wsmunch's Full Review: Dynex USB 2.0 Hard Drive Enclosure Kit (DXHDEN10)...
I happened to stumble upon this enclosure kit while browsing internal hard drives. If you shop smart, you can actually get a very good price on external drives, but at the time it seemed like a pretty slick move to spend less than $100 (after taxes) to buy a 320GB internal drive along with the enclosure to create my own. I had never heard of this brand, but the unit appeared to be simple and effective enough for my needs. Besides, I only really needed the interface to keep my 320GB drive external since I wanted to be able to move the data around my multiple computer systems.
Installation
I tore open the packaging when I got home and inspected everything; my data is important and I hate when stupid happens due to junk equipment. The simplicity of this enclosure kit almost made me feel ripped off, in the sense that Dynex is making some good money from these sales. It doesn't seem like it costs a whole lot to manufacture these kits, yet I haven't been disappointed with the performance (yet). The kit consists of the aluminum case, circuit board with USB & power connections, mounting screws, front & rear plastic face plates, vertical stand, and cables. The installation is a piece of cake. The internal hard drive is mounted to the top of the circuit board via four screws (I used the screws that came with the drive instead of the ones that came with the kit). The board is then inserted within the cavity of the aluminum case, which has grooves to guide and hold the board properly. The plastic face plate gets attached and all that is left is to plug it in and turn it on. It took longer to open and empty the packagings than it did to put it all together. The form is compact and very portable; it's not much larger than the size of the internal drive itself.
The computer will recognize the hardware automatically, but the hard drive will have to be formatted before use.
Nuances
I did like how the circuit board was a snug fit within the casing. It takes a little bit of gentle force to slide it in and out, enough to know that the hard drive is not going to move or rattle around when being transported. The ventilation is minimal. The few holes in the back plate, along with the horizontal vents in the front, provide some escape for warm air despite the lack of any internal air flow. The front vents allow the blue LED to shine more when the unit is powered on (yay, party!). While some method of cooling is better than none, the casing itself will get a little warm when the drive has been on for more than half an hour. It starts to get too warm (for what I'd prefer my data to sit in) when it's been on for two hours or more.
The circuit board is either simple or cheap, depending on how you look at it. I think it's both. I'm pretty leery of the solder connections for the USB and power; incorrect installation or accidental force could easily disengage the connectors from the board, leaving the unit unusable. On the plus side, the power cord doesn't stay plugged in well. If the enclosure is stationary and isn't about to be bumped around, you won't really have to worry about the cord falling out. Moving it some will generally nudge the cord and have it fall off the back, which is much better than if it would be stuck in to twist the connection to the circuit board. The USB cord will stay plugged in very well. It is definitely not recommended to wiggle the cords (either power or USB) while they're connected to the unit, since there is enough wiggle room to put some wear on and break the solder connections. While inexpensive, this Dynex enclosure kit isn't free.
The vertical stand was a cheap piece of crap, so I threw it out with the rest of the packaging ^^.
Bottom Line
While I wish it were less expensive, this Dynex enclosure kit has delivered what I've needed. As long as one keeps it in mind that the soldering may be delicate, it should last quite some time. The case is durable enough so that it didn't bend or warp when I exerted massive pressure on it between my palms (though not recommended when the drive is actually inside the case, since it's a very snug fit). The data transfer speed is on par with other USB 2.0 devices I own. I didn't run any software benchmarks, but I did stopwatch how long it took to transfer different sized files and found the results very acceptable. The neutral, silver color lets it match with virtually any computer system available (if you're into coordination).
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