I-Star T5F-SS Hot-Swap Hard Drive Bay Review

Back on the subject, I have fired up my computer and am proceeding to run Hard Disk Sentinel Pro to make sure that the speeds are sufficent to receive my two thumbs up.  The blue light on the front of the T5 tells me that the drive is being accessed with its constant and bright blue LED blinking.  So I close the front of my case to get that annoying light out of my eyes, and sit back and wait for the results of the benchmark test.

As I suspected, the benchmarks on the hard drive’s speed wasn’t affected by the enclosure.  I was getting an average speed of 45.89MBs, just under the Western Digital WD2500KS and the Hitachi Deskstar.  The enclosure’s fan also seemed to do its job as well.  The drive was staying as cool as my OS’s HDD, which is equipped with a single fan cooling system.  So all in all, I am happy with the performance of the T5F-SS.  The speed is consistent and there is no lag.  The cooling system seems to do the job adequately.  It’s a breeze to install, just as easy as hooking up a new optical drive.  And, did I mention that it’s hot swappable?  I’m sure I did, but it’s still a beautiful thing.  And swapping is easy too, just open the door and take the drive out, then slide the new drive in.  My only suggestion to iStarUSA… check into a new lock and security system.  Biometrics is the new black, you know.

	REPORT CARD : I-Star T55F-SS Hot-Swap Drive Bay category rating comments Quality 4 Screwless loading, loading an HDD is as easy as . Innovation 4 Easy to use, self-cooling, and hot-swappable.  The security locking is pretty typical though. Performance 5 The enclosure, unlike most external USBs, doesn’t slow down read or write speed. Installation 4 Easy as can be to install.  But can be a little confusing if you don’t know to use the black SATA port. Value 5 Can be had for $29.99 brand new, the same price as good external drive.  But faster than external. FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars