Customer reviews for the Akasa Integral P2SATA Quad Interface Combo Enclosure for IDE and SATA HDD

Just bought 4 of these (1 DOA and needs replacing) to replace the netgear caddies that had fallen off my network a refuse to re-attach. If you are going to stack these as is suggested I would suggest getting some thicker stick on rubber feet to space them further apart as they do run hot, and this will allow more air around them. Otherwise no complaints!

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If you have a largish capacity 3.5" SATA drive lying around, perhaps from an unused desktop, then you should seriously consider buying this piece of kit. It turns a redundant SATA internal drive into a bostin' external drive for your laptop. Very well made, easy to set up and with USB2 gives a respectable data transfer rate - I'm getting approx 13MB/sec using XP which is enough to capture DV video straight to disc. Also uses an ESATA interface if you have one available. Only drawback is that this is not a particularly portable item, it's quite chunky and uses an external power supply. Oh, and the tiny rubber feet are prone to coming off.

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I'm a bit of an 'enclosure junkie' - as these are essential items in my line of work. This is the best I've used yet... rock solid build quality (solid aluminium), silent and cool running. Choices of connectivity... SATA Drive > eSata or USB 2 IDE PATA Drive > USB 2 Speed when connected to an eSata connection is superb and works well under XP/Vista - will test with Ubuntu later and report back. Only small issue is the skinny cable that lights up the front of the case - I found it best to disconnect until you've installed the drive and almost closed the case, before reconnecting... thus avoiding any snagging/nipping of the cable. Looks smart, feels solid and weighty, performs really well - seems like a good buy (just as well - I took a chance and ordered two!).

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Works fine except for the loose fitting power connector. Any movement on the cable disrupts the power to the drive causing read/write to fail. Once held securely in place with Blu-Tac works pretty well and it looks quite professional (except for the Blu-Tac of course).

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The first time I noticed something was amiss was when the "verify" feature of Acronis TrueImage pronounced my backup corrupted. It seemed hard to believe at first, but after trying several known good hard drives, several USB cables, several computers with different operating systems, the conclusion was inescapable:
it's the AKASA box. Copy a big enough file to it (5 or 10 GB) and 4 times out of 5, your favourite compare program will report mismatches between the source file and the copy on the AKASA box.

I believe my problem isn't an isolated case since a few other people describe identical symptoms in various forums.

I used the product with IDE drives and with the USB connection. It may well be that the unit behaves impeccably in a different context.

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