Today we will take a look at the DS350 a HDD Enclosure manufactured by Data-Tec. Data-Tec is a Taiwan based company that specializes in HDD enclosures although you would be hard pressed to know this as their presence is not well established in North America. Currently you can find multiple HDD enclosures on the market, which I feel is good thing as this provides competition thus keeping the products on the cutting edge. Does the DS350 step up to the plate in the game of HDD enclosures or is it destined to a strike out failure?
The package is basic, the enclosure itself, power cable, ESATA cable, adapter for your PC if it does not have an ESATA connection, enclosure base, and the needed screws. There was no driver CD as this product is advertised as not needing one. Right off the bat Data-Tec loses points as many current HDD enclosures are very convenient with their screw less design, a detail Data-Tec decided to ignore. The enclosure itself is aluminum which helps with heat dissipation and seems solid enough. The faceplate/HDD cradle simply slides out of the enclosure for the installation or replacement of the HDD. Again disappointment hits when I realize there is not a USB connection on the HDD enclosure. The only path for any information to travel from the system to the HDD enclosure and back, is via the ESATA cable. Should your system not have an ESATA connector then you use the adapter included in the kit. Needless to say you will most likely be using this adapter as few systems have such a connection this early in the game.
Product Specs:
- ESATA Interface
- Supports SATA/SATA2 HDD
- Compliant with SATA2 for Up to 300MB/s Transfer Rate
- Hot-pluggable
- HDD Activity LED
- Plastic Stand with Rubber Feet
- Mounting Screws
- ESATA Mounting Bracket
- DC Power Brick
- External ESATA Cable
