Vantec NexStar 3

To this point many external SATA enclosures haven't catch our attention; there have been quite a few mediocre enclosures we have laid our eyes on, but nothing that we felt was a godsend. However, recently the Vantec NexStar 3 managed to peak our interest so we decided to look at this enclosure, which supports 3.5" SATA 2.0 hard drives and an external interface of either eSATA or USB 2.0. Will the Vantec NexStar 3 be the drive enclosure we have been looking for?

Features:

· Aluminum Casing Cools Down Your Hard Drive
· Transfer Rates Up To 480Mbps w/ USB2.0 (12Mbps w/ USB1.1)
· Easily Add Storage to Any System With USB
· Hot-Swappable: Plug And Play Without Rebooting
· Attractive Blue LED Indicates Power/HDD Activity
· Supports up to 750GB hard drives
· Power Adapter Supports 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz

Contents:

The Vantec NexStar 3 is available in four colors: steel grey, midnight blue, onyx black, and brilliant red. The model that we will be reviewing today is the midnight blue NST-360U2-BL. Included with the NexStar 3 was the user manual, vertical stand, AC adapter, eSATA cable, USB 2.0 cable, and eSATA expansion bracket. The AC power adapter is external and not integrated into the enclosure housing (unfortunately).