ICY DOCK MB664US-1S: eSATA with a twist
by Dave Robinet on October 9, 2007 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Conclusion
We previously reviewed the MB664's less-expensive sibling, the MB559, and our performance results here are virtually identical. Indeed, the MB664 seems to share the same PCB components (albeit arranged in a slightly different configuration) with the MB559, so this was largely an expected result.
Where the two products differ is in the packaging, the PC adapter which is included with the products, and in the treatment of the hard drive itself. The MB664's "tool-less" installation of the drive works flawlessly, and (unlike the 559) there is no need to remove a caddy to install the hard drive. In our tests, installation was relatively straightforward, though we did find ourselves checking from time to time to make sure that the drive's connector was seated properly in the PCB. (There was never an issue with this - the uncertainty was simply because the PCB is completely hidden by the drive the moment it is put into the enclosure).
The addition of a power socket on the back of the PC adapter is interesting, though we do wonder how often it will really be used. A big part of the attraction of an external enclosure like this, after all, is portability - if you only have the power cord for the PC adapter, then the enclosure is restricted to that unit (even with USB). Nevertheless, it's clear that there are uses for the MB664 that go beyond simple portability, and the ability to not occupy another wall socket is a welcome one.
The fit and finish of the MB664 is nearly flawless. Everything fits together perfectly and feels very secure, without any flimsy bits. ICY DOCK has designed their MB664 (like the MB559) extremely well. On the negative side, the MB664 could do with a more secure stand. The scissor-style feet hold the unit properly, though larger feet could have provided more stability. Equally, while the front panel on the MB664 is adequate for the job, a more satisfying "click" during closure (or, conversely, a more energetic response when the unit is opened) would be welcome.
The street price for the MB664 hovers around $70 and is available both in the silver aluminum finish, or a glossy black (similar to the one in our MB559 article). For the $15 premium attached to the MB664 compared to the MB559, the user gets the aforementioned option to draw power from a PC power supply, as well as the simpler hard drive installation. For most users, we believe the MB664 is the way to go on the strength of its slightly-more-secure hard drive installation, though in truth both products are exceptional offerings at their respective price points.
We previously reviewed the MB664's less-expensive sibling, the MB559, and our performance results here are virtually identical. Indeed, the MB664 seems to share the same PCB components (albeit arranged in a slightly different configuration) with the MB559, so this was largely an expected result.
Where the two products differ is in the packaging, the PC adapter which is included with the products, and in the treatment of the hard drive itself. The MB664's "tool-less" installation of the drive works flawlessly, and (unlike the 559) there is no need to remove a caddy to install the hard drive. In our tests, installation was relatively straightforward, though we did find ourselves checking from time to time to make sure that the drive's connector was seated properly in the PCB. (There was never an issue with this - the uncertainty was simply because the PCB is completely hidden by the drive the moment it is put into the enclosure).
The addition of a power socket on the back of the PC adapter is interesting, though we do wonder how often it will really be used. A big part of the attraction of an external enclosure like this, after all, is portability - if you only have the power cord for the PC adapter, then the enclosure is restricted to that unit (even with USB). Nevertheless, it's clear that there are uses for the MB664 that go beyond simple portability, and the ability to not occupy another wall socket is a welcome one.
The fit and finish of the MB664 is nearly flawless. Everything fits together perfectly and feels very secure, without any flimsy bits. ICY DOCK has designed their MB664 (like the MB559) extremely well. On the negative side, the MB664 could do with a more secure stand. The scissor-style feet hold the unit properly, though larger feet could have provided more stability. Equally, while the front panel on the MB664 is adequate for the job, a more satisfying "click" during closure (or, conversely, a more energetic response when the unit is opened) would be welcome.
The street price for the MB664 hovers around $70 and is available both in the silver aluminum finish, or a glossy black (similar to the one in our MB559 article). For the $15 premium attached to the MB664 compared to the MB559, the user gets the aforementioned option to draw power from a PC power supply, as well as the simpler hard drive installation. For most users, we believe the MB664 is the way to go on the strength of its slightly-more-secure hard drive installation, though in truth both products are exceptional offerings at their respective price points.
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Souka - Friday, October 12, 2007 - link
Drives have two basic benchmarks... latency and throughput.comments like, "a 500gb is almost equal"..or "those raptors are not worth the cost" kinda ignore the latency part of the equation.
Yes, most 500GB drives equal, perhaps surpass, an older 150gb Raptor in some throughput benchmarks. But latency is still the raptors domain, and overal performance benifts quite a bit from this.
There are plenty of articles on such a topic...
My $.02
retrospooty - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - link
"The fact is for the price of a 150GB raptor you can get a 500-750GB drive that performs almost as well. Now that there are better performing drives available, those raptors just are not worth the cost anymore."almost as well, yes, but the 150gb Raptor is 2 years old now, it was released on Jan 1st 2006. They are due for an update any time now (prolly Jan 1st 2008) and you can bet that a 300g (or higher) Raptor with 32mb cache and Perpendicular recording will own the market once again by a large margin.
lennylim - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - link
I bought the MB559. The attraction to me is that I can get additional trays for $20 (expensive, but not too expensive). At $70 for one enclosure, this seems overpriced.The power connector on the bracket is very attractive to me, actually. I wish the MB559 comes with one. They had a MIR last month where you can get one free if you bought a MB559, but I bought mine too early. You can have the bracket installed on your home machine, so that you can have the power adapter in your laptop bag all the time. And reducing a wall wart is always a good idea to me. The bracket us available for purchase, but at over $20 shipped, it's too expensive for me.
ninjit - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - link
The product info for the MB664US-1S on ICY DOCK's website touts the ability to hotswap the actual hard-drive in the enclosure.Did you test this, and/or have any comments?
FrankThoughts - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - link
Page three says "We implemented AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) in the BIOS to properly test the hot swap capabilities of this drive enclosure when utilizing the eSATA interface. Without the proper matrix storage driver support and AHCI implementation, hot swapping was not possible with our test bed."I would assume that means with the test chipset and those drivers installed, hotswap works. Using it with other chipsets and drivers? Sounds like something they could maybe test further on other systems.
Olaf van der Spek - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - link
Why is power over SATA never used? Then you could stick with a single connector and not need the external power supply (except when you use USB).ninjit - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - link
There is no power over SATA.the SATA spec designed a NEW power connector, over the old Molex one, which is inline with the data-connector allowing easy cable-less drive installations, through direct mating to backplanes, but it's still a separate power connector and needs its own cable otherwise.
eSATA (which is what's tested here with the ICY-DOCK) is just data, there is no associated external power port to go a long with it.
Olaf van der Spek - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - link
> There is no power over SATA.Not over the SATA data cable, no.
Let's rephrase the question: why aren't SATA connectors/cables used that transport both data and power?
Souka - Friday, October 12, 2007 - link
Well, here's my thoughts why.1. The power would then have to come from the motherboard, which means more tracepaths on the circuit board and power drawn from the motherboard itself.
2. SATA cables would be bigger, and you'd have two SATA cable standards
3. Power and data on same cable for SATA might cause interference with the data trasnsfer quality.
4. Power and Data on a mass storage device hasn't been the standard in the past, and changing standards is a risk manufacturers often won't take.
My $.02