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Kingwin JET External 3.5" SATA HDD Enclosure Review

Date Published:
02-18-2007

Written By:
Sludge

Edited By:
Diceman

Provided By:
Kingwin

Where to Buy:
Kingwin

Discuss Article:
VH Forum link

Pages: 1

Kingwin JET 3.5" External SATA Enclosure

Introduction:

Not too long ago, I reviewed several hard drive enclosures that held just IDE hard drives, some also working with IDE and SATA. Well, now the time is here for just SATA external enclosures. Kingwin offers several styles of external enclosures, and the one up for review is the JET. The Kingwin JET is a SATA only enclosure, but offers two ways to get the data to and from the computer. These all-aluminum enclosures come in Silver and Black, and will look stout sitting on a desk.

About the Company:

Kingwin was founded in 1992 as a manufacturer specialized in designing and manufacturing CPU Coolers and Mobile racks, also with goals to provide our customers with the best thermal cooling and storage solutions.

Kingwin's office was established in Walnut, CA in 1994 and in 1997 Kingwin has further expanded its branch and established another office in New Jersey for better service to more customers through out the US. We have been producing top quality thermal solutions and storage products both OEM and ODM to support our clients from the worldwide market. Backed by in-depth experiences from market demand and customer responses, we continue to develop new products with innovative ideas to keep up with the pace in the fast changing market. Also, the good relations and services that we provide for our customers is giving us more opportunity to understand, communicate and assist with our clients the best way we can. Our strong support from R&D department is committed to offer the most enhance and cutting edge thermal and storage solution for both industrial and personal computers.

Specifications:

Interface:	E-SATA + USB Combo
Compliance:	USB 2.0 EHCI based./Genli, gen1m, gen2i and gen2m of Serial ATA II electrical specification 1.0.
Data speed:	USB 2.0: 1.5/12/480 Mbps./SATA: 1.5/3 Gb/s.
Color:	Black.
Rear panel connection:	USB B receptacle/E-SATA connector.
Weight:	3.00 lb/piece.
Power supply:	12V/1.7A, 20w switching AC/DC power adapter.
Operational voltage:	12 Vdc, 1.7A DC
Dimensions:	7 5/8"(194 mm)L x 4 1/2"(115 mm)W x 1 5/8"(40 mm)H.

Features:

1.	Model: JT-35EU-BK.
2.	3.5" E-SATA + USB combo black aluminum external enclosure.
3.	Aluminum design w/ front blue led power on / off button.
4.	SATA Interface.
5.	Applicable for PC, notebook, and Mac.
6.	Plug & play, hot-swapping capability, and one touch back up.
7.	SATA 3 Gb/S transfer rate.
8.	Strengthen aluminum finish.
9.	Suitable for all 3.5" SATA h.d.d.
10.	2 stands.
11.	12v power adapter.
12.	80 x 80 bottom fan.

A Closer Look:

Retail Front

Retail rear

open box

Contents

The JET enclosure comes packaged in a small, suitcase style box with a handle on the top. The front of the box shows two JET enclosures, one in black and the other in silver. The back side has the specs, along with the system requirements and package contents. These contents are a stand for the JET enclosure, USB cable, e-SATA cable, and a power supply and software CD.

Kingwin JET

3/4 View

Power button/LED

Rear connections

Now it's time to remove the JET enclosure from the box, and with the JET in hand you can get a feel for how lightweight it is due to its all-aluminum construction. The exterior of the enclosure isn't littered with a lot of graphics, so it's not a distraction when sitting on the desk. The exterior sleeve has some minor detailing with some grooves cut into the side panels and channels on the front and back.

The front has a simple, circular design with the power button in the middle and a blue LED just next to it. The back end has all the connection points, one for power DC-IN, and computer connection ports of one e-SATA, USB 2.0 and the Back Up button.

Thumbscrews	Open sesame	Inside tray
Underside of fan	Power/Data plugs	PCB

Now it's time to take a peek at the interior of the JET enclosure. To do this, remove the two low-profile thumbscrews. This allows the back to pop off, and then grab the front portion of the enclosure and slide out the interior. The tray for the hard drive is also constructed from aluminum and has an 80mm fan incorporated into it. The back portion with the printed circuit board has the data and power cable for the hard drive.

Installation:

HDD installed	SCREWED!!	Plugged in
Rear view	Power LED	On display

The installation is very simple and easy and should only take a matter of minutes to complete. First, remove the two low-profile thumbscrews and slide out the hard drive tray. Next, grab a SATA hard drive and plug in the data and power cable, then secure the drive to the tray with four screws. Use four screws, not two, just to keep it secure to the tray when transporting. The last few things left to do are to slide everything back together and secure with the thumbscrews. Attach the cable and install software if needed, and everything is all set.

If your motherboard's rear I/O panel has the e-SATA, by all means I suggest using that since the speeds can reach 3GBs versus USB2.0 @ 1.5GBs

Conclusion:

The Kingwin JET external enclosure is part of the next generation of portable hard drive enclosures; with IDE going by the wayside, it's now all about SATA drives. Kingwin stepped up and produced a very nice, clean looking enclosure that is sure to get looks of envy from those who spot it. The simple design and easy-to-use features are sure to ease the minds of many, and not to mention the easy of installation of the hard drive, where a mere philip screwdriver is all that is needed.

The plastic stand is nice when sitting on the desk, but can be slightly bulky when transporting things around. That is actually the only real complaint I have, if you can even call it that. The internal fan is extremely quiet and keeps the temperature of the hard drive at a comfortable range. So overall, if you are in the need of a new hard drive enclosure, or have an extra SATA drive laying around that you want to put in use, then by all means grab one of the Kingwin JET external SATA enclosures. I would like to thank Kingwin for sending out this unit for VH to review

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