IcyDock 2.5″ HD Enclosure

Attractive 2.5″ HD mobile enclosure – Joe

SUMMARY: Very attractive, OK performance and a sturdy enclosure – a nice package for mobile storage.

The good guys at IcyDock were nice enough to send a sample of their 2.5″ HD external storage unit IcyDock Model MB124E. The drive is protected by an attractive aluminum case (reminds me of a Jaguar XKE).

Key Features:

• Firewire 400
• Transfer Rate 400 Mb/sec
• Aluminum body with rubberized surrounding
• LEDs for Device Power (green) & Drive Activity (amber)
• Dimension (LxWxH) 198.0 x 148.0 x 42.0 mm, weight 1.50 lbs
• HD suspended on rubber mounting posts
• Includes cloth travel pouch, firewire cable and external power supply with European adapter

Front view shows the stylish front…

…with back view showing firewire and power plug ports. (note: I did not need the AC Adapter to run the unit, but it is nice to have just in case.) The light blue material surrounding the case is rubber. The unit unscrews by removing four bottom screws:

The top and bottom are aluminum with a plastic insert to hold the PCB and HD. The circuit board where the HD mounts…

…and the other side where the electronics lie (there is no battery option). The PCB rides on rubber posts for greater protection agains shocks.

Mounting the drive is a simple plug-in secured by screws to the PCB:

Installing the HD should not take more than 5 minutes – all you need is a flat tip (regular) screwdriver.

I tested the IcyDock with a 40 GB Hitachi 4200 rpm 2.5″ HD on a Shuttle SS50 with the following results:

Performance will vary by HD and system, but I don’t think it will be too different from what you see here. I also tried this unit on my laptop (you may need a large plug to small plug cable – not included) and it worked OK except that the laptop’s port was “funky” – I had to jiggle the plug to make contact and as such performance suffered.

Very attractive, OK performance and a sturdy enclosure – a nice package for mobile storage.

Email Joe