StarTech.com 3.5" External SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - Trayless - eSATA/USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1) Hard Drive Enclosure w/UASP (S351BMU33ET)

I now have three of these, two in use one for backup and I've been very pleased with their performance. In my practical testing of it I've found the speed difference between eSATA and USB 3.0, the fastest my PC supports, using a SATA III HDD, is minimal. That maybe one of the reasons why Startech decided to discontinue the eSATA support. However their replacement USB 3.1 Gen 2 only enclosure is not in the same class IMHO. The case for that even looks as if it was designed to support eSATA but they blanked off the port. The On/Off switch is a nasty looking, small cheap slider rather than the quality rocker type used for this case. It also reverts to a tray based HDD/SSD mounting design. It does mean that it is more suitable for dual 3.5" and 2.5" HDD/SSD use than the tray-less design this 3.5" only one has. But tray-less is undoubtedly more convenient if you need to replace/remove the HDD. It makes doing that almost as fast as a docking station. Now to the negatives: the cost of this is now questionable. They were already expensive enclosures and what you're doing now is importing a US spec version. That comes with, annoyingly, a fixed US mains plug on the PSU supplied. It is still a universal PSU ie. 100v - 240v but unlike the EU/UK version it does not come with any socket adapters built in or otherwise. It is just a simple US two prong design, apparently non-polarized but I've not tested that. So to the cost of the enclosure you need to add either a replacement UK 12v, identical spec UK PSU or, cheaper, a decent US to UK plug adapter. I've tried both solutions and I'd go with the latter. I bought a pair from Amazon which I'm probably not allowed to link too here but they mount the PSU firmly and as far as I've tested cause no problems. That's it really - still a good piece of kit for your external 3.5" HDDs but the total cost, which will undoubtedly rise for other reasons too, now makes it far less attractive than it once was. With 3.5" HDDs slowly becoming redundant in the face of similar capacity SSDs which can make full use of USB 3.1+ speed capabilities it is a bit of an indulgence.

Needed this for the eSata connection to add extra storage to a CCTV storage device. Nicely made, quick install of drive and works perfectly.

The unit is very sturdy and works straight out of the box. I have looked everywhere for an esata type and could only find this one. It comes with a USA type plug but a plug converter works fine with it.

Used as an E-sata expansion box for my NVR drive. Works really well, now for the And... Because it's only available from the USA, the price shoots up, and obviously the supplied adapter is USA plug. I bought a compatible UK plug with same voltage spec, but the barrel plug on most of the UK ones seem to be shorter, so I had to transplant and rewire to get a working adapter. With doing for my use case, but take the caveats onboard. One star taken off for having to source my own power and rewire the plug.

The plug it comes with is American. How can I exchange for a UK plug? Not sure why they’re selling this on the UK Amazon if the plug isn’t suitable for the UK.

This is an updated version of Startech Trayless - eSATA/USB 2.0 tool less HDD enclosure I've been using for years. I liked that and bought this because I wanted everything the old one did but with USB3 and UAS. However, it is shipped with a North American PSU, so there is no danger of using it as provided in the UK. Loose a star or two for that. Luckily the PSU on the old one is the same rating and polarity as the PSU on the new one. I'm not happy an having to use an old PSU while I get Amazon to supply a replacement/adaptor but it shouldn't be for very long.

After testing, the digital electronics seem good. It does get hot with high power hard drives (e.g. 7200 RPM drives ) as there is really little thermal connectivity between the drive and the metal outer case as it is basically in a bubble of air. As in another review, there is a place (under the back sticker) to install a 30mm by 10mm thick 12v fan (has fan retention clips, fan holes and, a fan grate), so I installed a Delta fan. Unfortunately, there is no fan header on the enclosure's motherboard, so I hardwired the fan to the motherboard's incoming positive terminal (with a disconnect so you can take the closure completely apart easily) and hardwired (splice) to the power switch wire (switched negative). Temperature dropped way down (50+C --> 35C).

This case is very well designed, and also very well supported. The most important thing about it, for me at least, is the lack of forced power off. That is, unlike most of the other cases I've tried, it DOES NOT force powerdown/spindown at arbitrary, undocumented, and unconfigurable intervals. This means that one can configure the drive (if desired) to power down or spin down when *IT* is ready. This permits self-tests and internal HDD management features to run to completion, unlike other cheaper cases which just cancel such things while they are in progress. Also notable is that, when one (of the many I've purchased) of these cases had a minor packaging problem, the manufacturer sent me an entirely new case since they didn't have the exact part in stock at the time. I don't anticipate using any other style of case.

Headline really says it all, but I love this enclosure. I have gotten a number of them over the years, and this is by far the best. Not only does it look cool (nice light display up front), it keeps drives cool without requiring a fan. Very sturdy and works with large capacity drives without a hitch -- I'm using it with an 8TB drive currently. Oh, and switch is at the top (or bottom if you prefer) unlike some that put them in the middle for some dumb reason. All-around perfect enclosure!

Does exactly what it should, extra storage for an NVR works perfect

Am using this for the first time today. Works fine, but when i took a hard drive out after about a half hour or so, the hard drive was hot. Will have to drill a bunch of holes thru the side panels to help keep the drives from overheating. I can't see how drilling holes thru the sides will keep it from working. It won't look as nice but I'd rather have the holes there than have my much more expensive hard drives running too hot and risk losing my data....so i gave 3 stars but since it's still working after a fair amount of use i'm adding a star...the drives now feel cool to the touch after running in the enclosure...what i did was cut a hole about 3 inches in diameter on the side of the enclosure facing the bottom of the hard drive, and drilled a couple of smaller holes on the other side of the enclosure...i placed a fan powered by usb connection onto the enclosure with the help of some electrical tape so it stays put, and it blows air into the large hole, and even with a hard drive in the enclosure i can tell there is a bit of air coming out of the 2 smaller holes on the other side of the enclosure...that keeps the hard drive nice and cool...i don't know why they don't make the enclosure with a fan set up like that... it keeps the drive cool and i think it looks better than the plain enclosure without the fan