Sleek, good looking external case for a 3.5" drive

Not too long ago my wife convinced me to give up our desktop computer system in favor of two notebooks for around the house. I am very happy with the decision we made with the only downfall being expandable storage. My wife's Compaq 2010us's hard drive was filling up with data, leaving me with two options: buy a larger 2.5" hard drive or an external drive case for one of the 3.5" drives I had remaining from my desktop computer. As the first option required more money per GB and more time to image and replace the disk, I decided to go with option #2. The search was on for a decent, good looking 3.5" external drive case.

Considerations

When shopping for an external drive case there are basically three options to differentiate between the units. First is connectivity. A fully connective drive case will include a USB 2.0 connection, a Firewire 400 connection and a Firewire 800 connection. The WiebeTECH Combo GB drive offers all of this connectivity, yet you pay a significant premium for this. While Firewire 400 is theoretically slower than USB 2.0, realworld data throughput is slightly faster, making it a better option for someone performing video editing, etc. In the case of my wife, she will only use it for data storage and retrieval, not much editing and no applications running from the external drive. For this reason I decided to go strictly with a USB 2.0 ready case to save some money. The Vantec drive case has USB 2.0 connectivity only and ships with a USB A to B cord.

Materials of construction are the next option to consider. Size was limited to a 3.5" drive case as I already had a 200GB Western Digital to use. However, among the 3.5" cases some are very large while some such as the Vantec are barely bigger than the drive itself. The Vantec drive case is constructed of thin-gauge aluminum which conducts heat away from the drive very well while under load. If the case you are looking at is mostly constructed of plastic and steel, there will more than likely be an air gap and a fan included. This increases the noise factor as well as the size and weight of the drive. The Vantec case is barely larger than a 3.5" drive with dimensions of just under 5 inches high by 8 inches long by 1 ¼" wide. This snug fit makes for better conductivity of the heat with close contact to the drive, but it can make installation difficult as discussed later.

The third consideration for me is aesthetics. There were several drives that fit my needs of USB 2.0 connectivity with a snug-fitting aluminum casing, but they don't all look good. If we are going to have something sitting out on our desk for everyone to see, I don’t want it to be a clunky looking box. The Vantec NexStar 3 comes with a brushed aluminum casing that is then painted one of four colors: Onyx, Steel Gray, Midnight Blue or Brilliant Red. All four share chrome-plastic accents on front and back as well as very pleasing decals on the side identifying the drive as a NexStar 3 enclosure. It was a good thing that they didn't come in any shade of purple, as my wife would have insisted on buying that color! The blue shade is very pleasing and looks very nice on a computer desk next to the notebook.

Layout/Installation

The NexStar 3 case by Vantec is designed to either be stackable or stand upright. On the right side of the drive are four small rubber feet that the drive can lay down on to store horizontally with others stacked up. Be careful of stacking them in this fashion as you do lose a significant portion of your conductive area for heat dissipation. The drive also comes with a plastic stand that will hold the drive in the vertical position, and based on the decals and lighting orientation, I would say that this is the 'normal' mode of storage. The rear of the unit has the USB port for connecting to a PC as well as a power plug port and a power switch. The USB cable is included as well as a wall-wart style power supply/transformer. The switch is a nice touch as it allows the user to turn off the drive without physically unplugging it. Seems simple, but believe it or not many of the first Western Digital External drives have no power switch! The front of the drive has a dark plastic piece with the Vantec logo. There is a blue LED behind the logo that lights up when the disk is accessed, letting you know that you are getting disk activity.

Installation is fairly simple, although care must be taken when reinserting the disk. The back panel containing the connections and switch is removed via two screws and sliding out the disk tray. Connect the supplied 4-pin power cable and IDE cable to your drive and lay it inside the tray. Use four screws (supplied) to secure it in place, two on each side of the disk. Connect the 5V power wire for the disk activity LED to the circuit board, and then reinsert the tray into the case. Take care with the LED power wire while reinserting, as the first time I put this disk together I pinched this wire between two metal pieces and shorted it out. Blue smoke rising from your drive the first time you turn it on is not ideal! I took the drive apart and taped the wire with electrician's tape then reinserted the drive taking care with the positioning of the wire. The LED works and there is no short…

Overall

Overall I am extremely pleased with the Vantec NexStar 3 drive case we purchased. The drive case looks nice setting on our desk and works at USB 2.0 speeds for dumping data and notebook images for safekeeping. Purchasing the Vantec case allowed me to reuse a 200GB drive I had setting around, thus saving a lot of time and money associated with upgrading a notebook hard drive. The drive is not accessed everyday, so often we will turn it off with the power switch to save on disk wear and tear. The materials of construction allow for a smaller form factor without fear of overheating, and the aesthetically pleasing design and color make this a winner. I can easily recommend this drive for anyone who will be happy with USB 2.0 speeds.