Data-Tec DS350 HDD Enclosure Review :: Installation and Setup

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I used a Seagate 7200RPM SATA drive, keeping in mind this enclosure will only handle a 3.5 inch SATA hard drive, no IDE connections. The faceplate/HDD cradle pulled out of the aluminum enclosure easy enough. I did see that the HDD is held in the cradle by six of the larger screws, but this was a little odd as the packaging only included five of the needed screws. With the HDD secured as much as possible I connected the power and SATA connector to the HDD then slid the cradle back into the enclosure.

Time to install more screws as the face plate is held to the enclosure with four small screws. I was overcome with joy when I realized that I actually had all four small screws, finally something going my way. My new found joy was short lived as the simple task of installing the screws was not working as planned. It appears that the screws did not completely fit the holes they were designed for, only allowing the screws to go partly in.

With the HDD installed and the enclosure assembled as much as possible, I stood it up on the base provide. If you have any attention to detail you can not help but notice that when the enclosure is inserted in the stand the On/Off display is upside down. Initially I thought perhaps I mounted it on the stand incorrectly but noticed that the Data-Tec logo on the side is right side up and if I were to flip the enclosure over so the On/Off display read correctly the Data-Tec logo would be upside down. A closer look shows that the enclosure will only allow the faceplate/cradle assembly to be installed one way, leaving the On/Off display upside down. This was a small detail but the camels back was under a lot of stress by then.

The last straw came with the connection interface. The HDD enclosure only had an ESATA connector as stated before. This may be the next step in data transfer technology but they should have kept in mind that few systems are set up to handle ESATA and also included a USB 2.0 connector as well. Data-Tec did toss in an adapter that connects to an available SATA port on your motherboard and runs to the back of your system allowing access to it near your PCI ports. I feel this was a good first step, but it nullifies the need for an HDD enclosure if you can not easily connect it other systems. If I wanted to have a HDD connected directly to my motherboard and not share it with another system then I would save myself some trouble and skip the enclosure altogether. After installing the adapter in my system and then connecting the power brick to the HDD enclosure I was finally able to turn it on. I did not find this product to be hot swappable, as a reboot was needed to get my system to recognize it. Once connected and recognized it functions like most other HDD enclosures.