Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360SU-BK 3.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0 and eSATA External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black)

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Product Details

• Item Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000EDKO04
• Item model number: NST-360SU-BK
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

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  Electronics > Computers & Accessories > Computer Accessories > Drive Enclosures

• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2004

Product Description

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

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice enclosure - marketing claims of SATA 3.0gb not true, February 2, 2007

By	R. Ignaszewski "Radziecki" (Sunnyvale, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The reason I bought this case is to build my own "super fast" eSATA drive. I also bought an eSATA 3.0gb drive as well as a PCI-E card. I have tried many compbinations but I cannot get the drive work in 3.0gb mode. The only way to make it work is to jumper the hdd to 1.5gb. So, if you have a HDD drive and a PCI card that are 3.0Gb compatible, this enclosure will limit your drive's speed to 1.5Gb. It is a really nice enclosure, made with professional grade materials, but if you are looking for the top speed this one will not cut it.

9 of 10 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 (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect hard-drive enclosure!, August 10, 2008

By	Albert Silverman (El Cajon CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent product, with a first-class design, both in its operation and in its classy appearance. It has a very small footprint in the vertical position. I have it sitting on a 1/2 inch styrofoam pad, which I do as a matter of course with drives of this sort in order to lessen any vibration effects. However, there are none at all; it is impossible, either by sound or feel, to detect that the drive is running.

It was very easy to install a 500gb Seagate Barracuda SATA drive, which of course required formatting before use. After formatting, the drive worked as expected, with no fussing or fiddling. Most important, the fan-less aluminum enclosure runs very cool. The warmest surface temperature which I measure using a laser spot thermometer (in an ambient surrounding of 75 degrees F) is 95 degrees F.

All pros and no cons!!