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Vantec Nexstar MX 2 Bay SATA Hard Drive Enclosure Black USB2.0 JBOD

Vantec Nexstar MX 2 Bay SATA Hard Drive Enclosure Black USB2.0 JBOD (Vantec: NST-400MX-S2)
VantecVPN: NST-400MX-S2
Vendor: Vantec
Price: $0.00 - $0.00 CAD from 0 stores
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Product Reviews

Vantec Nexstar MX 2 Bay SATA Hard Drive Enclosure Black USB2.0 JBOD
50%
Excellent
38%
Very Good
3%
Average
3%
Below Average
0%
Poor
Rating: 8.83/10
Dragon2peer
Rating:

Review Date: 04/07/10
Comment:
I have a pair of 2 Tb Hard drives in this bay and although it will not allow JBOD, I am perfectly happy to be able to carry 2 2 Tb drives in one little brick of a hardrive.. Runs cool, owned about 9 months now with no problems.. Speed is fast enough to access the kareoke music and music that I have stored separately on and listen too frequently.. runs 24 7 on top of my server as a backup as well
gypsydigi
Rating:

Review Date: 02/14/10
Comment:
I own one of these with two 1.5TB seagate hard drives. I have been using it for about 6 months now and i must say that i am happy with it. I was worried that it would get too hot with both HDs going all the time. It stays much cooler then my Iomega external. Installation of the hard drives is easy enough with 4 screws to remove on that back and then slide out the outer casing. I opted not to get a front swappable drive bay like the other manufactures since these drives we not going to be removed. I will be buying another one shortly! Its hard to beat the value. Construction is very nice. Aluminum case.
Jim
Rating:

Review Date: 02/08/10
Comment:
This is a reasonably valued enclosure, but it is VERY loud. I have it under my desk and it is still noisy. I am trying to figure out a way to quiet this vacuum cleaner down!
Fred
Rating:

Review Date: 08/29/09
Comment:
Works O.K. and looks good, but quality control could use better effort. My unit came with the power and second hard drive lights reversed. I corrected the installation, but it's not for the faint-of-heart. Also the USB plug collar (unit end) is large enough to prevent complete insertion and cause the power to cut out. I had to trim some material away to get it to engage all the way. Lastly the hard drive cage is slightly too wide, so that when the drive screws are tightened, the bottom of the cage "bows" out, causing the case to be noticably misaligned upon reassembly (though you can still get the case screws in). I was able to shim the hard drives on one side to prevent this. Bad day at the factory? Maybe. Or "you get what you pay for".
frank_v@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 07/01/09
Cons: Noise

Pros: Appearance, hold 2 drives, ease of use
Comment:
I have 2 of these, holding some 1 TB drives (Seagate & WD) for camcorder backups. Both work well, and I've had no problems with either. I have them set to "individual drives" mode, not JBOD, to make it easier to change out a drive if one should fail.Be aware the fan in the enclosure is pretty noisy - it's the noisiest thing in my computer room when it's turned on. I use these things for backups so they're usually switched off, but when I switch one on I'm certainly aware it's there!The convenience factor of holding two drives is pretty huge. As an added bonus being two drives in width the unit is nice & stable; no risk of toppling over. I'd certainly buy these things again. For my usage anyway, because they're usually switched off. But I wouldn't buy one if noise was a purchasing factor; just remember the enclosure is kinda loud as these things go.
dano
Rating:

Review Date: 06/27/09
Comment:
This is a fantastic and simple enclosure. HD drives are easy to install, fan keeps them cool and it works right out of the box. To the store's credit, they DON'T use the USPS for product delivery which is a real plus here in NM where the USPS is the equivalent of a black hole.
Stunt Monk
Rating:

Review Date: 06/04/09
Comment:
I got this enclosure and it worked beautifully. I did end up having to return it, because the USB 2.0 is just not fast enough for HD video. Photos and other thing I think would be better. Other than that, it was a great product.
Chris
Rating:

Review Date: 05/26/09
Comment:
I have three of these enclosures connected to my Power Mac G5. Each has two Hitachi 1TB SATA drives installed in independent mode (not JBOD) and, after 7 months of continual use they work quietly and reliably.
iviyth0s
Rating:

Review Date: 05/10/09
Comment:
This enclosure really blew me away, it was the cheapest 2 drive enclosure around and even supports JBOD (which saved me after my Iomega broke down, and I needed to run the two drives in JBOD to recover my data). The construction of this enclosure is very high quality and all the components are aluminum, the fan worked good and both JBOD and Single Drive Modes worked perfectly. I'd highly recommend this enclosure to anyone looking to get one, or if they need to recover their data from the infamous failing 1TB Iomega drives.
BLCain
Rating:

Review Date: 05/09/09
Comment:
This is my second unit. First has 2T for my video studio using USB. This one will have 2T and added to my NAS. Never had problems with the first one (have had almost a year)and may get another one to also add to my NAS. I have no problem hearing the fan and it does keep things cool. Highly suggest you get this unit!
SpecialKen@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/28/09
Cons: Loud fan. Lights aren't a nice as they could be.

Pros: Simple and cheap. Encloses drives.
Comment:
USB is fast enough I've got it streaming my iTunes library and a 720p movie off a Time Capsule (router) with only slight delay when starting up. If you've got a Antec 900 it's going to blend right in, but otherwise it's noisy- I don't have it on if I want to sleep in the same room. It's also a 50MM fan so it's not easy to find a replacement, going to try one and we'll see. For taking up one USB slot it's handy and cheap enough to abandon if you have to go to a 4-5 drive array.
Anonymous
Rating:

Review Date: 03/27/09
Comment:
This is the perfect two hard drive solution. If you dont mind usb. I have two terabyte hd in it and ive had it for a year now just awsome.
ronknights
Rating:

Review Date: 12/09/08
Comment:
This is the best hard drive enclosure I've ever owned. It's too bad I wasted around $100 on other enclosures here at TigerDirect before I found this one.
Graham_W@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 10/08/08
Cons: Fan is a little noisyShort USB cord (had to buy extension)

Pros: Solid construction, durable metal casingNo internal wires, drives slide right in and plug directly into boardEasy set up (had it going within 10 minutes upon opening the box)Fan keeps things cool (unlike my last enclosure)Great price for a dual enclosure
Comment:
I bought this dual hard drive enclosure after filling up my old 500GB drive. I bought a 1TB drive with this enclosure and paired it with my old hard drive (different companies, different sizes) with no problems whatsoever. Just flick the internal switch to JBOD and you’re good to go. All the data from my old 500GB drive was recognized with no problems. I had to format the brand new 1TB disk, but that’s simple enough to do in Windows. I did a quick format and had the new drive operating in 2 minutes. I also decided to get this model because my old enclosure ran very hot and had no cooling system which made me uneasy. I’ve kept the enclosure on for a week straight and so far the built in fan has kept the drives quite cool. The fan is a little noisy, but it doesn’t really bother me.
Gerald_P@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 08/06/08
Cons: As it is only USB, other options would be a welcome upgrade - but as a USB output, no downside.

Pros: Quality build and user friendly
Comment:
This is a great product - absolutely no install/connection issues - worked first time with 2 brand new, unformatted SATA 500G drives. This is a high quality build and I will definitely buy another product by Vantec. A nice touch is that my two 500G drives can appear (a flick of a switch) as one 1G drive.
ViktorO@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 07/25/08
Cons: 1. Yes, the fan is a little loud. But since the sound is not a high pitch (it sound like a little fridge :->) it's very tolerable even for me being quite picky on that.2. USB cable that comes with it is only 3 feet. That's rather short, especially comparing with its power cable that is about 4-5 times longer. Luckily I opened a box in store and picked up 6 feet Belkin cable that was on sale. Cost me just additional 3 bucks.3. I think Vantec could make it having separate 2 Off/On switches for each drive for "separate drive" mode, with one switch being "master" for JBOD mode. Otherwise both drives always spin even if you intend at a moment to access only one of them.4. Doesn't have e-SATA interface. Though who cares. :-)

Pros: 1. First I get it quite a bit cheaper than advertised. :-)2. The installation of my 2 new WD 640GB drives was just a snap taking not more than several minutes.3. It is build so sturdy, I think one can stand on it and it would survive.4. I do not know what some people complained about long formating times and the need to format drives outside on the enclosure first. I was able to Quick format both of the drives in minutes inside of the box. The Full formating of both of the drives (and it over 1TB in total) took under Windows XP about 1 hour and 40 minutes.Since I'm going to use it under Linux too I tested the formating with the same great results as above for Windows.5. After running Full Test with WD Diagnostic utilities on the new drives, that took several hours, the drives were still cool.6. It looks very nice. I particularly like it not being glossy, since I hate cleaning up those fingerprints.
Comment:
Looks like a great product. I hope it will last long. If it does (I have it only for 2 days) I would highly recom,end. This review was modfied by poster r 07-25-08 02:05 PM This review was modfied by poster k 07-25-08 02:50 PM This review was modfied by poster @ 07-25-08 02:39 PM
gdtredmtn@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 06/21/08
Cons: Blue LEDs. I hate blue LEDs but that's just me...

Pros: Solid construction, easy installation of drives, won't fall over
Comment:
I've always found single drive enclosures to be a pain floating around on my desk, always in the way (laying flat) or falling over (standing on edge). This enclosure is great as it looks sharp, is very stable and can support a cup of coffee quite nicely. I accidentally killed the stock fan soon after I got it and replaced it with a higher volume fan so it a little noisier than out of the box but it's not on all the time and a noisy fan is better than none at all.
2fives@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 05/18/08
Cons: - no RAID for this price- no eSATA or Firewire

Pros: + looks+ JBOD+ price
Comment:
Like others mentioned eSATA or Firewire would have been nice for spending $60. A Samsung 750gig went in and easy and I plugged it into a XP comp, it found the brand new drive right away. I performed a quick format and was transferring files to it in less than a couple minutes. Not sure why others said it took hours to format or to format the drive before you put it in the case??I have no use for the back-up software since I will just be attaching this to my apple airport as a NAS drive.The brushed aluminum finish as usual looks as if it could scratch easy. The plastic base is O.K. but does not grip the unit tight enough to pick up the enclosure and base as one if you want to move it around the house.The yellowish green power light is not to bright, but the two blue HDD activity LED's are fairly bright in a dark room.Comes with everything to get you going, screws and cables. Instructions are short and perhaps a little vague, but if you can figure things out just by looking you'll be fine.Unfortunately due to funds I could only afford one drive to start, so I can no comment on the JBOD functionality of the enclosure.I also wouldn't be to surprised if the small cooling fan in the back of the unit packs it in relatively quickly into the life span of me owning this enclosure. Those little fans are known for their "cheesy" quality.4 well deserved stars. This review was modfied by poster w 05-18-08 11:40 AM This review was modfied by poster @ 05-18-08 11:07 AM
XenoS@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 05/03/08
Cons: - Front plate keeps popping off!- eSATA is a must these days.- Must format hard drives first.- Fan is kind of noisy.- External power brick.

Pros: - Good cooling and USB 2.0 speeds.- Can use two dissimilar SATA drives.- JBOD or two individual drive letters.- Quality construction and materials.- Very easy to insert drives.
Comment:
I have a 750 GB Seagate drive and a Maxtor 300 GB drive working as one big disk, formated with NTFS in Windows XP. I plan on using 1 TB drives when the need arises. eSATA would have been a nice option, as it seems to be catching on with device manufacturers and is quickly becoming standard equipment. Have had one error, likely from turning it off without using the 'Safely Remove Hardware' option in Windows. CHDSK fixed the issue quickly. The fan is a bit noisy, but I only turn the unit on when I need to do a backup and thus don't find too annoying. Don't see why it couldn't have internal power rather than a brick. Probably the biggest annoyance is the front panel, which keeps popping off. Looks like an easy fix though. All in all, no major complaints. It works as expected for being a USB 2.0 device.
sezyboy@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/18/08
Cons: Damn NoisyDont have eSata or Firewire

Pros: Good coolingHolds 2 1 TB HDsSATA and USB 2.0JBOD RAID or single drive
Comment:
Currently have this with a 1TB hitachi deskstar inside. Very easy to use and keeps the HD pretty cool. PnP with XP/Vista etc.Bulky to carry around but good for extended trips.If it wasnt for the noise and only USB 2.0 this would be 5/5
Anubis_1978@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/10/08
Cons: None

Pros: great for 2 1 terabyte HD's
Comment:
Bought this as I have digitized almost all my CD's so that I can listen to them on many computers. With the 2 1 Terabyte HD that I put into this it's a great unit and would recommend for anyone.
Mehdi_S@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/01/08
Cons: None so far.

Pros: Tough Metal enclosure, ease of installation, simple interface, cooling fan.
Comment:
This thing is great. I bought this and a 1TB Seagate HD and had no problems with it so far. I still have another bay completely free so I don't think space will ever be an issue. I just wish it had a firewire interface as well as a USB interface. This review was modfied by poster @ 03-01-08 02:23 PM
Chris
Rating:

Review Date: 02/15/08
Comment:
I purchased this as an external backup and filled it with two WD 320GB drives. Setup is very easy. The drives slide right in and the SATA connectors mounted on the circuit board push into the jack on the drive. There also is a switch to change from JBOD to dual drive mod. Unit seems to be made very well and has a good feel and physical appearance. there is a small cooling fan in the back but I am not too sure how effective it is. There is limited direct airflow through the case and across the drives. Performance is good, just about the same as any other USB external drive. My only gripe is that the unit is a bit noisy. The fan noise is definitely noticeable and there is little noise suppression for loud hard drives.
Garry_M@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 01/11/08
Cons: None

Pros: Sturdy, quality construction. Easy set up. Includes good backup software.
Comment:
............this thing is almost to good to be true. Its everything i hoped for in an external backup solution. The software alone is worth the price of the unit. The little fan cools the unit well and i did NOT find it loud at all. It purrs like a kitten and does the job expected of it. This thing is of hefty construction, solidly built, and sets up with ease. One of the most satisfying purchases i've ever made.
Martin_C@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 01/10/08
Cons: power cable is a tad easy to pull out of the back

Pros: Stays cool with 2 500gb sata2 drivesSimple to work with, removing and installing drives
Comment:
Great unit no complaints, for the price it cant be beat, has a built in fan to keep things cool in which it does well. i will certainly buy another one
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Product Features

Vantec NST-400MX-S2 NexStar MX External Hard Drive Enclosure
Vantec NexStar MX Dual Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure is a quick and simple way to expand storage capacity to your computer. It comes without the hassle of diving inside the PC and messing with all the wires, cables and connections. The sturdy drive cage protects your hard drive while the stylish aluminum case effectively draws away the heat; the front vents and rear fan keep your hard drive(s) cool and improve performance. Add two independent SATA I/II hard drives or configure into a single JBOD drive for up to 2 terabytes of drive space.


A Closer Look

Features

  • Supports 2 SATA I/II Hard Drives Up to 2.0 TB of Storage.
  • USB 2.0 External Interface Allows You to Transfer Data Up to 480 Mbps.
  • Front Ventilation and Rear Fan for Better Air Circulation and Cooling.
  • Stylish Aluminum Case to Draw Away the Heat.
  • Easily Add Up to Two Independent Hard Drives.
  • Simple Plug & Play Connection; Does Not Require Drivers.

Product Specifications

Model
BrandVANTEC
ModelNST-400MX-S2
Spec
ColorBlack
Size3.5" x 2
AC AdapterYes
MaterialPlastic and Aluminum Alloy
Internal InterfaceSATA
External InterfaceUSB 2.0
Packaging
Package ContentsExternal EnclosurePower AdapterPower CordUSB CableUser ManualDriver Disk

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