There are many companies that offer all types of enclosures for hard drives, with the price of 2.5 HDDs coming down, the option to use one of those as an external, portable storage device is looking very good. Today for review I have the NexStar3 HDD enclosure from Vantec, the NexStar3 features the ability to use a 2.5 SATA HDD and interface it with either a USB connection or the faster eSATA interface. The NexStar3 is very stylish looking and includes a very nice carrying case as well, but I did run into one small problem…
Vantec NexStar3 2.5 SATA HDD Enclosure
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: Vantec
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
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Vantec NexStar3 2.5 SATA HDD Enclosure
Form and functionality collide with style in the NexStar 3 External SATA Hard Drive Enclosure from Vantec. With its mirror finish, sleek curves and bold colors, the Vantec NexStar 3 stands out from the crowd. The sturdy drive cage protects your hard drive while the aluminum case effectively draws away the heat, protecting your drive from overheating. The NexStar 3 features eSATA (external Serial ATA) and USB 2.0 interfaces offering speeds up to 3Gbps or 480Mbps respectively. This flexibility allows you to use your hard drive at its full performance where eSATA is available and still have the option of using USB where it’s not. The NexStar 3 is an ideal way to store and transfer large amounts of data in an enclosure that matches your style!
Features:
Aluminum Casing Cools Down Your Hard Drive
Transfer Rates Up to 3Gbps W/ eSATA
Transfer Rates Up to 480Mbps W/ Usb 2.0 (12Mbps W/ USB1.1)
Easily Add Storage to Any System With SATA or USB
Hot-Swappable: Plug And Play Without Rebooting
Attractive Blue LED Indicates Power/HDD Activity
Currently support up to 160GB hard drives
System Requirements:
Intel Pentium II 350 MHz-compatible or Mac G3 processor & greater
Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP or Mac OS 8.6 & greater
USB or SATA-equipped system
For USB 2.0 speeds, the system must support USB 2.0 specifications CD Rom drive
(if drivers are needed)
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Specs:
Model:NST-260SU-BK
Interface:Interface: SATA to eSATA& USB 2.0
Dimension:132 X 80 X 15 mm
Supports:Window 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP
Mac OS 8.6 & Above
Maximum supported
drive height: 9.5 mm
Package Includes:
Driver Disc, User Manual, 2.5" SATA HDD Enclosure, Power Cable, eSATA Cable, USB Cable, SATA to eSATA Bracket, Screws, Carrying Bag
Find more Vantec products at ShopZilla!
A Better Look at Things
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Vantecs packaging for the NexStar3 is very professionally done, it’s actually very attractive. On the front of the box we can see the NexStar3 enclosure plainly with a few features listed as well.
On the back of the box we find lots of information about he NexStar3, including a few more pictures and closeups to show pertinent details.
Opening the box, inside we find another white box, opening this we are greeted with the NexStar3 enclosure itself wrapped in an anti-static bag.
Under that we find all of the accessories including dual ended USB cable, eSATA cable, eSATA bracket, software/driver disc, user manual and a very cool carrying case.
If your motherboard does not come equipped with an eSATA port on the back you can use the included PCI bracket to create one for your system. The included eSATA cable is heavy duty but still flexible.
The USB cable is a bit interesting in that it has dual connectors and even include a pass though USB connection as well so you will only loose one USB port if you need to use the second USB connector. The second USB connection is only used if the 2.5 HDD that you use requires more power, I’ve never actually had to one of them for any external USB enclosure though.
Find more Vantec products at ShopZilla!
A Better Look at Things
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I was pleasantly surprised by the include case, it’s nylon but fairly heavy weight or heavy duty, it should last quite a while.
Inside the carrying case are actually two pockets, one is a pocket that can be closed with velcro, the other is a netted type of pocket.
The Vantec NexStar3s carrying case resembles a small binder actually, it has a nice heavy duty zipper, and the case expanded a bit to accommodate the contents.
The NexStar3 enclosure can slide into either pocket and the other can be used to house the cables and anything else you might want to throw in there.
Find more Vantec products at ShopZilla!
A Better Look at Things
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The Vantex NexStar3 enclosure is nicely done, it is very attractive actually. The color, according to Vantec is ‘Black Onyx’, and it has chrome accents. The finish is very glossy and picks up dust, fingerprints and smudges very easily.
The connection ports are located on the back edge of the NexStar3, with labeling for them on the side of the housing.
The bottom of the enclosure is plain, but it does feature four small feet so you are not lying the enclosure actually on the a surface.
The back end is where you insert your 2.5 SATA hard drive, and this is where all the connections are located. USB2.0, eSATA, and a power connection if needed, but oddly Vantec does not include any type of power supply, you have to have one to use the NexStar3 in eSATA mode.
Find more Vantec products at ShopZilla!
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Installation is very easy, of course though, you’ll need to provide a hard drive to use with the Vantec NexStar3. I’ve got my handy 40Gig SATA Hitachi Travelstar ready to go into the NexStar3.
Once you remove the screws the circuit board that has the SATA connections on it comes out very easily.
On the back of the board is where we find the actual chipset that controls everything. Also you’ll notice that there are several holes as well to be used to mount the hard drive.
The hard drive just slides into place into the SATA power and data connections, very easy.
Then of course you need to secure it with the included four screws and put it all back together.
When powered on the Vantec logo on the front of the enclosure lights of blue, and it will blink during any HDD activity.
The Vantec NexStar3 has USB and eSATA ports on it, but a small problem arose with the eSATA connection, Vantec didn’t include any power supply for it, and you have to have one to power the drive. So basically the Vantec NexStar3 is just a USB enclosure that allows you to use an SATA drive with it. Luckily though I have lots of stuff floating around here, and I had a USB power cable that I could use to power the NexStar3 for my tests of the unit. The power connectors come with all sorts of USB powered devices and I’m sure you can buy them separately as well. It’s just a USB connection on one end and a small round connector on the other.
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Installation, Testing and Comparison Continued:
For testing I used HDTach RW from SimpliSoft, and SiSoft Sandra 2007 Physical Disks Benchmark and Removable Storage Benchmark.
First up is the HDTach RW Benchmark. I also included a standard IDE and SATA drive as well for comparison in addition to the Vizo Luxon eSATA enclosure.
For HD Tach:
Higher scores are better for Burst Speed and Average Read Speeds.
Lower is better for Random Access Speed
The Vantec fairs fairly well against he competition, with the exception of the Random Access times, but then again it is in milliseconds, so do you think you’ll notice a few milliseconds? I don’t…
Next up would be SiSoft Sandra 2007 Physical Disks Benchmark, here again we have the same drives compared.
For the Physical Disk Benchmark:
Drive Index:
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Random Access Time:
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.
Surprisingly the Random Access of the Vantec is better on the USB interface than on the eSATA interface, odd, but I got the same results each time the test was run.
Next up would be SiSoft Sandra 2007 Removable Storage Benchmark.
For the Removable Storage Benchmark:
The Removable Storage test shows us a Combined Index score in Operations per Minute and an Endurance Factor.
And it also shows the Endurance factor, higher is better, this is basically a guesstimate of the drives longevity.
For the Removable Storage benchmark you can see I only used removable storage devices and threw in a couple USB thumb drives for comparison as well. The Vantec does not fair very well at all really, it shows up kind of slow, about half as fast as the Luxon, but you have the remember though the Luxon is using a standard 3.5 SATA drive inside the enclosure, but you can get a nice idea of how the speed is in relation to a full sized drive.
Obviously the Vantec is faster and larger, in both capacity and size, than a USB thumb drive so it is a trade of for size versus speed.
The major problem I have with the Vantec NexStar3 is that is is advertised as being an eSATA enclosure, but yet you can’t use it ‘out of the box’ as an eSATA drive, you need to purchase or have on hand, a power source for it. Seriously how can you have an eSATA enclosure but no power to use it?
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Summary:
Despite the one major flaw of the NexStar3, the lack of a power supply the NexStar3 is a very good choice for an external enclosure if you have a spare drive lying around and need the extra storage. The carrying case is very nice with lots of extra room for other stuff as well, and adds protection for the enclosure itself. I can’t forgive the lack of the power supply though, out of the box you just can’t use the enclosure as it was intended and take use of the higher speeds the eSATA interface offers.
DragonSteelMods gives the Vantec NexStar3 2.5 SATA HDD Enclosure a 3.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Included heavy duty carrying case
-Enclosure looks very stylish
-Turn SATA drive into USB drive
-Very well made
-Easy installation
-Small and portable
Cons:
-No power supply for eSATA mode
-Fingerprints/smudges show up very easily
I would like to thank Vantec for the chance to review the NexStar3 2.5 SATA HDD Enclosure and for their support of DSM.