Customer Reviews

Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360U2-BL 3.5-Inch IDE to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure (Midnight Blue)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I got the Vantec enclosure to replace my old Macally enclosure. First the Vantec is a small case. I installed a Seagate 250gb HD into this and it is a snug fit. The black front panel slides out you lay your HD in the tray in, screw it, attach cables, attach LED connection and slide back in. ((When I first got this I slid this open real fast, but be careful the LED light connection was already hooked up, I nearly messed up the connectors.))

As I said the case is slim, the HD pretty much lays against the outer Metal case and the heat is dissapated this way, no fans in this case. The blue is a nice metallic blue, I don't know if it's mirrored, but it's nice. The logo you see is the where the blue LED is behind, which kind of sucks cause I don't like alot of obnoxious logos, but thats just me. ((You can disconnect the LED and not have the light on)) I have had this case for about two weeks and have found it to be very quiet, well there are no fans so it's really the sound of the HD.

The little stand clip is removable so you can lay it flat if you want. I read the reviews on this case at Newegg btw and went on the positive reviews there, this case got a 5 out of 5 with 99 reviews or so. (at the time of this review they had a better price on this case) USB 2.0 is quite fast. Not as fast as firewire, copying 50gb's of data took about 30 minutes. But after the inital back up, later synchronizing is easy. Of course this might be my HD.

I am quite happy with the case, form, and size. I wouldn't hesitate to get another one.

Over the years I've gotten a number of computers and gradually accumulated a stack of hard drives with files that I wanted to recover. For reasons I won't go into I had a substantial number of files stranded on various drives. Having gotten a new laptop I decided that it was time to gather up all my old files and then dispose of my unwieldy collection of drives.

I decided to get the Vantec NexStar for all my IDE hard drives (I will certainly get a SATA drive for an unused 500 GB hard drive that I will want to use for backup). I was delighted at how easy it was to use. You just put it in its container, hook up the cables and power supply, and start downloading. The disc came with a software disc, but my version of XP instantly detected each of the drives. Sadly, none of my hard drives are large enough to use as back up. Still, I have all my files back.

In short, it performed at advertised and definitely did the job.

Having dealt only with seriously ghetto enclosures prior to this one, it was nice to get a drive of quality heft and construction. Install was a snap, and I got no complains on performance. Only quibble I have is that the drive I got is a more subdued blue, almost navy-- not really very reflective-- I was all excited to get a vibrant shiny electric blue like in the picture, but it almost may as well be black unless the room's real brightly lit. Most people probably don't care about that kind of crap but my whole computer, mouse, and keyboard light up a vibrant blue and I thought it would go nicely. Ok yes I'm a geek, shut up.

Bought this External HD case from Compusa was cheaper their. This External HD Case said it can handle up to 1.5T so that's great! I have a 500G HD that needed a new case.
Hook it up to my 500G HD that I had and it worked great for a day. Super!
Next day my laptop wouldn't recognize the HD. I tested my usb that was fine. I then tested the actual HD in my desk top computer and everything was good, it recognized all the files on the HD. I put it back in the External Case and again nothing. I tested a 80 gig HD in the external HD case and it worked. I put back my 500 gig and nothing! hmm I took my old power supply cord from my other external HD case that I broke and Walla!! It worked! Bad power supply.
This external case would be ideal but the power supply that comes with it is an El Cheapo so I spent a day learning that lesson. I give it 2 stars because of the power supply so beware, if for some reason your computer doesn't recognize the HD you may want to try another power supply first.

Three warning steps during assembly: 1) Watch out for the small wire and connector as you open the enclosure. It is the wiring for the indicator lamp. It could be easily ripped off if not careful. 2) The last two screws that you need for assembly, before you even put the disk in the enclosure see if the screws actually fit. If the screws do not go in the threading use some oil and work the threading prior to doing the full assembly (this will prevent you from stripping the screws). 3) As others have commented, the actual enclosure is very tight. The older 40 GByte disk that I installed barely fits.

Once assembled I did some drive testing. To my amazement there really was no heat issue at all. After working the drive for over 15 minutes I saw very little heat increase.

Mounted my IDE drive in the case. Yes it is tight but everything fits. Followed all directions but neither Win XP nor Win 7 64bit could recognize this drive. Have sent several emails to the company support and they have answered them all. But they were no help because it still doesn't work and their only answer is " It should". I am not a novice at this and have been building computers for many years but this unit has me stymied. I would send it back but I would have more in shipping than the unit costs.

2/9/11 Revision.
According to the manual you should set drive jumpers to "master". Well this wasn't working so I removed the "master" jumper and suddenly the drive works as it should. I now give five stars for the NexStar unit but only one star to tech support for not suggesting this.

I had an old LaCie external 400gb drive (it had two actual 200gb drives mounted) that finally had the interface quit. The two IDE-PATA drives were over five years old but worked and had very low operational hours, so I salvaged them. Both of those drives (Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200Gb) functioned in this enclosure. :)

Pros:

1. XP plug and play.

2. A very nice aluminum(?) case with a sweet paint job. Shiny chrome front/back trim (maybe plastic but nice). This thing just looks good.

3. A power on/off switch. Some enclosures no longer have a power switch.

4. The power adapter is shaped to fit in a single plug slot on a power strip. I despise those other clunky adapters that take up three plug slots. This one is good.

5. The front has a nice transparent logo type thing that has a blue LED as a back light. To me it is well designed. Some blue LEDs are just too annoying, I can live with this one, it is ok.

Cons:

1. You will need to have, and know how to use, a small Phillips screw driver to put the case together.

That's it! Enjoy.

Ken

I bought this Vantec hard drive enclosure shortly after the motherboard on our old XP tower failed. I wanted an economical way to get to the data on the undamaged hard drive. Set-up was extremely easy, you just slide the case open (watch out for the LED connector, which might be connected, mine was not), connect the hard drive, slide the case closed again and screw it shut. Hook in your power cord and your USB cable and you're ready to go. I was accessing the data on my old hard drive within minutes of opening the box. This unit works great with Vista, as it loads all of the drivers for you, you won't even need to load the driver CD. Heat hasn't been a problem yet, the aluminum case does a good job of dissipating the warmth generated by the hard drive's operation. Comes with a nice little stand and the blue color really stands out.

Update: Works great with the Mac OS as well. Hooked this baby up to my iMac and it recognized the drive immediately.

Highly recommended!

I purchased this product after my Dell (XP Home) crashed. I had hundreds of photographs and documents on the hard drive at the time. The set-up of the enclosure took less than five minutes, the directions were more than adequate and the case looks slick. I inserted the Dell (Maxtor) hard drive into the enclosure, connected it to my iMac and within 10 minutes I had saved all the data from the hard drive.

I highly recommend this product for those who need a second drive and especially for those who need to retrieve data from an old hard drive.

Remember to back up your data!

I purchased this Vantec product and used it for a short time. Most USB enclosures offer "heat dissipation thru the metal case", as does this one. However, I grew very concerned about how hot the Vantec became, especially after active operation.

Heat is a major enemy of electrical motors. The HDD obviously just cooks inside the Vantec. There is also a definitive difference between its temperature in stand-by mode, and during/immediately after active use.

I found another USB enclosure offering active ventilation: the Apricorn EZ Bus DT, which not only has a built-in fan, but IMHO, for several critical reasons, is a better design and a smarter choice. Here is why:

The Apricorn's 3-inch diameter fan is mounted transversely, so it pulls heat directly off the entire underside of the HDD and expels thru vents on either end of the case.

In comparison, the Vantec's internal chassis has a solid metal plate which covers the entire HDD circuit board (see the image I loaded above). The Vantec has no venting, so the heat inside builds up fast. I installed a 500GB HDD in the Apricorn and ran a 220+GB backup from the Vantec. Upon completion hours later, the Apricorn's exterior was completely cool to the touch; the Vantec's exterior was REALLY HOT.

A couple of other things I found superior about the Apricorn:

It's heavier with a wider base, compared to the Vantec's (3" vs. 1.5"). When mounted vertically, you can nudge the Vantec (or the desk it's sitting on) and it will fall over; it happened twice in the few days I used it. There would be major motion required to tip the Apricorn, and I've never toppled it in months of use.

The Apricorn's easy-action pushbutton power switch is conveniently (and sensibly) located on the front of the unit. The Vantec's is on the bottom of the rear panel (see photo above), but it's a stiff toggle-type switch and awkward to operate. You have to hold the Vantec down with one hand firmly in order to get enough leverage to operate the balky switch... and you leave a nice handprint on the case, which then has to be cleaned. Do that a few times and the sexy mirror finish isn't going to look new for very long.

Also, the Vantec's internal PC board HDD cable is mounted off-center on from the socket on any HDD. You have to kink the Vantec's flat cable in order to complete the connection (see photo above). The Apricorn's is located exactly in line with the HDD's connector, and requires no stressing of the cable.

The Apricorn is available here on Amazon, but I found it for less at Page Computers. It is slightly higher in cost than the Vantec, but I'm convinced it is a much better product. Also, with Apricorn's active ventilation and greater physical stability, I have peace of mind about the longevity & safety of the expensive drive mounted inside it.