The Basics (continued):
Next, the heatsink / hard drive assembly is placed back into the enclosure. I found that unplugging the short, folded IDE cable from the enclosure circuit board and plugging it into the hard drive first made things much easier. Just before the hard drive assembly is dropped into place, the 4-pin Molex connector gets plugged in, then the IDE cable can be plugged back into the circuit board. Also notice the tiny thermal sensor that gets installed with the included tape. This sensor feeds back the hard drive temperature and controls the speed of the blower when in auto mode. Once everything is placed correctly, the 4 screws can be reinstalled from the bottom.
 
The white top is then snapped into place. One thing I found to be an issue is the difficulty in removing the top, if ever necessary. The top fits quite snug and once in place there is no place to get under it to pop it free without marring the case or the top. Even being extremely careful, I still managed to leave a tiny mark in the grey plastic. Most people will assemble this enclosure and never need to open it back up, but it is something to think about.
 
Time to take a look at the business side of the Vantec NexStar GX.
On the back is a rocker switch that controls power, a Din style connector for the power supply, the three USB ports of the hub, a single USB connector for connecting the enclosure to your PC, and a slot to cable lock the enclosure to your desk. There is also a small set of switches for controlling the behavior of the blower. The blower can operate in auto or manual mode. In auto mode the temperature sensor feeds back the temperature and the blower will speed up and slow down based on that temperature. In manual mode, you choose whether the blower runs at full speed or a reduced quieter speed. In manual-high, the blower produces a good amount of airflow out the slots in the back, but also makes a small, but significant amount of noise. In auto or manual-low mode I cannot hear the blower at all unless I stick my ear right down next to the slots.
 
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