Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360SU-BK External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black)

by Vantec

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000EDKO04
• Item model number: NST-360SU-BK
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #45 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Accessories > Hard Drive Enclosures
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2004

Product Description

Form and functionality collide with style in the NexStar 3 External Hard Drive Enclosure from Vantec.  With its mirror finish, sleek curves and bold colors, the Vantec NexStar 3 stands out from the crowd.  The sturdy drive cage protects your hard drive while the aluminum case effectively draws away the heat, protecting your drive from overheating.   Available in 2 vivid colors (Onyx Black and Midnight Blue), the NexStar 3 lets you store your personal data in an enclosure that matches your style!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works fine--SATA to USB connections, February 3, 2007

By 

Douglas Henderson (SW Montana) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360SU-BK External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black) (Personal Computers)

I bought a NexStar enclosure early last month to use a 250GB Seagate SATA internal HD I'd mistakenly bought last year when looking for the older IDE sort. Until finding reference to SATA ensclosures with USB 2.0 attachments, I thought I only had the option of putting the SATA drive in my G-5.

The enclosure went together quickly (including connecting a separate light cable) and the SATA HD using just the USB cable popped onto the screen to be initialized just like an IDE drive. Though it can be inferred from the product description that this NexStar enclosure will work with USB connections at the slower USB 2.0 speed, I'll just make it clear that this product comes with a SATA cable that allows faster SATA data rates in the case of you having such a SATA port in your computer--but if not, the enclosure will allow you to operate a SATA HD with the USB connection alone. Very handy--as it allows you to replace SATA drives from a a Apple G-5 and install the old one in the SATA enclosure to make use of the data. Nice way to upgrade and still use the old HD.

Haven't run the enclosure long enough to comment on heat issues. I'm inclined to run external HD's for a limited time as they are needed for back-up, so any heat build up would likely be avoided if it is an issue at all. The NexStar appears to be made of sheet metal and is not nearly as robust as Acomdata's aluminum brick enclosure--but Acomdata doesn't seem to offer a SATA to USB enclosure.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Get V1.02 to Support 3TB Drives, April 28, 2011

By 

Tatiana2627 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360SU-BK External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black) (Personal Computers)

As of 4/28/11, Vantec says only Version 1.02 will support 3TB drives. This is indicated on the outside of the box next to the barcode and not on the unit itself. Not sure if Amazon can check what version they have in stock. Also, it depends on the OS on whether the enclosure will support 2TB or 3TB. Windows 7 & Vista will support 3TB on the eSATA and the USB. XP will only support 2TB for both the eSATA and USB.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 2 TB is OK, July 6, 2010

By 

Kevin J. Bratton "Kevlar" (Redmond, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360SU-BK External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black) (Personal Computers)

I was looking for an Enclosure with eSATA and USB that could handle a 2 Terabyte internal drive. This works so far. I haven't tested the eSata. I put a Hitachi Deskstar 2TB SATA HD32000 IDK/7k drive in it and it works fine. You do have to use the disk management program in Windows to first initialize it and then format it. I chose simple volume which is the most common format type if you don't need RAID. The specs said it goes up to 1.5 TB so I wasn't sure it could do 2TB in one partition but it seems fine. I like the no fan to break and slim design. If I load more than about 30GB at a time I give it a rest to cool down a little just in case. But, it only seems a little warm not bad. It wasn't plug and play though. You do need to take those two steps to get the computer to see it as an external drive. Was able to get the Hitachi 2TB drive for $108 on sale. So, a pretty cheap combo external drive setup. Good luck.