 Not fan cooled - poorly designed IOGEAR enclosure cooked my new hard drive Strengths: Stylish case, 1394 & USB2 capability, easy to assemble.
Weaknesses: Poor design, lack of fan cooling killed my hard drive, no assembly instructions included.
Summary: 2006-01-11 19:52:19 I bought the IOGEAR GHE335C Combo 3.5" ION Drive Enclosure w/Tri-Select to hold a new hard drive. I was concerned when I opened the box and saw the case, since it didn't appear to have anyplace for the incoming cooling air to be pulled in other than on the bottom of the case (which has minimal clearance from the tabletop). I installed the rubber feet which were included in the box, but they didn't appear to provide any additional clearance.
After installing the hard drive, I hooked the GHE335C enclosure up and everything came up fine, tested the drive to ensure proper operation by transferring a few files back and forth, and left it overnight.
The next morning, I discovered the lights on the front of the GHE335C enclosure were slowly flashing. The flashing lights were accompanied by the disturbing sounds of a hard drive spinning up and then shutting down, over and over. The outside of the GHE335C enclosure was *hot* to the touch. Since I could only intermittently access the drive while it was in the GHE335C enclosure due to the constant spin up/shut down, I removed the hard drive to investigate.
First, I installed the hard drive into a computer. Testing with the hard drive manufacturer's utility revealed that the hard drive was now full of bad blocks. I let the hard drive run for a while in a normal computer case and it never got more than lukewarm, so I must conclude that the poor design of the IOGEAR GHE335C enclosure simply suffocated the drive by preventing air to circulate around the drive to keep it cool.
Overall, I'd rate this product "Strongly Not Recommended" and recommend that anyone needing an external hard drive enclosure buy a fan cooled (forced air) enclosure. The IOGEAR GHE335C cost me a hard drive and all associated shipping costs (both purchase and return). Buyer beware!
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