External eSATA drive/enclosure recommendations

Steve_Y · Post by **Steve_Y** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:59 pm

Can anyone recommend a decent 3.5" enclosure or external drive with an eSATA connection?

I've tried a number of them and have been unhappy with them all.

I've tried several Antec MX-1 enclosures, they're fast and the eSATA cable fits nicely, but I find them far too noisy for regular use. In my experience they're significantly louder than the SPCR review indicates. All the MX-1 enclosures I've tried make more noise than any other enclosure I've used. Presumably certain batches are much louder than others, or maybe Antec have switched the fan for a louder version for some reason.

I bought a couple of Freecom Hard Drive Pro drives, they run cool and aren't too noisy, but the eSATA cable fits very poorly. If the eSATA connector wobbles at all, even a light tug on the cable, then the drive can disconnect. I've tried a number of different eSATA cables and none of them improve on this. This problem is totally unacceptable and makes the eSATA connection totally unusable.

I foolishly thought I was getting a good deal when I picked up a cheap 750Gb Seagate FreeAgent Pro. The eSATA connection only works intermittently and actually seems slower than USB. Looking online this seems like a common problem with the drives, one that doesn't have a good solution.

My Akasa Integral P2 is the best of the bunch, but runs hot and the eSATA cable doesn't fit very securely.

I'm getting very frustrated buying all these fairly expensive products and finding that they're all poor quality. Surely with all the options on the market their must be an eSATA solution that isn't so shoddy?

Has anyone used the eSATA WD Mybook for example?

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:59 pm

I've tried several Antec MX-1 enclosures, they're fast and the eSATA cable fits nicely, but I find them far too noisy for regular use. In my experience they're significantly louder than the SPCR review indicates. All the MX-1 enclosures I've tried make more noise than any other enclosure I've used. Presumably certain batches are much louder than others, or maybe Antec have switched the fan for a louder version for some reason.

Thats a shame I was planning on buying one at some point in the future, have you tried undervolting the fan via a resistor in the wire, or is the fan just shit.

Sorry, I cant help you with the eSATA questions, never bought one.

Andy

wscsi · Post by **wscsi** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:53 am

andyb wrote:
I've tried several Antec MX-1 enclosures, they're fast and the eSATA cable fits nicely, but I find them far too noisy for regular use. In my experience they're significantly louder than the SPCR review indicates. All the MX-1 enclosures I've tried make more noise than any other enclosure I've used. Presumably certain batches are much louder than others, or maybe Antec have switched the fan for a louder version for some reason.
Thats a shame I was planning on buying one at some point in the future, have you tried undervolting the fan via a resistor in the wire, or is the fan just shit.

Sorry, I cant help you with the eSATA questions, never bought one.

Andy

I bought MX-1 3 days ago and i believed that the fan was defective.
I wrote to Antec asking for a spare part fan but they replied the i should ask to reseller for box replacement (not easy by courier for a noise reason).
So i tried everithing for smother noise but the fan is a crap glued and is impossible to find a substitute.
At the end i tried via resistor and fanmate.
At 5 volt it is silent but without enough air, at about 7 volt it is noisy but less than at 12 and have enough air for an HD.
It's an electronic noise upsetting but bearable at 7 volt (ridiculous at that low speed)
I regret to follow SPCR test because there is an other box Thermaltake USB/ESATA but with a led fan 80x80x15 that is possible to replace.

shoarthing · Post by **shoarthing** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:11 am

Steve_Y wrote:Can anyone recommend a decent 3.5" enclosure or external drive with an eSATA connection?

I've tried a number of them and have been unhappy with them all.

I've tried several Antec MX-1 enclosures, they're fast and the eSATA cable fits nicely, but I find them far too noisy for regular use. In my experience they're significantly louder than the SPCR review indicates. All the MX-1 enclosures I've tried make more noise than any other enclosure I've used. Presumably certain batches are much louder than others, or maybe Antec have switched the fan for a louder version for some reason.

I bought a couple of Freecom Hard Drive Pro drives, they run cool and aren't too noisy, but the eSATA cable fits very poorly. If the eSATA connector wobbles at all, even a light tug on the cable, then the drive can disconnect. I've tried a number of different eSATA cables and none of them improve on this. This problem is totally unacceptable and makes the eSATA connection totally unusable.

I foolishly thought I was getting a good deal when I picked up a cheap 750Gb Seagate FreeAgent Pro. The eSATA connection only works intermittently and actually seems slower than USB. Looking online this seems like a common problem with the drives, one that doesn't have a good solution.

My Akasa Integral P2 is the best of the bunch, but runs hot and the eSATA cable doesn't fit very securely.

I'm getting very frustrated buying all these fairly expensive products and finding that they're all poor quality. Surely with all the options on the market their must be an eSATA solution that isn't so shoddy?

Has anyone used the eSATA WD Mybook for example?

. . completely agree re: the Antec MX-! & the SPCR review [the basis of my buying decision] . . I recently bought two of 'em & one had to be RMA'd immediately due to the excessive noise-level - it was way louder than a WD 1TB 'Green Power' HDD.

The other is just a bit louder than this HDD; the good bit is the racket is inoffensive in tine; but there is too much of it.

Would SPCR please (re-)review some genuine production samples of this thing?

Nice Marmot · Post by **Nice Marmot** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:04 am

I bought one a couple months after SPCR's article was posted. It's very quiet, matching what I expected based on the review. Antec's probably made a manufacturing change since then.

Gator · Post by **Gator** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:47 am

The Apricorn "EZ-BUS-DTS-EKIT" is by far the best cooling external case I've ever used.

Comes with everything one might need, both USB and eSATA external cables, mounting screws etc. I have several of these units and have had no problems whatsoever with them.

leftheaded · Post by **leftheaded** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:52 pm

i don't own this, but i'm thinking about getting it based on the newegg reviews
Rosewill RX-358-S SLV (Sliver) 3.5" USB & eSATA Ext. Enclosure w/Int.80mm fan

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:34 am

I have ordered an Antec MX1, I will tell you what it is like next week when it turns up.

Andy

Koolpc · Post by **Koolpc** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 2:24 pm

I have an Integral on which i have sat on some foam. Not too bad either. Take it off the foam and then you need to cover your ears!!

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:54 am

My MX-1

I thought I should really put this under its own thread about the MX-1 as I dont have any experience with any other e-Sata caddy's, and thus I have no input.

viewtopic.php?p=379553#379553

Andy

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:14 pm

My favourite so far is the CoolerMaster X-Craft for eSATA. I have 2 them actually. The bracket that came with it works great too. I remember reading back 5 months ago that some people had problems with them but it seems like CoolerMaster has fixed the problem.

I've also tried Vantec's Nexstar3 eSATA. But I personally don't like the look of it. The CoolerMaster on the other hand is completely screwless, and the case itself is a massive heatsink and even has a thermal pad to transfer the heat. That being said, the case does however get extremely hot during operation so you might not want to rest your hand on it. And also they're a tiny bit hard to install but nothing impossible. But overall this case is really good. I'd said the performance is superb and the case is cool looking as well. Price wise it should be too bad. About $40 a pop at NCIX or DirectCanada.com.

Steve_Y · Post by **Steve_Y** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:40 am

Chocolinx wrote:My favourite so far is the CoolerMaster X-Craft for eSATA. I have 2 them actually. The bracket that came with it works great too. I remember reading back 5 months ago that some people had problems with them but it seems like CoolerMaster has fixed the problem.

Looks pretty good, and reasonably prices too. How securely do the eSATA cables fit? I've had issues with some enclosures where they disconnect if the cable or enclosure are moved at all. The eSATA cable is loose and wobbles from side to side rather than fitting firmly like a USB cable. If the CoolerMaster enclosures don't suffer from that problem then I'll definitely give them a try.

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:10 am

Steve_Y wrote:
Chocolinx wrote:My favourite so far is the CoolerMaster X-Craft for eSATA. I have 2 them actually. The bracket that came with it works great too. I remember reading back 5 months ago that some people had problems with them but it seems like CoolerMaster has fixed the problem.
Looks pretty good, and reasonably prices too. How securely do the eSATA cables fit? I've had issues with some enclosures where they disconnect if the cable or enclosure are moved at all. The eSATA cable is loose and wobbles from side to side rather than fitting firmly like a USB cable. If the CoolerMaster enclosures don't suffer from that problem then I'll definitely give them a try.

They don't click in as nicely as some USB cables but they definitely stay put. You kind of have to really shove them in. Not sure if that's normal for most eSATAs but it does feel quite solid.

A note for eSATA though. Depending on your SATA controller on your motherboard or PCI card, your computer might not notice the new drive at first. 2 solutions to this problem is, trying using "Add/Remove New Hardware" in your control panel. Or restart your computer. If you have the drive on during the boot, you can even read the SMART data from SpeedFan. You also might have to press F5 when viewing the "My Computer" folder.

ie. On my JMicron Controller (P5B-DX). The controller really sucks ass at reading my drives. For some reason half the time it doesn't reconize it unless I turn it off and on a couple times. But on the Intel controller it works great. One bad thing about JMicron too is that, if you turn on the drive while in Windows, the computer will freeze up for about 5 seconds, then resume. Other than those 2 minor problems, the transfer speed is pretty good.

The case also comes with USB ports but I'm not sure how useful they are since the drive is usually off. I've actually never tested them with the drive off so I'm not sure if they still work.

cbloom · Post by **cbloom** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:36 am

I was thinking about how to run a SATA drive externally and it occurred to me maybe the best way is to use the

Scythe internal "Quiet Drive"
www DOT scythe-usa DOT com/product/hdd/005/sqd1000_detail.html

with one of the simple external SATA extension boxes like

their "Kama Connect"
www DOT scythe-usa DOT com/product/acc/013/scupc1000.html

Anyone tried something like this or think it wouldn't work or be wise?

External eSATA drive/enclosure recommendations

External eSATA drive/enclosure recommendations

Re: External eSATA drive/enclosure recommendations

Internal Quiet Drive external ?