9 pin; SuperSpeed) Female | |
| Software | |
| OS Compatibility | Windows® 8/8.1 (32/64bit), 7 (32/64bit), Server 2008 (32/64), Vista(32/64), Server 2003 (32/64) XP(32/64), 2000 Apple® Mavericks (10.9) OSX Mountain Lion (10.8), Lion (10.7), Snow Leopard (10.6) Linux Google Chrome™ OS |
| Physical Characteristics | |
| Product Height | 138 mm [5.4 in] |
| Product Length | 200 mm [7.9 in] |
| Product Weight | 820 g [28.9 oz] |
| Product Width | 43 mm [1.7 in] |
| Indicators | |
| LED Indicators | 1 – Power/Activity |
| Power | |
| Center Tip Polarity | Positive |
| Input Current | 0.8A |
| Input Voltage | 110 ~ 240 AC |
| Output Current | 2A |
| Output Voltage | 12 DC |
| Plug Type | M |
| Power Source | AC Adapter Included |
| Environmental | |
| Humidity | 20%RH ~ 80%RH |
| Operating Temperature | 5°C to 40°C (41°F to 104°F) |
| Storage Temperature | 5°C to 40°C (41°F to 104°F) |
| Packaging Information | |
| Shipping (Package) Weight | 1.4 kg [3.1 lb] |
| What’s in the Box | |
| Included in Package | 1 – HDD Enclosure |
| 1 – USB 3.0 Cable | |
| 1 – eSATA Cable | |
| 1 – Universal Power Adapter (NA/UK/EU) | |
| 1 – Instruction Manual | |
Packaging
The packaging is rather simple and has a sort of business feel to it if you ask me. Looking around the box there is not a whole lot of information on what the product inside does, but at the end of the day it is pretty self-explanatory. If you are looking for a 3.5″ USB 3.0 SATA HDD Caddy, you probably have a clue what it does!
Inside the box users will find the power adapters, USB 3.0 Cable and even a stand to help them get it all set up on their desks!
Closer Look
The actual enclosure itself is made from a black aluminium and features the StarTech.com logo on one side.
Looking around the sides and we can see one has a bit of a plastic vented area, I would imagine the little vents are to help with a bit of airflow while the plastic tray is inserted in the enclosure.
On the other side, we have the power and USB connections and an on/off switch so users do not need to have the device on at all times.
Removing the tray from the enclosure we can now see the PCB which features a standard SATA connector so users will be able to plug in both 3.5″ and 2.5″ hard drives if required. We all know SSD’s are the way to go if you want speed so it is nice to see they are easily supported with this device.
