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BELKIN F5U210 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 / FireWire External Drive Enclosure Kit | List Price: $95.99
Discount Price: $75.19
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Brand: Belkin
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty
Features: - Includes a top quality Universal Switching Power Supply, and a large fan to cool the drive and keep it operating smoothly at safe temperature levels
- Opens easily, and adjusts to fit a variety of drives
- Requires computer with Hi-Speed USB 2.0 or FireWire port running Windows 98SE through XP, Mac OS 8.6 through OS X 10.x at USB speeds up to 12Mbps
- Supports FireWire speeds up to 400Mbps
- Package includes screws and driver CD
Brand name but mediocre quality [Posted on 2005-06-03]
I have used a half dozen or so external enclosures, all varying in brand name and build quality. When I bought the Belkin, I hoped that paying for a brand name would reward me with something slightly more reliable than the status quo.
The Belkin was a little disappointing. First of all, it comes together using a plastic top, two plastic sides that snap in, and a plastic front that snaps in as well. This means that the manufacturing process needs to ensure that the snap-in tabs on all the plastic pieces are right. In my case, they weren't. Second, while I had purchased a Plumax enclosure that looks almost identical to the Belkin a few months before (and I do mean identical -- they probably came out of the same factory in terms of the plastic parts), the chipsets were clearly different. I had difficulty getting a 200GB drive to be recognized via USB 2.0 on my Mac with the Belkin while the Plumax had handled it flawlessly. A trip to the Apple System Profiler revealed that the Plumax had used a Cypress chipset while the Belkin's was unrecognized.
This was a few months ago, and Belkin may have changed its chipset providers and its build quality, but I think there are better enclosures out there. I've usually been happy with Belkin equipment, but I can't endorse this one.
Lame looking case - Great features inside! [Posted on 2006-12-04]
Everybody needs storage and there's no such thing as too much. Our family has used external hard drives with our Macs since the days of our Mac Plus. We currently have four external drives. When shopping for storage, internal's are cheaper, so buying an external enclosure and periodically upgrading the drive within makes good sense. The Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 & FireWire External Drive Enclosure Kit (F5U210) is the newest member to our household.
The Belkin offers connectivity by both USB2 and FireWire. A real bonus! If you're using the drive to make full backups of your drive and need to be able to boot from that backup in an emergency, FireWire is a must for pre-Intel Macs. They will not boot from a USB drive. I've successfully backed-up and booted from the Belkin with my PowerBook G4, and have accessed drive contents via USB as well. The F5U210 is large enough for almost any internal hard disk and is designed to be an enclosure for optical drives as well. It has an internal power supply and variable speed fan. My other drive enclosures rely on heat sinks alone for cooling, and I suspect excessive heat to be the cause of death for at least one of my drives. It has a multi-color LED for status (green when on - amber when accessing the drive). And as a final touch, an actual power switch. Two of my external enclosures rely on un-mounting the drive from the desktop in order to kill the power. Assembly is largely tool-free. Requiring only a Phillips screwdriver to secure the HD or optical drive inside. All external pieces snap together by hand. See photo.
The downside? Well, not much. When turned on, it's a bit slow to mount to the desktop (access speed is lightning fast, once mounted though) The Belkin's case design is soft toy-like plastic in a generic grey. It's aesthetic design is uninspired. The drive is big by necessity (remember, it can house CD/DVD burners), and the fan is a bit noisy. I can live with that.
This drive promises to be a long-term workhorse. Good job, Belkin.
Fast & portable! [Posted on 2006-12-18]
A nice looking enclosure, easy to to hook up a hard drive or optical drive, & your choice of either USB 2.0 or Firewire for connection!
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