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It is a little large, but for my use it is fine. All cables and an eSATA adaptor plate for PC are included. The MX-1 had a lot of favorable reviews, with good cooling and eSATA. After viewing lots of reviews and poor reliability reports, I decided to get an external enclosure and separate drive. Got this just recently, 01-2010, and couldn't be more pleased. The drive is the WD Caviar Green 1.5Tb. Thats it, maybe 3 or 4 minutes. Now reattach the 2 screws for the tray, and then reattach the lid.
The drive is quiet, runs cool, and I can't tell the difference in the speed of the eSATA from SATA. Pull out one long screw on the end and remove the top. I had been shopping for an external drive to use with my Patriot Media Player. The power supply din connector on my unit mounted snugly. Installation is a snap with a magnetic screwdriver, which I always use for this type of work. Then remove the 2 screws on either side of the drive tray, lift the tray and turn over - no need to unplug anything, try not to touch any of the electronics, and then attach the drive with the 4 included screws, turn back over, sit it in the case and slide forward to mate the connectors. After an hour of solid data transfer, both reading and writing, the case is not even warm. So far, I can't find any cons to report, but I will later if something develops.
I currently own two of these enclosures each with a 1 TB hard drive installed in both. This is a design flaw and is a major risk of losing data and/or damaging your hard drive. Works great on both PC and MAC.The worst part about this unit is the weak and unsecured connection from the power pin cable to the enclosure power connector.
This unit allows you to securely fasten your SATA hard drive and keeps the hard drive cool during use. This has happened to me several times as I was backing up data on my machine. This enclosure is one of the best secure hard drive enclosures out there.
The slightest movement of the unit can cause the power connector to disconnect. This was especially great for areas with poor air circulation. The enclosure is very quiet and easy to use.
I always have to double check that the power connector is securely fastened before powering on the enclosure. I added a adhesive around the pin connector to help prevent the pin connector to disconnect.
That darn power supply connector. As long as you get a newer one with the improved DIN power supply connector, you'll be very happy with it. Mine is nice and quiet.
I got mine over a year ago so I'm plagued with the bad connector issue. I currently have a 2tb Western Digital Green installed in it and use it primarily for Acronis backup images. However, from reading other reviews, it looks as if Antec has added some "clicking action" to it and it now seats firmly.
Otherwise, this is a very nice, cool external enclosure. Mine stays in one spot however and is rarely moved, so this is not a big issue for me. I do not have the noisy fan problem.
Every image has passed verification numerous times and I have had absolutely zero issues. It's certainly not the best looking case on the block, but the again, it's not meant to be.
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3CT5EI5T56MAO The video speaks for itself. It may not be the most attractive or the most durable. Basically, I prefer this over my Thermaltake for one reason: The ease of swapping drives in and out of it when I need to. Right now it's sitting in my entertainment unit with my media PC, and it contains my entire life collection of stuff. But if you need flexibility there really are no better out there. If you want something that's built like a tank and looks like a rock concert then get the Thermaltake N0012USU Max 4 Active Cooling 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 eSATA Hard Drive Enclosure instead.
I have several hard drive enclosures that I use for data backup. Those I use infrequently have no fan and they get warm fast.The Antec unit may be large, but that's unavoidable given the fan in the unit.I am perplexed by reviews concerning fan noise and power connector issues.I have two of these units, soon 3 and they are as silent as she goes.Also, the power connector nicely "clicks" into place without any chance for "falling out".I would have to say that anyone with a noisy fan or loose power connector needs to seek a warranty replacement.My enclosures house 1.5TB Seagate drives.I have have had limited success with the eSATA connector due to hardware compatibility issues that others have described.Using USB, I get 11MB/s writing (that's megabytes, not megabits) which works great for my purposes. That's roughly twice as fast as my SCSI DAT160 tape backup which I have now replaced with Disk-To-Disk backups.I have used these drives successfully with Windows XP and RedHat Linux.
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