Spare internal hard disks can be given a new lease of life as external disks once fitted inside a hard disk enclosure. Many are tricky to dismantle, though, and it's often fiddly to install a disk and reassemble. Cooler Master's X Craft 360 and MacAlly's MAC-TB-M120 are far more user-friendly than other enclosures we've seen. They also both have eSATA ports.
The X Craft has an attractive, glossy black appearance and you don't even need a screwdriver to fit a disk. It's the simplest process we've seen. A sliding switch opens a door that reveals the empty drive bay, into which a 3in SATA hard disk can be slotted. Once the door is closed, it's ready for use. If you need to change the hard disk, opening the door will automatically eject the disk inside.
We fitted the X Craft with a 320GB Samsung hard disk. When connected over USB, speeds were in line with what we'd expect from a USB hard disk. Similarly, small files were copied about as fast as we'd expect when using the eSATA interface. However, when transferring large files, it was around 10MB/s slower than other eSATA enclosures we've tested with the same disk. It's also a little noisier than other eSATA enclosures we've seen, but not enough to be distracting in a quiet room.
MacAlly's MAC-TB-M120 silver enclosure feels sturdy, although it isn't quite as eye-catching as the X Craft. The M120 isn't as easy to take apart, either, since there are several screws that need to be removed. It's not tricky, though, thanks to the well-illustrated installation guide. The M120 is also quieter than the X Craft because the rubber-mounted screws holding the hard disk in place absorb vibrations.
The MAC-TB-M120 has a FireWire 800 port, as well as eSATA and USB interfaces. You can also plug it into a FireWire 400 port using the included adapter cable. We tested the M120 with the same Samsung hard disk as the X Craft and its speeds over FireWire 400, 800 and USB were in line with what we'd expect. However, like the X Craft, the M120 was around 10MB/s slower over eSATA than we've seen from other enclosures when copying large files.
Both the X Craft and the MAC-TB-M120 are attractive and easy to assemble. But unless you need FireWire 800, the MAC-TB-M120 is difficult to recommend as it's almost as expensive as a 500GB external hard disk. Although the X Craft isn't as fast or as quiet as other hard disk enclosures we've seen, its simple method for installing a disk still makes it a useful and desirable product.
Takes one 3.5in SATA hard disk, eSATA and USB Hi-Speed interfacesAuthor: Alan Lu
Cooler Master X Craft 360