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Product:
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Icy Dock MB452UK-BK External Removable HDD Rack |
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Price:
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$62 (CDN) / $53 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Nikao/Tradex
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Author:
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Hi-TEK
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Date:
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March 17th, 2006
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Rating:
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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To prepare the Icy Dock MB452UK-BK External Removable HDD Rack for hard drive installation, the first step is to
separate the aluminum hard drive chassis from the plastic rack housing. The plastic rack housing has a spring
loaded front door that pushes upwards when the aluminum hard drive chassis is installed. The top cover on the
aluminum hard drive chassis can easily be removed by pressing down on a small clip located on the front of the unit.
Inside the aluminum drive chassis are extension cables for the power and IDE connections. These internal cables
connect directly to an IDE hard drive. Users should take note in terms of the orientation of the IDE cable. A red
strip on the cable indicates pin 1, which means that the cable can only be connected one way. On the back of the
aluminum hard drive chassis you can see a portion of the IDE Bridge which consists of a set of exposed pins.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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Drive installation is fairly straightforward, attach the IDE cable and Molex connector to the back of the hard drive
and slide it into place. Once the hard drive has been securely installed, 4 x 6-32 screws must be attached on bottom of
the unit to keep the drive stationary. One point to keep in mind is that the Icy Dock MB452UK-BK does not include a
master/slave/cable select dip switch option and users are required to manually set their hard drive preference prior
to installation. The hard drive that I will be using in this review is a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 60GB IDE unit.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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Testing:
To start performance tests, I connected the Icy Dock MB452UK-BK External Removable HDD Rack to the following system:
- Gigabyte GA-K8VM800M VIA K8M800 Motherboard
- Intel Pentium 4 2.4A Processor w/SilverStone Nitrogon NT03 Heatsink
- 4 x 512 MB Kingmax PC4000 DDR RAM
- Albatron Gigi FX5900XTV 128MB Video Card
- Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 60GB
- Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB HD
- LG GCC-8525B CD-RW (52x32x52 CDRW)
- Kingwin Alpha Power AP-450 450w PSU
- SilverStone SG01-E SFF Case
I will be running tests using HDTach 3.0 benchmark application in USB 2.0 mode .
HD Tach 3.0
from SimpliSoftware is a physical performance hard drive test for the Windows platform that reads from
areas all over the hard drive and reports an average speed. In USB 2.0 mode, the Icy Dock MB452UK-BK was
connected using the bundled USB 2.0 cable to a free USB port on the back of my Gigabyte GA-K8VM800M VIA
K8M800 Motherboard.
Results received from the HD Tach 3.0 benchmark indicate a significant performance difference between USB 2.0
mode versus Ultra ATA, SATA and SCSI modes. In USB 2.0 mode average burst speed was measured at 30.6 MB/s and
average read at 21.2 MB/s. It is a clear indication that USB 2.0 mode does have some limitations in
transfer rate but what should be noted is that performance results will vary based on the system
configuration.
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Conclusion:
The Icy Dock MB452UK-BK External Removable HDD Rack represents a quick and easy all-in-one solution for
consumers and administrators looking to expand storage capacity of their existing systems. The product is
available in two different colour formats but is limited by only offering USB 2.0 support. Consumers will
appreciate the easy installation which can be completed in less than 10 minutes as well as the simple
documentation which covers all the aspects of installation. The front mounted LEDs are a nice addition which
provides a visual indication for both Power and HD activity. Add in the retractable foot stand, packaged cables,
aluminum air filters and attractive two piece plastic housing and you have a decent package. While there are
some positive aspects of the Icy Dock MB452UK-BK External Removable HDD Rack, there is really nothing
revolutionary going on in terms of design. By far the biggest limitation for this product is the lack of
Firewire IEEE1394 and SATA support which will appeal to only a small percentage of consumers. The integrated
40mm cooling fan is quite loud which is a small turn off for those individuals who prefer quiet environments.
Finally, many manufacturers have moved towards smaller external hard drive enclosures and the Icy Dock
MB452UK-BK seems to have gone in the opposite direction. The unit is very large for its size and feels far
too bulky to be transporting from one location to another. My understanding for the size difference was to
cater to those individuals who wish to use this as an internal or external enclosure. Aside from a few minor
issues, I am awarding the Icy Dock MB452UK-BK External Removable HDD Rack a final rating of
8 out of 10. If you have any questions regarding
this review be sure to visit the Tradex Information Technology Incorporation
website for more information or discuss them in our forums.
Update 03/25/06: We have received word from Cremax that the 40mm in our review unit has been modified with
a new intake fan which is much quieter. I have also re-tested the power lock function and can confirm that using
the key allows you to power off the unit when not in use. We have revised our initial rating which has been reflected
in this review.
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Pros:
- Cross platform compatible
- Easy to install hot swappable storage solution
- Improved air circulation for hard drive
- Retractable foot stand
- Front mounted Power and HD activity LED's
- Two segment key lock for data safety protection
- Can be used internally or externally
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Cons:
- No support for SATA, Firewire IEEE1394 or Ethernet
- 40mm cooling fan is very noisy
- Extremely bulky
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