💡 Elevate Your Storage Game with Style!
The InateckRGB 3.5-Inch Hard Drive Enclosure is a versatile and stylish solution for expanding your storage capabilities. With support for up to 20TB of data, high-speed USB 3.0 transfer rates, and vibrant RGB lighting, this enclosure is perfect for professionals looking to enhance their workspace while ensuring compatibility with a wide range of devices.
Compatible Devices | Desktop, Personal Computer, Laptop, Gaming Console |
Maximum Number of Supported Devices | 1 |
Hardware Platform | Windows |
Memory Storage Capacity | 20 TB |
Hardware Interface | USB 3.0 |
Item Weight | 7.68 ounces |
Material | Plastic |
M**.
Good Quality for the Price
**IMPORTANT**: Drive enclosures are not totally "plug and play" like a USB flash drive. Upon the first time connecting it to your PC, you might have to do a couple simple steps to have the PC recognize the new drive. First try openning Windows Disk Manager (In Windows 10, just type "Disk Management" in the search box on the toolbar and the new drive/enclosure should be listed for you to then properly format it so Windows will recognize it in a "plug and play" manner in the future. If it isn't listed in the Disk Manager, you'll have to open the Device Manager (again, search via the Windows 10 toolbar) and once opened, scroll down to "Universal Bus Controllers", expand the list, then right click on "Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller" and choose "uninstall device" from the dropdown menu. Then restart your PC and 99% of the time the new drive/enclosure will then be listed on the Disk Manager. This is what I had to do myself. I thought I should make people aware of this since most (like one of the reviews here) people will assume that it'll be instantly recognizable, and if not, that their drive or enclosure is malfunctioning, which isn't the case. Remember, there's something called "Google" where you can search "USB 3.0 enclosure not recognized by Windows 10" and find the answers you need in seconds which I always strongly recommend prior to unfairly giving this or any product a bad reviewI chose this Inateck enclosure due to the fact that it's powered and I'd be connecting it to my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which have underpowered USB ports; meaning that drive enclosures, external drives and other devices completely dependent on being bus powered from the USB port can be problematic. Also by being a powered enclosure, there's the option of using it to house a 3.5" Hard Drive (spinning platter; HDD) which require significantly more power than an SSD. There's also the fact that I intend to use this Inateck drive enclosure in a predominantly sedentary application on my desk as opposed to a more mobile use.Another factor in choosing this enclosure is its use of the Asmedia ASM1153E chipset to convert from SATAIII to USB 3.0 as it features UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) which allows for faster final transfers over USB 3.0. Also, Asmedia Chipsets tend to be less problematic, more robust and longer lasting than competing options like the JMicron JMS567 SATA-to-USB bridge Chipset found in cheaper enclosures; afterall, when it comes to USB 3.0/3.1/3.1 Gen 2 controllers for computer motherboards, nearly every manufacturer (e.g. Asus, Gigabyte, etc) use Asmedia controllers and that says a lot. One of, if not the biggest priority with respect to an enclosure for myself, is data transfer speed; I want an enclosure that allows for the fastest possible connection as I intended to use a high quality SSD with MLC NAND flash and an enclosure that'd bottleneck the SSD would just be wasting the drive's potential.You can see from my picture that I benchmarked the enclosure with a brand new, never before used, Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD and it achieved nearly 450MB/sec reads and 420MB/sec writes which is completely satisfying as those speeds are approaching the limits of the USB 3.0 connection (5 gigabits per second or 625MB/sec before factoring in "overhead"). With a 6Gbps SATAIII connection to a motherboard, the Samsung 860 EVO will reach 550MB/sec sequential reads and 530MB/sec sequential writes, so the fact that the Inateck enclosure is achieving 450MB/sec over the USB 3.0 bus with 1 Gbps less bandwidth is impressive.The enclosure itself seems durable enough with the housing made of brushed aluminum. The USB 3.0 cable and power adapter cable included are heavy gauge (thick; included a Bic lighter in photos for size reference) and are definitely much better than a cheap usb data cable that comes with most phone chargers. The back I/O fascia/plate is fastened with two screws (an additional two screws are included as extras) and is definitely secure. There are also two indicator LEDs on the I/O fascia for "power" and "data" which is helpful for troubleshooting. It also includes four smaller, zinc plated (silver) screws to mount the drive to the tray, but the thread diameter on them was slightly too large to fit in the female threads on my Samsung 860 EVO SSD so I'm assuming they're intended for a 3.5" hard drive. This is fine however, as the SATA data and power connector that is inserted in the drive secures a small, light SSD perfectly fine by itself. Included with the accessories in addition to the screws are two extra adhesive rubber feet and a small phillips head screwdriver (in photos) (probably size #0) for the included screws which is definitely a nice touch.I use (and benchmarked) the enclosure connected DIRECTLY to my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 USB 3.0 port, so I cannot comment on what may happen when connected through a USB hub or similar device. I have a cheap Tecknet USB 3.0 3x USB port and Gigabit LAN port hub that I attempted to connect the enclosure through, but for some reason I did not care to ascertain, the Computer would not recognize the enclosure/drive through the hub. I should mention however, that months prior to this, for some reason, the Gigabit port on the hub ceased to function so perhaps the hub itself is to blame.For the price, I feel as though this is about the best USB 3.0 enclosure on Amazon for those that intend to use it in a mostly stationary application. There are much smaller (about the size of an iPod or wallet) and cheaper, bus powered (draws its power directly from the USB port rather than an AC to DC adapter/charger) enclosures specifically for SSDs on Amazon, but most of these use lower quality chipsets like those from Jmicron, are made from far less durable plastic. Also, they are limited to using SSDs, while this Inateck enclosure offers the option to use a 3.5" hard drive which is a nice feature as eventually I intend to use the Samsung 860 EVO SSD in a new PC I am building and will therefor most likely use this enclosure with a large capacity 3.5" hard drive (8+TB) to backup and store seldom used files. The external power supply is also a nice feature as contrary to what many people believe, all USB 3.0 ports are not identical with the amount of power supplied by the port varying greatly as with the USB port on my Surface Pro 3 which is low power. The Inateck enclosure however, is still small enough to be easily portable and will most likely fit in the vast majority of laptop bags, booksbags, and even smaller purses. It's aesthetically simple and pleasing and will fit in with most people's computer "space" (unless you're an Apple fanboy, then you'd probably have to paint it white or something and double the price, haha). I will return to update my review after a month of use and probably again after 6 months to comment on long term durability
K**E
Well built and well worth it
Excellent hard drive enclosure - Worth the purchase!Usage:I put an 8tb Seagate drive in this enclosure to use as a backup drive for media files. Installing the drive was very simple and the USB connectivity is quick and easy - It's recognized quickly by my PC.Build Quality:This enclosure shell is made of metal with some plastic trim. Overall the quality is very good and I have no concerns about it at all. It's hefty with a hard drive installed and sits where you put it.Functionality:This does need a USB cable and a power cable, just something to be aware of if you're bringing it places - The two cables can slightly get in the way but they're on the same side, so it isn't much of an issue. The unit has a power switch and indicator lights telling you when it's powered on + when it's reading/writing to the drive.
D**E
10 TB limit? I'm doing 20TB easy. I doubt there is a limit, why would there be?
I now have 5 of these, Inateck model FE3001. Each one houses a Seagate Exos X22 20TB SATA HDD (recertified).They all behave as if they were typical external 20TB drives. All 20TBs are recognized & fully accessed. Short of the expected percentage newbies are always complaining about any HDD, of course. Moreover the R/W speeds are inline with all the rest of my external drives. My 11 externals sit behind my monitor & it's easy to forget if I'm accessing a Seagate, a WD or an Inateck/Exos.Thus "up to 10TB Max" as described... forget that! This unit was 1st released in 2015. My guess is once upon a time 10TB was the max of any HDD when the description was written. Kinda like my mother always cutting off the ends of the ham before putting it in the oven. Asked why, she referred me to her mother cuz that's how she learned it. Then grandma referred me to her mother. Great-grandma laughed, "Because as a newlywed I only had a small pan."Beyond all that, 2 suggestions to share. You really, really want a unit like Inateck's with a toggle power switch, then leave it in the "on" position forever. Ignore any other similar device that has a power button you have to push every time you power it up. Let your power strip be your on/off control. I have a dedicated power strip all my externals feed into, while my PC along with monitor, printer, etc., is on a separate power strip. Allowing me to leave all the externals off when they're not needed. When they are, they all come up at the same time simply by toggling the switch on their power strip. But then I have 11, not 1 or 2. If you only have one & you're plugging into a laptop then it doesn't matter.2nd suggestion... Apply the attachable "feet" so it can stand on its edge vertically to maximize air exposure. This unit does get warm even on standby. Especially if sitting flat on my glass desk.The Inateck FE3001 looks & feels like quality because it is. Needless to say I'm a satisfied customer.
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