Introduction:

Lately there has been a great increase in customer and industry awareness of so-called 'green' technologies. Whether it's biofuels, hybrid cars or simply riding your bike to work, all of these have gotten increase attention either because of rising energy prices, concern for the environment or both.

The computer industry has been no different. Most recently we've seen the 80 PLUS Program, an attempt to get the efficiency of power supplies at or above 80% under typical load; this is now power of the "Energy Star" specification. And, of course, computers have had the ability to enter lower-power modes such as sleep or hibernate for years. Vantec is now banking on these trends with their latest HD enclosure, the NexStar 3i with Power Management. Though it may seem like a small savings to optimize the power usage of a single HDD, Vantec is betting that consumers will value this functionality for external HDDs.

Specifications:

The Vantec 3i HDD Enclosure is more-or-less a standard 3.5" SATA enclosure. Notably missing, however, is support for eSATA: The external interface is strictly USB 2.0. Considering other enclosures, include Vantec's own, support eSATA, this is somewhat of a letdown, since eSATA is more than just a buzzword - anyone who's connected an external drive via eSATA can attest to both its increased transfer rates and lower CPU utilization versus USB 2.0, which tends to top out at around ~33 MB/s regardless of the actual drive/device.

• Power Management: Saves Power and Extends Hard drive Lifetime

• Built-In Automatic Power Management Processor

• Three Intelligent Power Management Modes: Idle/Stand By/Power Down

• Supports 3.5” SATA Hard Drive Up To 1TB

• Transfer Rates Up To 480Mpbs w/ USB 2.0

• Attractive LED Indicates Power / HDD Activity

• Aluminum Casing Cools Down Your Hard Drive

• Hot Swappable: Plug & Play

• Full Specifications

The Vantec 3i has the typical shape and look of Vantec's other HDD enclosures; chances are you've seen one before. Its aluminum body fits closely around the drive and feels solid. Vantec also includes software that you can install on to the host computer to customize the power management settings of the enclosure.

The Vantec 3i unit reviewed was white, though other colours may be forthcoming. As expected, the packaging had green highlights, because green is the colour of things that help preserve the Earth. The back plainly advertises the power savings that result from running the HDD in one of the reduced power modes, namely Idle, Stand By and Power Down. Opening it up, you'll find the basic assortment of items, including the enclosure, a stand for vertical placement, the power adapter, a USB 2.0 cable, manual/driver CD and required screws.

Front.

Back.

Contents.

The AC adapter is directly integrated with the power cord; this reduces clutter but it'll still block off two plugs on most power bars no matter what way you plug it in. Additionally, the cord is only about 4 ft long so this limits placement options. The all-in-one design makes it easier to transport, though. Looking at the drive enclosure itself, you may realize that it looks pretty much identical to the earlier Vantec enclosures, which have been quite popular. About the only external difference (besides colour) are the noticeable addition of three LEDs near the back to indicate the power saving mode currently active. One of these will be flashing to indicate if, for example, the HDD is powered down. If the HDD is active and being used, the standard blue LED at the front (behind a Vantec logo) will be lit up and flashing.

AC adapter.

Top.

Front Logo/LED.

The back has the typical USB 2.0 connector, power and hard on/off switch. Noticeable absent is an eSATA connection - this may be a turn off for some users who are accustomed to eSATA performance, which offers significant improvements over USB 2.0. Vantec should've included an eSATA option, especially considering most of their other enclosures offer this feature, even the Vantec HDD Dock we reviewed earlier. Vantec does include a USB 2.0 cable, but like the AC adapter it's only around 4 ft long, so you'll have to place the enclosure fairly close to your computer.

Back.

On side.

The additional power indicator LEDs are nicely laid out at the back; each will flash a different colour when that particular power mode is active giving you indication of the HDD's status. The three power modes are Idle, Stand By and Power Down, each resulting in less power consumption than the previous. By default, the drive will first idle after a set amount of time, then go into stand-by mode and then power down if it has not been accessed. These "time out" periods can be adjusted if the included Power Management software is installed on to the host computer.

Indicator LEDs.

In stand.

Like previous enclosures a small stand is included to allow you to place the unit on its side; the stand merely offers a wider base so it's more stable. It works well and is helpful when space is limited.

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