Conclusion:
Calling this external enclosure 'portable' might be a bit of a stretch right now. I am pretty sure that one would not be able to take this unit to work and just plug it into any PC they find. However, if what you need is the fastest external solution available then SATA is the way to go, offering full hard drive speeds with a semi-portable enclosure. The
Mapower MAP-H31SS seems to be well built, capable, and although not fancy looking, is elegant in a simple way. I will have to give the MAP-H31SS a score of 4.5 out of 5 only due to the silliness of manufacturing for a 20mm fan, but not including one as standard.
Being that this enclosure is generally sold as generic / OEM, and without a manufacturers name anywhere on or in the box, a
PriceGrabber search was not very helpful in finding any prices. As a matter of fact, I only found 2 sites selling the SATA version of this enclosure and both of them retail it for around $50.00.
If external SATA connectivity is what you need, then I highly recommend this enclosure (if you can find one).
Final Rating (4.5 out of 5 stars):
Pros:
• Clean simple design
• Full SATA speeds
• Quality materials
• Very high quality SATA cable
Cons:
• 20mm fan being an option
• Lack of instructions that are helpful
Special thanks to
ClubIT.com for providing the
Mapower MAP-H31SS 3.5" External Enclosure to Bigbruin.com for review!
