I can remember a time not too long ago that if you wanted to transport some files, you simply put them on a floppy disk or a CD and you were on your way. The frequency and the amount of data that some people want to transport is growing at an incredible rate. There are many ways to transport this data; the various forms of optical discs, flash drives, and there are plenty of portable hard drives on the market which allow you to transport your data using eSATA or USB. The problem with many of these hard drive solutions is that they are bulky and require you to carry many cables along with the drive.
Tagan has released a new hard drive enclosure, the Icy Box IB-266StUSD-B, that utilizes a 2.5" notebook hard drive and can act as both an internal and external hard drive. This new enclosure uses both USB 2.0 and eSATA for connections to a PC, which helps maximizing its usefulness and performance.
Before taking a look at the enclosure provided for review, let's look at the features published on the Tagan website...
Features:
External combo case for 2,5" SATA HDDs with display & docking station, USB2.0 & eSATA interface.
» Aluminium HDD case with USB2.0 & eSATA hostinterface for mobile data exchange and at the workstation
» For 2,5" SATA hard disk (up to 9,5mm high)
» Tray with USB 2.0 (480Mb/s) & eSATA interface
» Display (Tray) with status for power and activity
» Dockingstation for fitting into a fdd bay, with SATA interface (cable length ca. 550mm), power supply with pc
» Dimension Dockingstation: 180x100x25
» PnP & HotSwap
» Chipsatz: Sunplus 215A
» Accessoires: eSATA cable, USB2.0 cable, USB power cable, leatherette bag, driver CD (Win98 USB2.0 driver), manual and screw bag
Packaging:
This enclosure arrived in a fairly standard cardboard box designed for a retail environment. It provides plenty of information for the user to know exactly what they are purchasing and what is included. On the sides of the box Tagan has listed the details for this enclosure in several languages.
Opening the box gave me a bit of a surprise. The enclosure is right on top, and did not include any bag. While my enclosure was undamaged, I could see how it could potentially have some minor scratches from shipment. Under the drive, the accessories were included in a tight area. The cables allowed the accessories to move around a bit, but they did restrict them so that there would not be damage. Bottom line, it should be packed a little better to eliminate any issues.
 
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