What do you do when you need to back something up but don't want it to be easily damaged. What if you have an abundance of data that you want to take with you, without having to take the entire computer, or removing the hard drive and risk damaging it. Hard drive enclosures can go a long way, and do a great job in the aid of transportation of media. With the ability to quickly upload data and protect your hard drives, the COOLMAX 3.5" SATA Leather Hard Drive Enclosure does just that and all with a flair of style. Let's take a look at what this enclosure does that makes it stand out from other hard drive enclosures on the market:

Provided by: COOLMAX USA

Price: $30.00

Right from the start I thought the packaging looked great; giving you the ability to see the product through the window on the front is always a plus. Upon taking the enclosure out of the box I started to examine this fine looking product. Something that I found appealing was that unlike most enclosures this one is bound in a smart and sleek looking leather case.

Unlike some other enclosures out there, the COOLMAX 3.5" SATA Leather Hard Drive Enclosure comes with a massive 80mm fan built into the side of the case. It also has a one touch backup button to store all your data, quickly and easily.

While digging deeper I soon found that all the necessary cables where here. Included was a power cable, a usb cable, a eSATA cable, and four screws for holding any 3.5" SATA hard drive of your choosing.

Now lets take a look at the specs and features of this classy looking enclosue:

Specs and Features:

Specs:

Warranty: Coolmax 1 year limited warranty

Features:

• Supports 3.5” SATA I/II HDD compatible up to 1.5 TB
• USB and eSATA interfaces
• One-Touch Data Back-Up function
• Leather skin wrapped around aluminum alloy case to provide maximum heat dissipation and thermal efficiency
• 80mm fan with On/Off switch
• Stylish and practical
• On/Off switch
• Smart LED status indicatory lights
• Plug and play
• Case and mounting mechanism provides best protection for your hard drive
• User Friendly – easy setup and installation

Now on to the testing:

To test the enclosure I will be running a few simple tests to see how well it transfers data, how long it takes to transfer, its max burst rate, as wall as how much work it takes the cpu to transfer the data.

File Transfer (Measured in Seconds)

Test	Kingwin EZ-Dock	Thermaltake Vi-on	COOLMAX 3.5 Enclosure
10MB	.3	.5	1
100MB	6.3	6.5	6
500MB	31	28	30

 

HD Tune eSATA

Test	Kingwin EZ-Dock	Thermaltake Vi-on	COOLMAX 3.5 Enclosure
Average Transfer Rate in MBs	61.2	61.3	63.8
Access Times in MBs	13.3	13.3	13.3
Burst Rate in MBs	97.1	99.9	146.3
CPU Usage	6.3	1.8%	1.7

 

 

File Transfer (Measured in Seconds)

Test	Kingwin EZ-Dock	Thermaltake Vi-on	COOLMAX 3.5 Enclosure
10MB	.3	.3	.3
100MB	6.3	3.5	4
500MB	15	7	16

With this we can see that the COOLMAX 3.5" SATA Leather Hard Drive Enclosure preformed fairly well compared to most enclosures during the tests. It did have an impressive burst rate of 146.3MB, the highest burst rate we have seen on any enclosure yet.

Now lets see what the verdict is:

Conclusion:

How did it do? in a few words, Fairly good. From the tests we see that the COOLMAX 3.5" SATA Leather Hard Drive Enclosure held its own. While performing almost as well as most enclosures, the COOLMAX 3.5" SATA Leather Hard Drive Enclosure does it in style. Unlike some enclosures the COOLMAX 3.5" SATA Leather Hard Drive Enclosure shows that hard drive enclosures can be functional while also giving an air of sophistication. One feature that adds to the functionality of the COOLMAX 3.5" SATA Leather Hard Drive Enclosures is the monster fan on its side. While it was a little on the noisy side (no more noisier then some stock fans) it's still a great fan and moves a serious amount of air. Don't forget, a cool enclosure means a longer life for your hard drive.

Would I buy this? Yes, while having the failings of most 3.5" enclosures, meaning that you need an external power source, this enclosure makes up for this with its looks and style. The leather case is not glued end to end, but stitched, and I found that it just added that little extra class to the case. For some this may not suit your personal tastes, but for someone looking to class up their office or home work station, this might be what your looking for.

Pros:

• Looks Great
• Good Cooling
• USB and eSATA compatible
• Low Cost

Cons:

• A Little Noisy

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."