Acomdata Tango USB 2.0/eSATA 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive Enclosure TNGXXXUSE-RED (Red)

DOES NOT INCLUDE eSATA CABLE.I'm not sure how i missed the lack of eSATA cable, but its not there. It IS usable without the cable though, otherwise i would give this a 1 star. The build quality is pretty good, and there isn't any slop in how the case fits together. The aluminum is very thin, but should hold up fairly well.If you chose not to get an eSATA cable, you may need to use the goofy two headed usb cable that comes with this thing. It will allow the drive to suck an additional 500mA from a second USB port if needed.I haven't tested read/write speeds, so i will come back and edit this once i've tested with an eSATA cable. If this enclosure can't beat the 5 GB/s of USB 3.0, then this product is totally useless.

Looks good. USB 2.0 works well. eSATA works well.After upgrading 3 of the laptops in the family to SSD, I have several 2.5" 750GB laptop HD sitting around. I also just got a new router Netgear Nighthawk X4S R7800. It has 2 USB 3.0 and 1 eSATA ports for connecting external HDs. So I thought it was a good idea to reuse the idle HDs. I purchased one USB 3.0 enclosure and this one. This one is mainly to test out the eSATA connection.As it arrived and I was pleased to say that putting in a HD is easy. Case seems sturdy. Has 4 screws to fasten my HD onto a board which sits in a slotted track so it would not be bouncing around. The top of the installed HD is NOT touching the case at all so I feel that give an air barrier in between to cool down the HD. I like that.USB 2.0 connection with the included cable works great. My computer has no issue seeing it, copying files back and forth. No issue there.It does NOT come with an eSATA cable. I had to purchase that separately. Did that for $5.99. So this set up now is up to $15.When the eSATA cable came, I connected it to my new router to be used as a network drive through the eSATA connection. With my limited experience working with eSATA, I then learn that eSATA has no power. I had to use the micro-USB port of this enclosure for power. NOW, I understand why the eSATA cable does NOT come with it. Because if they would include the eSATA cable, then they would have to include a USB power supply... and that probably would not come at $9 (I got the blue one -- cheapest for $9).Anyway, after it got some power, eSATA works great. I now have 3 separate network drives (2 through 2 USB 3.0 ports and 1 through eSATA port) from my Netgear Nighthawk R7800. I copied files back and forth to see its speed and I was surprised to see that this enclosure copies FASTER than my other USB 3.0 drives (all drives are 750 GB and 5400 RPM). I was averaging at 55-60 MB/s where as my other 2 USB 3.0 HDs -- one in the other enclosure averaged 50-55 MB/s and my WD MyBook External averaged 53-58 MB/s). Of course, the difference was minute. I was just surprised that it was faster (however slightly) than the USB 3.0.Overall, I am pleased with it. Let's see how long it lasts. Now, I have 2 HDs on my router to do back-up and this one serving as a media server.The only reason that it got a 4 stars is that I have to purchase the eSATA cable separately. Without that cable, it should advertise as 'eSATA capable' and not just eSATA. So if you get it to use it as an eSATA drive, please know that you have to buy a cable separately... I found a $6 for 3' cable... that's the cheapest on amazon shipping with prime membership.

My title says it all, as I am having zero issues with the 2nd eSATA/USB 2.5" SATA HD enclosure from Acomdata, no issues whatsoever. With eSATA in the mix, I have seen up to 140MB/sec performance using that connection method, but a caveat there is necessary to point out. Apparently with this Acomdata system the USB system needs to be hooked up to the enclosure along with the eSATA cable, so to use eSATA you also use USB, apparently for power. Now I have a fairly pricey (about $65 retail) USB/FireWire/eSATA 3.5" enclosure that I use for backup on two of my big PC's in the studio here (two of those enclosures, one per PC), and those enclosures do NOT need USB power for eSATA to function 100%. Difference? The Acomdata enclosure does NOT have a PSU inside the case, that's what! Thus one needs the USB 2.0 connectors plugged in so that eSATA (a non-powered cable) functions at all, as there's no power supply inside the tiny Acomdata case.I bought a Case Logic case to go with the black finished Acomdata enclosure and it's a perfect fit there also. That is no small feat because the cables take up so much room inside of the case that you'd think that the HD enclosure wouldn't even fit (eSATA and double USB cable is bulky!), but somehow it does, and all is well. As for how/why the enclosure failed first time around? I don't know, frankly, but fail it did...just stopped mounting HD's of any sort, so I asked Amazon.com to exchange it, and now all is well. I have a Western Digital Scorpio "Black" 7200RPM 2.5" Enterprise HD inside this particular enclosure, and the Acomdata and WD Black setup works fantastic together, with almost 100MB/sec average from eSATA (140MB/sec peak speed, and 70MB/sec bottom speed, average about 100MB/sec), and a solid 35MB/sec from the USB 2.0 setup, commendable!I like the looks of this case also, and it's not bulky but rather is slim and petite with regard to its shape and consistency, an alloy case with plastic inserts for the end pieces. I don't think that durability is going to be an issue with this enclosure either, as the construction is substantial, with good quality materials and ports, plus excellent cables to work eSATA and USB 2.0. There is a nice "instruction" and "owner's manual" piece that comes with the setup, for neophytes I guess, because I never had to learn anything special in order to use the enclosure, it's dog simple, and easy to master. Just install the 2.5" SATA HD, and you're ready to format and go!I deducted one star for the 1st enclosure's failure, but other than that the setup is a winner, with nice packaging, a nice instruction/owner's manual, cables, and an easy to reach manufacturer when/if you happen to have any trouble with the kit. I recommend this without qualification, just remember the thing about the USB necessity when using eSATA, that is about the only disclaimer necessary for this review. The black color with silver plastic end tabs looks good, and "expensive" too, so Wavey Davey gives this Acomdata eSATA/USB 2.0 enclosure a thumbs up, ready to go and do battle with any storage needs you might happen to have, backup too!Wavey Davey - 8-20-2011