Acomdata 3.5-Inch USB/Firewire A External Enclosure
See it at Amazon.com for $37.85Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First
(5 out of 5)Will Buy Another and Here Is Why...
I searched the main electronic stores looking for an enclosure that had these same specs (fire wire, USB, power on/off switch, 100% metal casing) for a price under $50. None existed for that price and with those options in the brick and mortars.
This enclosure is connected to my laptop. I leave my laptop and this enclosure on for time periods spanning anywhere from 2 days to one week without restarting. This unit NEVER gets hot.
The power switch in the back of the unit is very convenient. The design of the unit is very sleek and sexy. The metal casing cools the hard drive making the temperature luke warm to the touch. In addition, the price of $42 is a bargain. This enclosure is highly recommended.
(5 out of 5)On for over 2 hours straight and not even WARM!
I was very nervous about getting an enclosure for my hard drive, but there was about 50 gigs of music and video that I had to transfer to my new PC. Review after review, I read about other cases heating up, and people losing their data.
I was planning on getting the CompUsa equivalent of this, but I saw this on the shelf next to it and took the chance, and I'm glad I did.
Set up was a breeze, and the unit has a vent in the front to help dissapate whatever heat is generated. The case is ALL aluminum except for the front grille. Just connect your hard drive, plug it in the wall and your PC, and you're off. This case has been on for about 2 1/2 hours straight, and is barely (and I mean BARELY) warm to the touch. I also like the fact that this enclosure has its own power switch, so I can just turn it off if I'm not using it.
All in all, it was 50 bucks well spent.
(1 out of 5)Works Sometimes, Lousy Technical Support
Was looking for a quiet, firewire HD enclosure. Acomdata's product looked like it fit the bill.
Pros - solid case (quiet without a fan), easy to set up, had it up and running in minutes.
Cons - would work for several days, then just stop. Initially, wouldn't work after reboots. Subsequently, it seemed more random. I wasn't able to find a good pattern.
Acomdata's web site states that they give free tech support for as long as you own the product, and promise an email response in 3 days. Wasn't sure how they could manage such an inclusive policy, but I soon found out. Tech support is entirely an illusion. 4 emails (over about 3 weeks, to tech support and customer service) all went unanswered. Never received a solution to problem, and I'm now looking for a more reliable solution to external storage.
(4 out of 5)Cool Case
Aluminum alloy is a way if you want to avoid a fan for cooling your hard-drive. This is a well design and very sleeks looking case. I have seen LaCie and other external hard drive manufactures using Acomdata's case. Firewire and USB 2.0 are more compatible for older laptop like mine, which only use firewire and the slow USB 1.1.
Yes there is an On/Off switch, which some external are too cheap to put on. There is plastic grill in the front to let air through. Very easy setup with big screws.
One issue that I have noticed since using this case is the sound insulation. I got a noisy Seagate Hard-drive and the slim aluminum case has no sound insulation, which is quiet loud at time. My old Western Digital plastic case had a quieter hard-drive. So sound level is not all about the fan, it also include hard-drive mechanics.
Overall it a good buy.
(3 out of 5)Disappointed
I have three of these enclosures, and I needed a fourth, so I ordered another one. I was disappointed to find that they reduced the case size, and it now doesn't match my first three. Perhaps a minor point, but disappointing never the less.
Function wise, it is easy to install a bare hard drive, and it works well.