SentrySafe QA0121 Fire-Safe Waterproof Data Storage Chest, Grey

by SentrySafe

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The SentrySafe fire-safe/waterproof data storage chest provides true, multi-purpose data and document protection. Perfect for users who already have their own storage devices (2-1/2-Inch USB bus-powered hard drives, flash drives, MP3 players and small digital cameras), the SentrySafe fire-safe/waterproof data storage chest also protects CDs and DVDs from fire and water damage, computer crashes and identity theft.

Product Description

FIRE-SAFE waterproof data storage chest. The world's first and only fire resistant and waterproof multi-purpose data protection chest. Allows users to backup data using their own storage devices (devices sold separately). Protects up to 60 CDs and DVDs (in 30 double-sided sleeves). Users connect their laptop or desktop computer via the internal USB port.

Exterior Dimensions: 9 3/4"H x 9 1/8"W x 10 7/8"D
Interior Dimensions: 6 5/8"H x 5 1/4"W x 5"D
Capacity: .10 cu. ft. 176 cu. in.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 13 x 12.1 inches ; 1.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 22 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00166187Q
• Item model number: QA0121
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,180 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great concept -- excellent execution, January 17, 2009

By 

Mike D "miked2" - See all my reviews

This review is from: SentrySafe QA0121 Fire-Safe Waterproof Data Storage Chest, Grey (Tools & Home Improvement)

This is a neat concept for a data storage chest. Basically, you plug a USB cable from your computer into the chest, and on the inside, you plug another USB cable from the chest to your USB storage device. What this means is you get fire and water protection, while still being able to use the USB storage device.

I use this with a small Western Digital USB drive. One nice thing is that this USB drive requires a "two to one" USB cable for additional power -- and the data storage chest comes with one of these! Very nice touch. I backup my data onto this drive every night, and now it's nice knowing that the data is waterproof and fireproof, too.

You can also store CD's and DVD's in this unit. It comes with 10 sleeves to hold 20 discs, and you can buy more at Sentry Safe's web site.

Why not five stars, then? I have two minor cons:

1) I wish the inside was just a little more spacious, even if it meant increasing the overall size of the chest. We're using this to store documents as well -- particularly passports, etc. -- and more space for this would have been nice.

2) My only true concern is that by nature of a fireproof safe, the interior of the device is thermally insulated from the outside (there's no other way to ensure that the interior will be OK for 24 hours at 1550 F, of course). However, non-solid state storage devices, like hard drives, inherently generate *some* heat. As such, there's no ventilation for the drive. Every so often I leave the lid open for a while to exhaust this extra heat. I wouldn't use this chest for a drive that's used constantly (my hard drive "spins down" after a certain level of inactivity). I'm guessing the use of this chest will reduce the life time of a drive, but drives are cheap, and I'd rather have the protection this chest offers.

Overall, an ingenuous solution! One other thing I would mention is that we had a "regular" sentry fire safe in our old house, and one issue we had in our humid environment was mold growing on our passports! Therefore, I recommend that you purchase desiccants (silica gel, like those little sugar-like packets that come with most electronic devices these days), and throw some in the chest. These are easily found on ebay, among other places, for a nominal cost.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Customer Service, May 5, 2009

By 

James A. Fowler (Centreville, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SentrySafe QA0121 Fire-Safe Waterproof Data Storage Chest, Grey (Tools & Home Improvement)

See above comment by Blake Nylund. I am the father-in-law Blake is referring to in his comment. After returning the second safe to Amazon, I decided to write a letter to the President of SentrySafe and report the difficulty I had experienced with this safe. Shortly thereafter I was contacted by a customer service representative who told me that he was looking into my complaint. The bottom line is that about a week later SentrySafe sent me a replacement safe -- however they included an AC to USB Power Adapter with the safe. While the safe was getting suffient power from my computer to activate a flash drive, it was not getting enough power for activate my 2.5" Cirago Portable External Storage Drive. The solution -- rather than plug both Y-Cable USB connectors into my computer to power the safe as directed in the SentrySafe instructions, I took one of the USB cable connectors (the one marked Auxillary) and plugged it into AC Power Adapter which was plugged into an external power bar. With this arrangement I was able to get adequate power to the 2.5" External Storage Drive. Later I had a follow up call from the customer service representative who wanted to make sure that all was OK.

SentrySafe did a good job in standing behind their product and coming up with a solution to my problem -- plus they did not charge me for the replacement safe and would not accept payment when I asked them for a bill.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Concept, Great Price but SentrySafe seems to have a quality issue, February 21, 2009

By 

Blake Nylund (Lynchburg, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SentrySafe QA0121 Fire-Safe Waterproof Data Storage Chest, Grey (Tools & Home Improvement)

Great Concept, Great Price but SentrySafe seems to have a quality issue

I saw this safe in a gadget catalog paired with a USB drive. What a great concept. Amazon is the best so I purchased one here for my father-in-law along with a USB drive for Christmas. He bought me the same setup. Mine worked great but his did not. There seems to be a problem with the feed through USB port on the safe. He sent his back and Amazon sent a replacement. The replacement had the same issue. We even swapped this one out with my fully working setup part by part to ensure there was not some other issue. The issue is the feed through USB did not work. The USB drive would work when plugged directly into the computer just fine (or my safe). When the drive was plugged into the safe it showed some signs of life but would not connect to the computer.

Amazon was great and when the second one did not work sent my father-in-law a gift certificate.

My SentrySafe is still working well and if not for the 2 returned safes for my father-in-law I give this product a 5 out of 5. Once SentrySafe fixes their quality issue I recommend this product strongly.