Macally B-S250U USB 2.0 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive Enclosure

List Price: $37.13 Discount Price: $18.14

Features:

• Small, slim, and portable hard drive enclosure features fast USB 2.0 (with backward compatibility with USB 1.1) interface technology
• Solid aluminum body offers excellent protection and heat dissipation
• Accepts 2.5-inch SATA hard drive
• Offers USB Hi-Speed transfer rates up to 480 MBps
• Hot plug and play, so your files are always instantly available as soon as you plug it in

Customer Reviews:

Works Great [Posted on 2008-04-01]
This 2.5" enclosure really works well... The extra USB for extra power is not always needed. Some USB ports can push the drive with the data USB alone connected. Small, neat, compact, no wires. Just be careful when removing the Hard Drive; you could break off the LED to the front; but it's pretty strong (self tested).

works well [Posted on 2008-05-27]
Hassle-free installation. I have a couple of ATA drive enclosures too, but this one is better quality. I read of SATA enclosures that proved useless because underpowered. I didn't want that to happen with this one, which is why I chose the Macally. One reviewer noted that sometimes the second USB plug is not needed; however, my Toshiba 200 gig drive would not spin without extra power. Luckily I have a 5V 300mA AC adaptor for an external CD burner and it works great with the Macally, limiting the USB requirement to a single plug. For info, the adaptor is GME model GFP121U-0520.
No mention in enclosure manual about supplying separate power. Dock one star.

Windows often doesn't see it [Posted on 2008-05-28]
I've used this enclosure with a Seagate 160GB 2.5 inch drive, and have been very frustrated. Even with external power (from an AC adapter) or power from a second USB port, Windows often doesn't "see" the drive, or sees it for a while, then the drive disappears as you're trying to use it. This happens on a ThinkPad running Vista, a ThinkPad running XP, and an HP desktop running Vista, so I don't think the USB ports or the computer is the problem. Very frustrating. The case is attractive and well built, but the inability of Windows to see the drive makes me crazy.

Manages to fail where so many others have succeded... [Posted on 2008-06-06]
Looks nice, feels solid...but as others have said, it needs two USB ports. I bought a different unit, StarTech SAT2510U2 InfoSafe 2.5-Inch USB/SATA Hard Drive Enclosure, and it works find off of one USB port. This is a big issue for me since the other USB ports are occupied by a mouse and a cooling pad... Note that this enclosure didn't work even when other devices were disconnected from the USB 2.0 ports.

What concerns me even more is that the need for twice the power will drain your laptop's battery even faster than other enclosures - whoever designed the chipset should probably be fired. Also, basic thermodynamics would suggest that all the extra power winds up as heat...and heat isn't the friend of electronics!

I cannot recommend this device. I've been having great luck with the product I linked to, and will post a review of that one after I use it for a few more weeks and put it through its paces..

Good value and quality for the money! [Posted on 2008-08-25]
The enclosure works great and it's good looking! The only thing to consider is that it uses 2 (two) USB ports on your computer (one for the power source and the other for data). May I also add that the product is very easy to put together.

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