Cheap I/O Magic USB 2.0 Hard Drive Enclosure Kit (I525USB2AE) (Electronics) Price

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Customer Reviews of I/O Magic USB 2.0 Hard Drive Enclosure Kit (I525USB2AE)

Does not work with large harddrives (HDD), 137GB problem
I bought this 5.25" enclosure together with a western digital 160 GB harddrive and a DVD writer. My intention was to regularly use the HDD with it, and pop in the DVDWriter when necessary. <
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>Pro: First of all, the box design is awful. If you have to change the device in it, it is a big task. Disassembly is hard, the blue lightining on the sides gives extra trouble, and most importantly the IDE connector is very short. I was not able to secure the 3.5" harddrive with the screw holes available at the bottom. It is really hard to align because the IDE connector does not let you move the drive around. <
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>Con: Second, it is noiseless than I expected. Even when reading CDs at very high speeds. <
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>Pro: DVDWriter seems to be working fine with it. <
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>Con: When it comes to the HDD, it only recognizes 137GB, the famous LBA barrier, 24 bit / 48 bit stuff. I was not able to test it with another drive, but I do not think it is because of the harddisk. <
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>BIG CON: I/O Magic customer support is awful!!! I called their customer support, they kept me on hold for 30 minute and told me to leave a voice mail. When I tried the online chat, it took more than an hour for someone to reply. When they did, they kept me online for another 45 minutes, and did not solve any problems, or gave any satisfactory answers.

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It Works
It works fine. And, as of this writing, it's a great deal for the price. I've tried it with 2 different hard drives and a cd-rw. Fairly easy intallation. The ide ribbon could be a bit longer. The downside is the case itself. It's difficult to open and close -- not designed very well. The side lights are pointless and I've already cut the wire to one side while trying to reassemble the case.