Initial Impressions
I’ve got to tell you, I love the way that the NexStar MX Dual Hard Drive Enclosure looks. The main body is wrapped in a black brushed aluminum and then on the front, you find a silver plate with the LED indicators, flanked by a series of recessed vents. The light at the top is to indicate power, whereas the two LEDs underneath that correspond to each of the two hard drives. They have a faint green glow to them normally, but when data is being accessed, they start to blink a rather brilliant blue. It’s simple, but very attractive.
Around the back, they’ve managed to keep things pretty basic. It’s not brushed aluminum, but the quality of the matte black plastic appears to be quite good. The choice of black screws is also good, adding to the clean and sleek appearance of this enclosure. Near the top, there is the DC power input and the USB 2.0 port. The power switch sits in the center and then there is a small fan near the bottom.
As great as it looks, there is one minor flaw that jumped out at me. I’m not sure if you can tell from the picture provided below, but the power switch is slightly off-kilter. This is a minor manufacturing defect that probably isn’t found in every unit shipped, but these tiny imperfections make the enclosure look, well, less than perfect.
The construction of the enclosure is definitely very solid, but it is surprisingly lightweight. It is only after you install a couple of hard drives that the portable gadget gains a fair bit of weight. Overall, I’m very happy with the general design, particularly with the vents in the front and the fan in the back. This makes for excellent airflow, which should help to keep the hard drive temperature within a reasonable range. A couple of one terabyte drives, which it does support, can get pretty hot.
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