Home » Mobile Computing»Portable Storage

Vantec NexStar 3 HDD Casing

Punit Lodaya, Jan 17, 2007 1600 hrs IST

Today, we take a look at a unique hard disk drive casing; the Vantec NexStar 3.

Expert Rating:

eSATA speed as fast as SATA, Sleek looks, Excellent build quality.

eSATA popularity hasn't picked up yet, Expensive.

E-Mail Print

EXPERT REVIEW

Today, we take a look at a unique hard disk drive casing; the Vantec NeStar 3. The reason, it is unique, because it supports a new bus for transferring and will most probably replace USB and Firewire interface for external storage devices. The new bus is no other than eSATA.

External SATA or eSATA allows customers to utilize shielded cable lengths up to 2 meters outside the PC to take advantage of the benefits the SATA interface brings to storage. SATA is now out as an external standard, with specifically defined cables, connectors, and signal requirements released as new standards in mid-2004. eSATA provides more performance than existing solutions and is hot pluggable.

Key benefits of eSATA:

*Up to 6 times faster than existing external storage solutions: USB 2.0, & 1394
*No protocol conversion from PATA/SATA to USB/Firewire, all disk features are available to the host
*Robust and user friendly external connection
*High performance, cost effective expansion storage
*Up to 2 meter shielded cables and connectors

However, the only drawback of eSATA is that it does not provide power, which means that external 2.5" disks which would otherwise be powered over the USB or Firewire cable need a separate power cable when connected over eSATA interface.

Now that the concept of eSATA is clear, let's jump on to the review.

The Vantec NexStar 3 is a 3.5" hard disk enclosure designed to accommodate SATA drives. As I mentioned earlier, it has the eSATA interface. But the popularity of eSATA hasn't picked up; buying an eSATA casing is definitely not a good idea. So, for backward compatibility, a USB interface has also been given along. The enclosure measures 206 x 123 x 33 mm fully assembled.

USER COMMENTS

looking for nexstar casing 3.5' cx for 1tb hdd please send us quote and availability in mumbai india

by nirmal, mumbai, on May 26, 2009 01:22 PM, Report abuse Reply

Dear Sir, We want to purchase this HDD CASING Vantec NexStar 3 HDD Casing, pls confirm us that how can we contact to you.

by Dharmendra, Gurgaon, on Sep 20, 2007 09:35 AM, Report abuse Reply

Where can I get 2.5" 250 to 320 Gb SATA or eSATA EHDD. Prefarably a 320 Gb.

by Nagesh, Hyderabad, on Sep 14, 2007 02:01 PM, Report abuse Reply

hi nagesh,u can get Seagate External Sata Drives ( Retail pack Ready made hdds) @ Fortune Marketing ; contact @ 9391054001

by Ganesh Gupta, hyderabad, on Sep 18, 2007 09:39 PM, Report abuse

i got a tech-com one for 200 only with 1 yr warranty from nehru place.. for 2.5" drives.. usb 2.0 and works blazing fast!!

by Tarun, New Delhi, on Jan 18, 2007 02:49 AM, Report abuse Reply

purchased a tech.com's 2.5" HDD casing [USB 2.0] for Rs. 150 at Chandni Chowk, Kolkata last month... getting 25 MBPS speeds guys: just check the price when you go to purchase yours....

by manishs0, CALCUTTA, on Jan 21, 2007 08:58 PM, Report abuse

I want SATA casings/enclosure for 2.5" HDD. PLease suggest

by Karan, Ludhiana / Delhi, on Aug 31, 2007 11:45 AM, Report abuse

>Can anyone recommend a compatible usb casing for 320GB Baracuda(7200rpm) HDD.i heard techcom 3.5" gives some problem.

by Dex, Pune, on Jul 19, 2007 12:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

I got a seagate 160gb 7200.7 rpm the model number is as follows- st3160021 in my computer. i am planning to buy an HDD casing for this. can you please tell me if the HDD will work with the Nexstar or techcom.. thanks

by Mahadev, Bangalore, on Apr 18, 2007 02:11 AM, Report abuse Reply

The model "NST-360SU-BK" Supports Up to 750GB Hard Drives, and you mentioned above that the specifications are according to the manufacturer's Website ? I demand an explanation for this, you are spreading false information among users, user's depend on product reviews before they visit the market for buying it. An user who might have wanted to use a 500GB Harddisk will be misguided by your review and will be forced to buy a 400GB Harddisk instead.

by Goutam Nath, Kolkata, on Jan 18, 2007 05:46 PM, Report abuse Reply

instead of waiting for boards that have eSATA ports, why not use a simple adaptors or cables which allow to interface between eSATA and SATA? I am pretty sure they are available....also the cable length for a eSATA is limited to max of 2m while for USB it is more? Nevertheless, the speed the former offers is without doubt way too superior.

by doc, Bangalore, on Jan 18, 2007 08:26 AM, Report abuse Reply

This Vantec case comes with a eSATA to SATA bracket which is mounted inside the computer case.

by Eazy, mumbai, on Jan 18, 2007 03:15 PM, Report abuse

I have used this Vantec eSATA case for a few months now and I find it very good. With my Hitachi 160GB HDD I get 62MB/s real life data transfer speeds. A couple of the major advantages of this case have not been mentioned in the review - first is that this case lets the HDD in it show up in the BIOS like a regular SATA HDD so you can BOOT XP/Vista or any other OS from the HDD in the case. The second advantage I find with this case is that the Temperature of the HDD can be seen in XP/Vista - this became important when I found that an old SATA I 120GB HDD I have was running at 63C in this case whilst the Hitachi 160GB I now have runs at 38C. Drives heat up a lot inside External cases and it is nice to know the HDDs temperature which USB2 cases cannot show. Excellent case but expensive.

by Eazy, Mumbai, on Jan 18, 2007 06:02 AM, Report abuse Reply

Take a look here - http://www.vantecusa.com/p_nst360su.html The model "NST-360SU-BK" Supports Up to 750GB Hard Drives, and you mentioned above that the specifications are according to the manufacturer's Website ? I demand an explanation for this, you are spreading false information among users, user's depend on product reviews before they visit the market for buying it. An user who might have wanted to use a 500GB Harddisk will be misguided by your review and will be forced to buy a 400GB Harddisk instead.

by Goutam Nath, Kolkata, on Jan 18, 2007 02:29 AM, Report abuse Reply

The casing you bought was for PATA disks. Not SATA - regular SATA casings are costly.

by badvt, Chennai, on Jan 17, 2007 08:45 PM, Report abuse Reply

I BOUGHT A USB CASING FOR 450 BUCKS.. WTF ..FOR AS LOW AS 1200??

by tECHTREE, GET, on Jan 17, 2007 06:21 PM, Report abuse Reply

u even get for 300 bucks

by Jack, Jane, on Jan 17, 2007 08:42 PM, Report abuse