Conclusion:
The Cooler Master X Craft 250 and 350 hard drive enclosures are very stylish portable storage devices. Except for the physical size of each unit and the connections in the rear, they look like twins. High gloss black or silver finishes will have anyone that has not seen one before asking what this cool looking device is. Both drive enclosures offer a reasonably fast USB 2.0 interface, while the X Craft 350 adds a USB Hub and an eSATA connection.
The tool less design of the X Craft 350 was extremely frustrating and would have been much easier with a few screws instead. The eSATA burst transfer speed was a little disappointing, but still a SATA 1.5 Gbps burst speed is much better than USB 2.0. The X Craft 350 should have included some sort of cleaning cloth like the X Craft 250 included.
The X Craft 250 was the perfect portable hard drive up until the testing of the backup software which would not run. Its compact design still makes it a great device, but you will need to find another backup program.
A search on
PriceGrabber finds the IDE version of the X Craft 350 priced starting around $20 and the SATA version can be found in a
Google search for $40 prior to a $15 mail in rebate at some outlets. $25 isn't a bad price for this enclosure at all! The X Craft 250 can only be found in
Google search with a price tag of $33.
With the stylish design, smooth operation, and very low noise when operating, I award the X Craft 250 and 350 the ratings of "Recommended" and "Whisper Quiet".
Pros:
» Near silent operation
» Good heat dissipation
» Stylish Glossy Exterior
» USB 2.0 Hub on X Craft 350
Cons:
» No cleaning cloth for the X Craft 350
» Tool less design of the X Craft 350 makes installation tougher
» Did not reach SATA 3 Gbps speeds on X Craft 350
» Backup software for X Craft 250 did not work
Special thanks to
Cooler Master for providing the Cooler Master X Craft 250 and 350 Hard Drive Enclosures to Bigbruin.com for review!
