Firewire/USB 2.0 Aluminum Enclosure for 3.5-Inch Hard Drive

Average customer rating: 4.0

Failure rate is far too high
Flimsy with poor electrics
Works well
Adequate enclosure
Solid technology

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Firewire/USB 2.0 Aluminum Enclosure for 3.5-Inch Hard Drive

Manufacturer: Macally
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B0000B3ALF

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Product Description

Macally's mission is to provide its customers with the highest quality and value product which exceeds their expectations and provides an effortless and pleasant interface with their PCs. Macally is achieving its mission through excellence in design, manufacturing and service.PRODUCT FEATURES: Solid aluminum body for protection and excellent heat dissipation; Shock reduction design; Supports large hard drive (>137GB); Works for both Mac and PC (no driver required except Win98); Supports USB2.0 and USB1.1 connection; Supports FireWire connection; Hot plug and play; Active LED to indicate power and data access.

Customer Reviews:

Failure rate is far too high.......2007-05-24

I ordered 4 of these drive enclosures last summer because the one I had ordered a few months earlier worked so well. One of those drives was DOA and had to be returned. The firewire port on a second enclosure just failed about 10 months into using it. Clearly the quality control on these drives is not very good if a failure rate of 50% is seen.

At least they are failing within the 1 year warranty period, so I can return the enclosures for replacements, but keep your receipt.

Flimsy with poor electrics.......2007-04-29

Major flaws:
* The power plug is too loose, so it often falls out, which crashes the hard drive inside.
* Firewire mode does not work. (Mac OS X)

Minor flaw:
* Built from cheap plastic.

In my old apartment, this device constantly unplugged itself and was incredibly noisy. I moved apartments, set up a new desk, and switched out to a different hard drive (and I think I unplugged the internal fan too), and now it's much better-- the wiring connection is more stable, and the new drive is quieter.

Works well.......2007-02-18

We bought a half dozen of these for work, and all have been problem-free. Having both USB 2.0 and Firewire adds flexibility, at least from the Mac end of things - I normally prefer Firewire for bulk transfers, but if I'm doing video it's nice to use USB so the Firewire bus isn't being split between two separate peripherals; and vice-versa.

They look nice too.

Adequate enclosure.......2007-02-07

Costs too much, but better than a cheap plastic housing. Works flawlessly so far. Annoying huge blue and red flashing light on side. On/Off switch feels cheap and fragile, but works well. Line lump power supply.

Solid technology.......2007-01-15

For various reasons, I bought three of these in the past six months. Installing a hard drive is relatively easy (once you set your drive's correct jumper location). The footprint/design of the enclosure is compact and attractive. There are additional hard disk drivers and user guides on an included CD, but you may not need even them.

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