Product Review: Azio Mac Enclosure Drive Kit

Azio's new Mac Drive Enclosure Kit (ENC-302U) is a brushed aluminum and acrylic enclosure designed to let you convert any 3.5" IDE hard drive into a an external USB 2.0 storage solution that compliments your Mac's good looks and quiet performance. Azio sent us a review sample of their new unit to put through its paces, and it's proven to be a solid choice if you're in need of an attractive way to turn a bare bones hard drive into extra storage for your Mac.

Azio's kit arrived complete with the enclosure, DC power pack, assembly screws, Windows installation CD (for you cross-platform types) and a 5' long USB 2.0 cable. Installation was very simple and straightforward - I used a 160 GB Western Digital IDE drive, but any standard 3.5" IDE drive (UDMA 33/66 or ATA-100/133) will work. Simply pull the lid off of the enclosure, connect the drive to interior cables and screw the drive into the enclosure's internal frame to keep it locked in place during use. Then place the lid back onto the enclosure and screw the whole thing shut. I needed a small jewler's type screwdriver to reach the recessed screws on the bottom of the enclosure.

Hooked up to its own external power supply and one of my iBook's USB 2 ports, the drive mounted to my desktop without a hitch. The drive performed well during all tasks - copying and moving files, media playback, a/v editing, and so on - though performance, of course, will be limited by USB 2's 480 MBps file transfer speed and the speed of the drive itself.

Having swapped the test drive out of a no-name enclosure I bought on the cheap some months ago, I really appreciated the Azio enclosure's sleek looks and relatively quiet operation. A very small ball-bearing fan located at the bottom rear of the enclosure helps keep your drive cool, but makes little sound (especially as compared to the mechanical whine of my old box). A front-panel LED indicates power and drive activity.

Alongside the rear-panel DC and USB connection jacks is an On/Off toggle switch for power and a micro slot for connecting a laptop-style lock to your drive should you be worried about someone walking off with your data. I can't comment on the functionality of the slot, but it is a nice touch.

After an hour or so of use, the top panel of the enclosure was warm to the touch, but it never grew nearly hot enough to warrant any concern. Instead, the Azio performed exactly as it should - quietly and realiably. While this enclosure costs a few dollars more than bargain basement models readily available from online retailers, its design nicely compliments that of Apple's own white hardware (iBook, iMac G5, and Mac mini in particular) and the box performed steadily and quietly in our tests. With IDE hard drives currently selling for peanuts, you could use the Azio kit to make yourself a nice 160 GB or so external drive for around $100 if you don't mind dealing with rebates.

The Azio ENC-302U Mac Drive Enclosure Kit retails for $49.95 and is currently available online from Buynshop.com. A black and silver version (ENC-303U) is also available at the same price.

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Noah Kravitz runs the Technology and Culture blog Threebase.com. He is an educator, musician, and writer who lives in Oakland, CA and is the author of Teaching and Learning with Technology.