Samba USB 2.0/Firewire 400 3.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive Enclosure SMBXXXU2FE-BLK (Black)

I've tried 4 different USB/Firewire SATA enclosures, and so far this has been the best one. I've had no problems in the 6 months I've been using it with my older Mac Mini, and Ibook G4. If you have a newer Mac, get a Firewire 800 (1394 b), otherwise this works great for my purposes, and the Firewire 400 is much faster than USB for doing bulk file transfers.Installation is a breeze, the aluminum shell keeps the drive cool, and it is tight so there is no vibration or amplification of drive noise. The dual color LED status light is a plus, instead of just a blinking single color LED... You can tell if there is a lot of I/O activity, or if the drive is sleeping just by looking at the LED color.I've tried the Macally enclosure that is similar price, and it would not power a 2TB 7200 rpm drive properly due to a lower amp power supply... so that got returned.I've gone through 2 Rosewill RX81-MP enclosures in less than 2 years... I loved them, but they don't last.I also have an ICY DOCK enclosure that I think is great, but it cost me 2x the price, and it doesn't perform any better than the Acomdata enclosure... It also amplifies any drive noise, but thankfully I'm using Samsung Spinpoint 2TB drives, and they are very quiet and cool running.I wrote this review while placing an order for a 2nd Acomdata enclosure, and I'll buy more unless someone comes up with something better, but for now, this is the best price/performance/design I've found so far.

I received this today to replace a Macally Hi-Speed eSATA/FireWire/USB 2.0 Storage Enclosure for 3.5-Inch SATA Hard Disk G-S350SUAB2 (Silver), which was supposed to have overcome the firewire problem, but didn't (see my review on that page). While I'm giving up FW 800 with this enclosure, at least the Acomdata boots up from the FW 400, unlike the Macally.Not the prettiest or easiest enclosure to install, but not so difficult either if you have ANY mechanical skills. Seems to run pretty cool, but we'll have to see as time goes on. While there is a lot plastic, it seems pretty solid and I wouldn't be concerned about the drive mount. It is solidly into plastic, however, if I drop this hard enough that that would be an issue, I probably would cause direct damage to the hard drive. Don't know of any "pillow mounts".So far, am very pleased with this purchase and would buy again.

I've bought Acomdata drive enclosures in the past and was expecting a certain level of product quality that was not met with this purchase.First, and most importantly - The manufacturer's packaging was opened and resealed on a product shown on Amazon as NEW, and, to add insult to injury, there were parts missing. Upon opening the package, it was clear that it had been handled (fingerprints, scratches, etc.).Second, and most importantly, the USB cable sent with the enclosure was very low quality (most likely a USB 1.0 cable) and the device will not function if it is attached using the included cable due to signal leakage and/or induced noise. Known high quality high speed USB cables and Firewire cables DO work.I would not recommend this product as marketed by Amazon.

Great external case. Installed the drive easily and quickly. Worked beautifully. Case is rugged enough to stand hard wear, and sturdy enough survive cat attacks. Very pleased with the product.

Our TV studio needs ever-more hard disk storage, so we recently grabbed a pair of these to try 'em out. They're perfect for the job: quiet, easy to store, and they have a sort of cool futuristic vintage vibe too.

Did not work and had to pay postage to return

First, this thing is a Firewire 400, not a Firewire 800 device. That means that it is little, if any, faster than USB 2.0. In fact, I found it slower than USB 2.0. (And yeah, I know it is dscribed as Firewire 400, so there is no deception. It's just something to keep in mind.)OK, so you don't buy this if you have access to USB 2.0. Problem is, that it has probems with transfer of large files (or large amounts of data) using USB 2.0. I tried to move a LOT of data via USB (from Windows XP to Windows 7 64-bit systems) and the enclosure was very flaky under USB 2.0 on the Windows 7 box. It simply quit in mid-transfer...disappeared as a mounted device. It did work reliably on the Windows 7 box with Firewire in use.The box is beautiful. The case is a nice aluminum extrusion with plastic caps. Has a very nice stand, too. Assembly is trivial other than you are dealing with small screws that are easy to drop.I wish it worked as well as it looks.

I don’t put it through particularly heavy use and I’ve only had it a short while, so longevity is an unknown, but so far, so good.Incidentally, the only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is I just don’t feel like I have enough to go on yet to give it the highest possible rating, so my 4 stars shouldn’t be interpreted as anything specifically negative.