Closer Look:

Front

Back

As opposed to previous enclosures, the NexStar MX is aimed at offering those needing some serious external storage. The MX enclosure will allow you to pick up drives ranging all the way up to 2 TB! That means, you can pick up two 1 TB drives whether it be Seagate, Maxtor, or Western Digital. The only requirement is that you install SATA or SATA II drives. If you want Terabyte amounts of space, you'll have to use SATA II drives which have faster transfer rates over the previous generation IDE and SATA which is exactly what you want.

Left Angle

Right Angle

The MX currently comes in only a two toned silver bezel and black aluminum housing. It feels pretty stout when picking it up and looking it over. The concept of the enclosure is simple: take the one main unit and set it on the flat foot, matching pedestal. Two thin rubber strips on top and bottom of the pedestal are what keep the MX from sliding around on your desk. Naturally, the base of the MX is quite flat only moves when pushed.

Front

Back

The front of the MX essentially just has a silver, aluminum plate machined to shape so it covers most of the front. Behind the plate are slits which allow the warm air generated by the drives to escape as the rear fan pulls air inside. Three LEDs individually light up the Power, HDD1, and HDD2 slots. Of course, depending on which slot inside the unit is indicated by the LED when active. Even though it's only a thin aluminum plate, it feels pretty sturdy and won't bend easily. The way it sits off the face of the MX case is a bit of a unique look to current external enclosures. Now, if the Vantec symbol lit up while on, that would've been really sweet.

Bezel Front

The back of the unit is very simple and easy to understand. Hooking it up shouldn't be a problem for anyone whether a novice or not. The main media interface is of course a USB cord from the unit to your computer's USB port. It operates under a standard 12 volt power adapter which comes with the extra power cord. Naturally, there is a small power switch between the wires and a lower cooling fan. The fan keeps the internal circuit board and hard drives cool by keeping cooler air flowing through the case during operation.

Back of unit

Accessories

Upon opening the MX, its apparent just how compact and well they designed the internal chassis. The front of the chassis just has three small LEDs for the bezel lighting. The hard drive chambers run vertically instead of sideways like many common external enclosures. This won't effect the life or performance of the drives, but it does keep the foot print of the MX slimmer than a horizontal enclosure. The main circuit board that contains the SATA port and power connector is all tucked neatly at the back of the frame and is mounted really well. There isn't any movement in the connectors, PCB, or frame which is a very welcomed detail. Some cheaper external enclosures don't put a great deal of interest in to the connection and case designs, so they naturally don't line up or move too much when installing a drive.

Opening the drive

Back PCB board

The accessories include the power adapter, USB cable, AC cord, Manual, and ArcSoft software. ArcSoft is an included, handy little program that can set up to back up the files you deem necessary, or back up everything automatically. The software isn't required if you want to use the MX. The manual is also pretty well written and will help in the installation of the software as well as answer any obvious questions.

ArcSoft and Manual

Good Illustrations

Got News? Send 'em in!