Many companies are marketing portable hard drives and in my opinion overcharging for what you get. These enclosures are just a standard hard drive stuck in a stylish looking enclosure and sometimes packed with some special software, overall it’s really not worth the extra premium you end up paying. The product I have for review today offers a great alternative to those expensive HDD enclosures, it’s the Vizo Luxon Advanced ED SATA hard drive enclosure. I’ve always been a fan of the Luxon series of enclosures, they are extremely well made, they look great and function flawlessly. The Luxon does not come with a hard drive or any fancy software, but add a hard drive and you have a great enclosure for still about half of the cost of those others out there for sale today.
Review: Vizo Luxon Advanced ED SATA HDD Enclosure USB/eSATA
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: Vizo
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
3.5" SATA Hard Drive External Enclosure
Combo Interfaces : USB 2.0 / eSATA 3.0G
Model: LUE-360
DESCRIPTION:
VIZO LUXON ADVANCED ED, 3.5" SATA hard drive external enclosure, is designed to be sleek and stylish, easy to use, and loaded with the advanced features you need to back up and transfer your data storage.
LUXON ADVANCED ED features high-quality mirror finishing aluminum case providing the best protection and excellent heat dissipation for your hard drive. It supports SATA hard disks which provides interface not only SATA to USB 2.0, but also SATA to eSATA. Fully supports 3.5" SATA hard drive.
FEATURES:
Compatible with 3.5" SATA Hard Drive
Support 480Mbps High Speed USB 2.0 and USB 1.1
Support 3.0Gbps High Speed external Serial-ATA ( eSATA )
Real 3Gb/s Chipset for eSATA speed
Aluminum housing for excellent heat dissipation
Side vents improve convection for better system cooling
LED light indicates working status and file transfer
Stylish outlook with sleek design
Support plug and play & hot swappable
*Must be attached to SATA 3.0G/eSATA 3.0G hot swappable compliant host to enable hot swappable function
SPECIFICATIONS:
Case Material : Aluminum
Host Interface:
480Mbps USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 Compatible)
3.0Gbps High Speed external Serial-ATA ( eSATA )
HDD Type : 3.5 " SATA Hard Drive
Power Supply : AC/DC Power Adapter
( AC input: 100~ 240Vac , DC output: +12V, 2A )
Indicators : Blue for Power on / Purple for file access
Available colors : Black, Blue, Silver
Model No. : LUE-360-BK, LUE-360-BL, LUE-360-GY
Weight : 400 g (without HDD)
Dimensions : 210(L) x 125 (W) x 34 (H) mm
SYSTEM REQUIREMENT:
For USB 2.0 : Windows 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP or Mac 8.6 & above
One USB port available for USB Host
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For eSATA : Windows 2000/XP/Vista or Mac 8.6 & above
Proper SATA/eSATA port or SATA card available for eSATA host
* Must have SATA 3.0G/eSATA 3.0G hot swappable compliant host to enable hot swappable function
Note : Driver needed for window 98/98SE
Click Here to download Win98 driver
PACKAGE INCLUDES:
3.5" SATA HDD External Enclosure
Stand
USB Cable
eSATA Cable
Power Adapter
Screw Fitting Kit
Cleaning Cloth
User Manual
A Better Look at Things
:
The outer packaging for the Vizo Luxon is very professionally done with a bit of style thrown in. On the back of the package we find the specs and features listed so you know exactly what you are getting.
Vizo also packs their products very well to insure they make it to their destination in one piece and still looking great.
Included with the enclosure is the user manual, eSATA cable, USB cable, power supply, stand, screws, hex head screwdriver and a cleaning cloth.
One of the things I like most about the Luxon series of HDD enclosures is their look, subtle yet stylish, but yet durable and well constructed to last.
The Luxon features a clear plastic bar that goes about one third of the way across the top, under this is an LED that lights up blue when the Luxon is powered on and blinks purple to indicate activity
On the back of the Luxon we find the interfaces for power, eSATA and USB and the main power switch.
The outside of the Luxon is colored aluminum, while the inside is plastic. Inside we find the SATA connection for your hard drive and we can get a better look at the LED I mentioned earlier.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Installation is very easy, you’ll need a standard Phillips (cross) head screwdriver and of course an SATA hard drive.
Vizo even included extra screws for both the hard drive installation and the outer case covering.
The hex head screwdriver that Vizo included is used to secure the cover of the enclosure on to the plastic frame.
Using it with either the USB interface or by means of an eSATA connection is easy to do, just plug it in and power it on, Windows recognizes it and automatically installs for you.
Of course using the eSATA connection is the faster of the interfaces, but that’s the nice thing about this enclosure you can use the USB connection if need be and are not limited to only one type of interface.
The Luxon is very well made, and it’s very lightweight, the main weight of the Luxon comes from the hard drive itself actually. The exterior housing is thick aluminum to help promote heat dissipation but yet remain lightweight at the same time. Just by looking at this product and feeling it you can instantly tell that quite a bit of care and thought went into it’s design and manufacture.
The coloring of the enclosure is not just painted on either so you won’t have to worry about any chipping paint or anything like that. The finish has a very high gloss to it that does easily pick up fingerprints and dust, but Vizo has that covered with the included chamois like cleaning cloth.
Summary:
The Luxon is a very well made product that I can recommend to anyone looking for an external enclosure, it is easily one of the best, if not the best hard drive enclosure out there on the market today.
There are several versions of the Luxon series of enclosures, so you’ll just need to find the one that best fits your needs, or for the type of drive you’ll be using with it.
DragonSteelMods gives the Vizo Luxon Advanced ED a 5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
-Dual interface USB and eSATA
-High quality
-Great looking
-Fast
-Easy installation
Cons:
-None really
I would like to thank Vizo for the chance to review the Luxon Advanced ED and for their continued support of DSM.
dracos
review# 284
IF you noticed I changed up the watermark on the pictures, I used the new
Skullphabet #1 font from Skull-A-Day, you can find it on his blog page here.
It’s licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
I originally wanted to use it yesterday for ‘Talk like a pirate day’ but I forgot about it….