Sonnet Technologies ENC-G5-3HD Hard Drive Mounting Kit

Average customer rating: 4.5

Amazing.
Who cares what it looks like.....?
It's not the greatest, but it serves it's purpose.

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Sonnet Technologies ENC-G5-3HD Hard Drive Mounting Kit

Manufacturer: SONNET TECHNOLOGIES
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B000BDDBM0

Related Categories:

Hard Drives

Hard Drives

Drive Accessories

| Accessories | Computing | Products |

Product Description

The G5 Jive provides secure anchorage for three additional drives and all the cables necessary to connect them to a Serial ATA host controller card. Just add SATA drives to create the most cost-effective solution for adding high-performance storage capacity to a Power Mac G5. Using Mac OS X Disk Utility or third party software and multiple drives, you can create a striped (RAID 0) array to achieve great read/write performance, or a mirrored (RAID 1) array for data security. For even greater flexibility and performance, an additional drive in the Power Mac G5's second drive bay can be included with the G5 Jive drives in a RAID O array - a four drive striped array can achieve data transfer rates up to 274 MB/s. G5 Jive consists of a custom metal base plate and mounting bracket, mounting screws, three internal SATA data cables, and a custom-designed 3-drive SATA power cable. It mounts in the space at the bottom of the case beneath the optical drive, and its installation has zero impact on PCI slots and adapter cards. When combined with a high-performance Serial ATA host controller card like the Tempo-X eSATA 4+4, G5 Jive makes it possible for you to add up to three additional internal drives now and four external drives in the future.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing........2007-04-24

This product is amazing for a few reasons. It's amazing how perfectly it fits into the tower virtually without any modifications to the existing tower and it's parts. Once installed, it was like it was always there. Just a seamless, factory-like fit. Secondarily, it's amazing to me that I had to pay for this item and that Apple didn't install something like this at the factory! I upgraded to a G5 from a G4 tower. In my G4 tower, I had 4 hard drive racks and power and data cables for all 4, right from the factory! My G5 only came with 2, so I need to add this since I need at least 4 drives at all times. Anyway, this is a great little product if you need extra drives. It's just a shame that my G5 didn't come with this from the factory.

Who cares what it looks like.....?.......2005-11-14

If it's an INTERNAL bracket and it does it's job well then why the 2 page dissertation? I can't believe that someone's biggest gripe would be that this product is just piece of metal and isn't aesthetically pleasing to look at. Who cares? I'm not taking my PowerMac G5 around the country and showing off it's internals to large audiences. Good grief, it does what it's designed to do and it does it well, that's all that needs to be said.

It's not the greatest, but it serves it's purpose........2005-10-30

There are a handful of companies that offer internal hard drive expansion for the PowerMac G5. I looked at similar products such as:

1. The "G5 Jam" which replaces the original air baffle from the OEM clear Polycarbonate-like material to their aluminum material which helps dissipate heat better. The price is way off my budget and I don't like the new cosmetic appearance of not being able to see the internal components for a quick inspection. This is the most expensive solution among the bunch.

2. The "G5 Drive Bracket" is the cheapest solution and is made out of Polycarbonate. The construction of the material looks well done and elegant to look at. I would have bought this, but I don't like the fact that I have to source my own cables (power and data) and start scavenging the internet for manufacturers that help specialize in cables that provide a clean look. They should have provided that additional option for the buyers to make it a little bit more convenient, but with the flexibility of buying just the expansion bracket.

3. Max Upgrade's "MaxConnect" is the most flexible company among the bunch. They offer a multitude of options at a reasonable price. You can choose PolyAcetal material (similar to Polycarbonate) which is black in color, or you can choose the more expensive Aluminum material which, again, offers a better chance of heat dissipation. Apart from the two materials, they also offer the option to purchase the bracket along with either the power cables alone (in case you have other data cable ideas apart from the PowerMac G5 standard of SATA interface), power cable+SATA data cable together, or power cable+SATA data cable+SATA controller card. I like what they thought of and I almost purchaed from them. However, I decided on the simplest design idea for the expansion project that had a good stable product offering within the company specializing in data products and expansion.

Which leads me to choosing Sonnett Technologies and their G5 Jive. This company is well known for data products expansion cards like FireWire, USB, SATA and SATA II controller cards as well as corresponding data and power cables that support the Mac. Their image in the Mac community helps make my buying decision easier.

I liked the idea of the G5 Jive because the product is a two-piece design versus everyone else's four piece and the G5 Jam's one LARGE cosmetically altering piece. Their idea is one full metal bracket that houses all three hard drives that rests on top of a similar metal plate screwed on the internal floor of the G5. It comes with all the necessary screws to attach the base plate to the G5 and the to the hard drives. The only thing you will be needing is a Philips screw driver and your good to go and connect it to your SATA hard drives and host controller.

Furthermore, they created the data and power cables specifically for this expansion option. Which means the proper length of each piece and the proper design - L-shaped SATA data cable connectors for a low profile look and a power cable with three connectors in one simple piece that taps into the socket of the internal DVD drive versus buying three separate power cables that tap into each other and end up bulky and messy in the G5.

In addition their manual is straigh-forward and full of pictures to guide you with the very simple installation procedure. You don't even have to read the text they wrote. Just look at the step-by-step pictures and you will know what to do. Bravo on this aspect (although a booklet would have been more impressive).

So with all this highlights, why only 3 stars?

For one, price. This is certainly a bargain for a majority because it specifically meets the standard option of building an internal SATA RAID. It isn't a good buy for others who are still stuck in the older IDE connection or for other more expensive options of SCSI or Fiber Channel devices. (Although higher end options are not supported with this bracket due to excessive vibration. Besides if you can afford those, it would be better to purchase an external RAID).

Second, construction. Build quality is a robust metal piece. It isn't smooth in construction or thick in make. In fact it's the ugliest base plate and bracket I've seen for the beautiful G5.

Three stars because there is nothing fancy in the design to highlight the additional internal drives. No Polycarbonate, PolyAcetal or Aluminum material here. Just your basic metal bracket with a very simple design that serves its purpose. No questions asked.

And for the suggested retail price of USD99.00, it may turn most of the people away from the product. But at Amazon you can buy it for less with free shipping and no tax. Which then makes it very attractive.

I purchased this to gamble in the hopes that it looks better than the pictures. It does not. I used the savings on this product to spend more on a Sonnett Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 (SATA II PCI-X controller card) and three SATA II Hitachi IBM hard drives to complement the expansion.

If you're looking for a more aesthetically pleasing option, I'd recommend MaxConnect and G5 Drive Bracket. Their price is worth the construction and material. If you're looking for a no-nonesense robust SATA expansion KIT complete with specially designed cables at a decent price then look no further than here.

In the future, with their simple design they could venture into better materials and smoother construction/fabrication similar to the competitors above.

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