Conclusion:

I was quite enthused at the prospect of reviewing the Eagle Tech Computers ET-CSIU2J-BK JBOD External Storage System. Being able to house two 3.5" SATA drives in a stylish and compact enclosure seemed like a great idea. I have been very impressed with other Eagle Tech products that I have reviewed, and I had very high expectations for this one.

Unfortunately the ET-CSIU2J-BK fell short of meeting my expectations. While the housing is stylish, compact, and offers an automated backup button, really important features like ease of installation, performance, and cooling left a bit to be desired.

The installation not only requires that a total of 12 screws be used, but an inconvenient connection has to be made for the front panel LED before the drive tray is inserted. Drive performance as measured by a benchmark shows that the transfer rates possible are rather slow when compared to other USB 2.0 enclosures. Even another multi-drive enclosure from Eagle Tech Computers did much better in a review here.

While I may have been able to get past the first two issues, the final one was pretty much the nail in the coffin on this review. The cooling fan is far from silent, and the skin temperature of each drive rose to over 50C. Even at idle the temperatures were in the high 40C range, and that is well above what I would consider acceptable.


In case you were interested in finding an Eagle Tech Computers ET-CSIU2J-BK JBOD External Storage System of your own, a search of PriceGrabber turns up nothing. But, a trip to Newegg.com reveals that they are in stock with a price of $39.99 (US). If all of the issues encountered could be addressed, I feel that would be a fair price to pay for a device such as this!

Pros:

» Capable of holding two drives in one compact, stylish enclosure
» Features a backup button, with software included
» Price would be nice if issues below were addressed

Cons:

» Installation could be easier
» Drives get way too hot
» Performance is below average

Special thanks to Eagle Tech Computers for providing the Eagle Tech ET-CSIU2J-BK JBOD External Storage System to Bigbruin.com for review!