acomdata SMBXXXU2E-Blk Obsidian Black Samba Enclosure Kit

Comment:
Boitier externe pour disque dur IDE et SATA de bonne qualité. Design agreable quoique sans fioriture et d'une conception robuste.

Comment:
I bought this to house an old IDE drive and it's worked great so far. I've only used it a few times to transfer files on and off again. Overall I'm very happy with the enclosure and would recommend.

Comment:
Just as expected. Take the case apart (few phillips screws) insert  drive, connect it up. screw drive to case, reassmble case. Cable it to WinXP. Drives shows up. Right click and format drive. Ready to go.No issues to date.

Comment:
Got this to house an old 120Gb IDE drive I had kicking around as a backup device for a laptop (same drive size in laptop). Works well, had no issues with installation, it just plain works.Big advantage is I can toss a SATA device in at a later date.

Comment:
I picked up one of these from the sale flyer to house an older IDE drive that wasn't being used. The alternate SATA capability is nice to have, as well, though.A driver disk is included but, unless you have a very old operating system, they should not be necessary.There is a printed installation guide that comes with the enclosure, but this should be ignored. Rather, open the CD that is included and browse for the PDF manual. The latter contains more detailed instructions than the printed one: for example, it contains instructions on how to disassemble the enclosure that the printed one does not. There are some omissions, nonetheless. For example, there is a thin metal shield enclosing the drive bay that must be removed and then replaced once the drive is installed, that is not mentioned anywhere. Although it removes easily, it is somewhat more difficult to replace once the drive is installed. It gave me more difficulty than any other part of the procedure. I recommend noting it's exact position prior to removal, for later reference. Do not force it on - it bends easily. Tucking the unused connections (either SATA or IDE) out of the way is a bit fussy, but try to be neat and it shouldn't be a big problem.There is provision for four screws on the rear panel, but mine only came with two installed. I discovered that the "missing" two screws were actually in the tiny baggie of drive-mounting screws. Make sure you compare them to the two that were installed to ensure you have the right ones, as there were two smaller "mystery screws" also included, in addition to the four hard drive screws.The mounting holes for the hard drive in the bottom of the plastic drive carrier did not line up perfectly in my case. They were off by just a fraction, which required some fiddling to get them to screw in straight. But no really big deal. One point is that the key-hole shaped holes described in the manual did not correspond to the screw holes on my drive at all, but four additional square holes did. So, don't be put off by this, as there is no way that the keyholes could work, at least not in my drive and I believe the mounting holes in the drive are standard.Once the drive was installed (in my case I had pre-formatted it to NTFS), I plugged in the power brick and USB cables and powered the unit up. The PC recognized a USB mass storage device immediatel and assigned it a drive letter and it was operational. No fuss, no muss.I'll be awaiting the results of my rebate application, but even if it fails, the enclosure was pretty inexpensive and I'm pleased with it so far. Whether it stands the test of time remains to be seen.

Comment:
I had put a Western Digital 1TB SATA black hard drive in the "Vantec Nexstar CX External 3.5IN SATA Black Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure" and it was not working right and having trouble detecting the drive. I put it in this enclosure and it has been working great ever since. It's pretty handy that it has IDE and SATA support, but the set up took a little while so it might be an idea to keep the same drive in the enclosure.

Comment:
Good buy for $30. Never had an Acom product before but it gets the job done. I just wish there wasn't a mail-in rebate.

Comment:
Bought these to use with PATA drives. Nice solid case, easy to install, and no performance issues. The aluminum case dissipates heat effectively. The round power plug is always the right way up. The $10 MIR yields $7.90 net after GST and postage to the USA.

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I've been using this with a Western Digital 640GB drive and had no problems so far. Installation is pretty easy, but I'd still recommend looking at the instructions, because the first time I set it up, I had my drive facing the wrong way by mistake! Beware of the mail-in rebate. It's been months and I still have not received my $10. This review was modfied by poster @ 04-15-09 11:07 AM

Comment:
After only two months of use (NOT always on), this device started having problems. Windows started reporting write errors, but only occasionally. Then it became more frequent.Today, it had decided that it will not work at all.The hard drive I had in it works fine with no errors in other enclosures.I recommend staying away from this device.

Comment:
This is a well-priced, effective little enclosure. No problems with assembly, except trying to hold it all together while sliding the case back on. Easy instructions and assembly, and seems to be working great so far. I like the on/off switch as well.

Comment:
I basically got this enclosure to make a back up of the hard drive of one of my friends wich is windows crashed. Wich makes the enclosure very usefull with the supported IDE and Sata. The only incovenience is the power adapter a little to big it won't fit everywhere.

Comment:
This device supports both IDE and SATA drives, with data and power cables for both connected to the control board. This could lead for some rather tight fits.The control board does move around while disconnecting and connecting drives, and fitting the internal cover back on can be difficult. If you intend to swap drives in and out daily, I would be concerned over the durability of the product.Other than that, it was easy to setup and use and the transfers were very fast. A blue LED behind the front grill indicates power, and it turns purple during disc access.

Comment:
For the price, can't beat it. Looks fine. Easy to install. On/off switch is a must. It's a bit more bulky than my Antec emclosure: no big deal.

Comment:
No complaints for the price that this sells at.Install = less than 15 mins.Heat Dissipation? This one cracks me up.....everyone is so quick to say how terrible this is. During my HD format (approx. 2 hrs for 500Gb), it got quite warm. IT IS GOOD IF THE OUTSIDE OF THE ENCLOSURE GETS WARM! This means that the contact between the HD and the enclosure is conducting heat outward, and dissipating properly (much like a lawn-mower engine)!Three minor issues for me:1) Power adapter is large (Oh well).2) Connectors on the back feel somewhat weak, as if they may break off the circuit board if you push too hard. (If you can, leave the power cord & USB cable plugged into the back the majority of the time).3) For an SATA drive, the data cord is quite short, and thus creates a tight fit within the enclosure (be careful when installing the HD, and give yourself an extra minute here).OVERALL RATING IS "EXCELLENT" for the price this sells at.

Comment:
The enclosure is a mixed package. The great thing is that it handles both SATA and IDE drives, so those with older equipment are covered. USB speed is decent but an eSATA connector would be nice. The design and lights when working and turned on are very aesthically pleasing. However, the unit is marred by 2 main problems: that of heat and build quality. There is an EMI shield-like metal inside but no proper heat distribution system so it heats up quite a bit in operation, especially during disk copy. Also, the build is not good, with the back panel being loose and the screws easy to damage/warp.

Comment:
Bought it to read a set of HDs on which I store a large collection of video files. Hence I need to change HD a lot and this unit seem to take the special task OK. For this I removed the cover and so there is no problem of heat ventilation.

Comment:
This enclosure worked great with my Samsung 640Gb HD and USB. But to my dismay had no eSATA connector! USB 2.0 is fast enough for general use and more compatible but I would have liked to see the eSATA connector attached especially since a cut out print it there for it on the metal frame. Oh but for positive things did I mention its both quiet and cool, :).

Comment:
This enclosure works well enough, but the wall wart power adapter takes up 3/4 of my power bar! For this reason, I cannot recommend. Its ridiculous. It does however work well enough.

Comment:
Probably the best for the price...I use it with a 40Go IDE seagate and I don't hear it. Off course it is not really fast but with a Sata it is a complete other history...I recommand it to everyone who wants a simple to install enclosure...

Comment:
I tossed a seagate 1TB drive in this enclosure and it worked right away. I was able to initilize and format the drive right there in the box. The assembly is a little complicated and the internal wires are a little too long but some dilligance will yeild results.

Comment:
Very average hard drive enclosure.Not as durable as some other enclosures.Comes with all the cables you will need.Has a cool,bright LED that looks very attractive.Can be used with IDE and SATA drives.

Comment:
Took me a while to figure out why this thing wouldnt work with my IDE hard drive, but after research I formatted my hard drive and removed the sata connector inside the enclosure, not sure what did it but it works with my hard drive now.

Comment:
I'll get straight to the point and not waste any of your time.Pros:- The support for both SATA & IDE is good seeing as it's better than just having one designed for one or the other.- The quiet performance is nice, I either don't hear it at all unless I really focus in on it.Con:- Jeez, this thing was a pain in the arse of a design, with so many tiny screws and I dunno if the SATA cable or the holder itself was upside down, cause the SATA cable was short and made it a real pain to put in.Overall, it's good but you'll have a hell of a hard time getting your hard drive into it.

Comment:
I've only had this a couple days, but thought I'd toss up a review anyway since I've put it through its paces a bit. I bought it because I found a handful of drives when going through some parts and didn't want to go through the hassle of installing them into my rig just to see what was on them.The enclosure has a nice look to it, IMO. Nothing too fancy, just plain and simple. Looks good on the desk and not out of place.Supports both IDE and SATA drives, which is a bonus. I know some found it was cramped due to the need for both connectors, but you can remove the SATA cable to make it a bit less of a pain. I had no troubles getting drives to fit without fighting with them.Works great and easily allowed me to see what those old drives contained, rescue a bit of data, and format when done. So now I've got some extra storage available.It does get warm when in use, due to the fanless design, but I found it wasn't alarmingly hot as the venting seemed to be adequate to dissipate the heat. And this design choice means it's quiet, which I like.USB interface meant it was plugged in and recognized immediately. Very slick.A couple of minor quibbles: changing drives is a bit of a pain, as you have to take out a number of screws. To exacerbate the issue, while all the screws are phillips, they are different sized heads, meaning you have to use two different phillips heads to change drives. And that power adapter is huge. Very awkward if you need to plug it into a power bar with other devices.Overall though, a great little enclosure and well worth the purchase (and the rebate sweetens the deal). I'd not hesitate to buy another if I need one.