Eagle Tech ET-CSMESU2-BK 3.5” SATA to USB/eSATA tool less enclosure Review

Recently, I got offered the chance to review this external hard-drive enclosure by Eagle Tech. I had already purchased another, basic external enclosure of my own to use with a backup hard-drive, but after seeing this drive, I could not pass up the offer to review this. I was hoping it would replace my other enclosure.

About Eagle Tech

Eagle Tech Computers, Inc. is a trusted OEM supplier of power supply, rackmount chassis, network attached storage NAS (RAID, Gigabit LAN, Wireless 802.11a/b/g), external hard drive enclosures and other storage related products. Our extensive experience in designing, manufacturing and marketing high quality PC components that meet and exceed customer application requirements has enabled us to grow beyond manufacturing. Our core competence is in innovative external storage solutions.

Recognizing the needs of modern computer users to store and share digital files across multiple platforms, Eagle Tech constantly monitors consumer needs to ensure timely development and introduction of innovative external storage products into the consumer market. We remain a high quality technology solutions provider dedicated to satisfying the demands of modern computer users - mainstream, enthusiasts and SOHO professionals.

Eagle Tech understands the importantance of your data and strives to provide customers with reliable and easy to use products that are backed with responsive technical support staff. If there is a more innovative way to store and access your important data, you can count on us to make it happen for you - at affordable prices, rugged constructions and stylish designs.

Overview

Speed matters! No other enclosure offers the performance and convenience of this tool less enclosure. Truly hot swappable: just snap in your hard drive and it is ready for use. Works like a HDD reader without the bare drive risks. Solid aluminum construction improves heat dissipation to prolong the lifespan of your hard drives. Patented F.I.T. ensures smooth drive loading/unloading at all times. Supports latest 1.5TB drives.

Features

• Solid aluminum

• Works like a HDD reader without bare drive risks

• Just snap in your drive and it is ready for use

• Completely tool less and hot swappable

• Patented F.I.T. (Fast Installation Technology)

• Virtualization software by VMWare (30 day trial)

• Plug-n-Play via USB 2.0

• 3.0Gbps eSATA

• Usage: Quick hard drive imaging and multiple OS boot up

Specifications

• Type: External drive enclosure

• Form Factor: 3.5”

• Hard Drive Compatibility: 1.5TB

• Internal Interface: SATA I/II

• External Interface: Hi-speed USB 2.0 and eSATA

• Data Transfer Rate: 480Mbps and 3.0Gbps

• Power Source: Universal Switching Power Adapter (5V/12V 2.0A)

• Power Input: 100-240VAC, 50/60Hz

• Certification: FCC, CE Certified and RoHS compliant

• O.S. Required: Microsoft Win98SE/Vista/ME/2000/XP Mac OS 9.0 or higher Linux

• Dimension: 7.2 x 4.9 x 1.2 inch

• Weight: 2.6 lbs

Product Opening

In my opinion, this is a very-well designed box. It has a lot of eye-catching pictures of the product, shows how it is a tool-less drive, provides product information, etc. The package just screams quality to me.

Upon opening the box, we see the drive wrapped in protective plastic, along with some foam to protect it from shipping.

 Everything out of the box. It includes quite a few goodies: the enclosure, eSATA cable, USB 2.0 Cable, power adapter, stand, opening key, “Quick User Guide,” and a CD with some programs on it such as “Avast Anti-Virus: Home Edition.”

The Enclosure

The enclosure looks to be very well-built. It has some weight to it, which in a lot of cases, usually means quality. We'll see how that holds up.

 The front of the enclosure. This part flips open upon insertion of the provided “key” near the “OPEN” label.

The back of the enclosure. Here, we can see, in order: an eSATA port, a USB 2.0 port, power adapter port, and the ON/OFF switch.

Installation

To open the enclosure, I first have to pop the front cover open with the provided “key.” There is a little hole the key fits in, and then you just push down.

The cover simply pops open. Something I do want to point out though, is the top-right side of the enclosure cover seems a little bent out. It could just be a design-flaw because of the requirement for the tension there, but it is just a small flaw in the aesthetics of what I consider to be a pretty cool-looking enclosure.

The cover is now open. So far, so good.

Now I just simply slide my hard drive in. I am using a Western-Digital 400GB SATA drive.

 Then, I just push it in tight till it connects with the controller at the back of the enclosure. After that, I just pop the cover closed:

Time to plug it in!

The included power adapter is very basic. The only thing I don't like about it is the space it takes up. The cable on it doesn't seem to be of the highest quality, but it's not a big deal to me.

It now has power! The blue light on the back means it works now right?

No. Even though I had it connected via USB 2.0, my Windows Vista 64-Bit machine would not recognize the drive. I tried different USB ports on my computer. I even restarted. I checked Disk Manager also.

After a few minutes of trying to figure out why my computer wasn't recognizing the drive, I searched on-line for some help. Someone else that had the same problem said to remove the back panel and screw it back in after making sure the SATA connections were made. Not quite the tool-less installation as advertised, eh?

I did that, and since I had to do that, I managed to get a picture of the hardware inside the enclosure:

I then plugged the drive back in, and powered it on. It finally worked! My computer quickly recognized it and installed it just like any other standard external drive. I am not going to do any speed tests with this, especially since I was just pretty thankful it worked, but here is a quick shot of my computer finishing a 1.32GB, single-file transfer from the external drive to my main 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 drive:

Nice and fast. Seems just about the same speed of my other, cheaper enclosure I've been using.

Something I noticed while transferring this file though was that the enclosure doesn't have a read/write access light! The blue light you saw on the enclosure? That's just a light for show and to signify that it is powered on. Lame, but better than nothing I suppose.

I should also point out when I was moving the enclosure around with the drive in it, it seemed the drive was bouncing around a little bit inside. Not a big deal, but again, the way it was advertised (to hot-swap drives for imaging among other things), it seems like a pretty important design flaw.

 Conclusion

When I got this drive, I was pretty excited. I mean, look at it! Doesn't it just look cool? When I saw the box and the pictures, I also have to say that I thought it looked to be made of very high quality. Yet, I found it is not the exception to “Made in China” products when I found the drive to wiggle around inside the enclosure and the power adapter to be of mediocre quality.

The real deal-breaker though was when the enclosure wouldn't just “work.” It's advertised to be “tool-less,” therefore, it should be although I came to find out that is not true when I had to open the back to make sure the drive was connected.

I was planning on this enclosure replacing my current, cheaper enclosure, but because of the problems I had with it, I didn't trust using it to house my important back-up drive.

Pros:

• Looks great

• USB 2.0 and eSATA is amazing

• Includes bonus accessories, cables, etc.

Cons:

• Didn't work until after some tinkering

• Hard-drive seemed loose inside the enclosure when closed

• Power adapter seemed cheap

• A bit noisy

• Light is just for show-doesn't show disk access

The Eagle Tech ET-CSMESU2-BK 3.5” SATA to USB/eSATA tool less enclosure is a perfect example of when looks can be deceiving.

4.5/10