Installation:

Installation is straightforward, as you'll know if you've ever used one of these enclosures. However, the Vantec 3i simplifies it further by having the drive connectors (power/data) integrated directly on to the circuit board of the tray.

HDD tray slides out.

Connector directly on board.

If you've ever had to install a HDD into an enclosure, you will know what a pain it can be to attach the cables to the drive; since space in the enclosure is limited the cables have to be short and this makes this exceedingly difficult to connect properly. With the connectors directly on the board the Vantec 3i makes it dead simple: You just slide the drive into place on the tray, as the connectors line up perfectly. After that, you just screw the HDD into place from the bottom using the four included screws.

HDD slides in easily.

Screwed in from bottom.

Power LED connector.

The tray can then be slid back into place. Just before closing it, you should connect the power LED cable, which is straightforward because the 3-pin connector makes it impossible to plug the connector in the "wrong" way: The middle pin is negative and both outer pins are positive.

Testing:

Testing was done with a Western Digital Caviar SE16 500 GB HDD. By default, the HDD will go in to the power savings mode if the HDD is not accessed for a certain duration; longer durations will eventually cause the HDD to completely power down and stop spinning. Accessing the HDD from this state incurs a slight delay as the HDD must spin back up to full speed before any operations can take place; in most cases this should not be a big deal with an external drive, but you can easily configure this by installing the power management software on the CD. (The software was contained in the "NST-360S2I" folder)

Idle.

Stand by.

Powered Down.

Above you can see the different LEDs indicating different power-saving states; the LEDs are actually flashing and aren't solid. Though it's not a big deal, it's still nice to see indication that the power saving is working. Below are some screenshots of the power management software. You can adjust the period of time it takes before the HDD goes into "Stand By" mode or completely powers off; if wanted, you can completely disable the power management, turning this into a regular enclosure. To give you an idea of approximately how much power you've saved the program gives you a running total. Note, however, that the value is in kW.s or kilowatt-seconds. With energy costing roughly 5-6 cents per kilowatt-hour up here in Ontario, Canada (for consumers), it'll take you a while to save significant money especially considering that most HDDs use less than 15 watts at maximum consumption. However, if you leave the drive on all the time, the little bits here and there will add up.

Software.

Configurable times.

Typical (max) USB 2.0 performance.

A quick set of benchmarks reveals that the USB 2.0 performance of the Vantec 3i is on par with other enclosures and is at the upper-end/maximum typical of USB 2.0 connections. That is, it maxes out at roughly 33 MB/s with a CPU utilization of 8.6%.

Conclusion:

The Vantec NexStar 3i lives up to the expectations for a USB 2.0 enclosure. With the bevy of external HDD enclosures out there, it's hard to know what to get and whether you're getting your money's worth. Vantec has been dependable in the past and lives up to their reputation with the NexStar 3i.

While the lack of eSATA may be a tough sell to some, the USB 2.0 connection was rock solid, and for most users, who will likely need just a huge storage drive, this will be more than enough. While the power management capabilities might not save you that much money in the long run, it will serve to reduce the amount of wear and tear on your HDD by reducing the amount of time it's spinning. Powering up an external HDD on-demand like this just makes sense, even if you don't care about the environment.

Pros:

• Quality aluminum enclosure

• Very easy to install, thanks to the integrated HDD connector

• Power management saves energy and reduces drive utilization

Cons:

• No eSATA support

• Cables are a bit short

Thanks go out to Vantec for making this review possible!

Email Response from Vantec:  6-24-2008

Thanks for the review on the Vantec NexStar Power Management enclosure.

 First of all, I would like to point out the lack of eSATA connection is due to the compatibility issue with the Power Management Software.  At this time, the Power Management Software will only support USB 2.0 interface.  If the enclosure is using eSATA connection, the Power Management software will not be able to detect or change the status of the enclosure.  That is why we have not included the eSATA connection.  We do not want user to be mislead if we included a connection that is not supported by the Power Management function.  But this does not mean that we have overlooked this feature.  At this time, our team is working on resolving this issue.  This unfortunately will take time.

 Secondly, the power adapter cable we have included is within the industry standard.  You will need to place the Power Management enclosure next to your computer or within reach in order to view the status on the Power Management mode or to turn on/off as needed.    

I'd like to thank Vantec for not only reading our reviews, but also for taking the ambition to clarify any issues with our readers and their prospective buyers. That's good customer care as far as I'm concerned. This is the kind of thing that separates Vantec from the crowd when it comes to releasing great products. 

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