Connectivity
There
are two connection options - USB 2.0 and eSATA, with USB 2.0 having
a theoretical
transfer
speed of up to 480Mbit per second and eSATA having 3Gbit per second.
Although neither interface ever gets
anywhere close to
achieving its theoretical maximum, the beauty of using eSATA is that
the drive within the enclosure should perform at much the same speed as it
would do when running from a SATA connector on the PC's motherboard.
Around the back are three ports -
for USB, eSATA and power-in - plus an on/off switch.
In the picture below, you'll also see vents on the top of the enclosure and towards the base. These are for airflow through the enclosure that ‘wraps' around the drive inside.
Cool air is sucked in from the top, drawn over the length of the drive, back and around and into the fan, then out the exhaust holes at the rear of the enclosure.
The
MX-1 has small rubber feet on its underside to help reduce noise,
protect the surface it's used on and stop the enclosure sliding
about.
Removal of the top of the enclosure is pretty
simple, with
just one
screw on the underside holding everything in place. The top
of the enclosure slides off easily, so let's take a
look inside…
