Eagle Consus External HDD Enclosures

Manufacturer: Eagle Tech Computers
Supplied by: Eagle Tech Computers
Price: $25 N-Series / $40 I-Series

by Jeremy Lawrence (5/18/2008)

 

Introduction

Sometimes you just need to take your data with you and you don't want to have to burn all that information to multiple CDs/DVDs.  Or maybe it's just too much to put on a thumb.  The HDD enclosures hitting the market lately have made just that a possibility.  With so many to choose from, how do you know which ones are right for you?

Today we're going to take a look at a couple of these enclosures, namely the Eagle Consus N-Series and Eagle Consus I-Series External 3.5" HDD Enclosures.  Each drive offers functionality from a different perspective.  The I-Series for instance brings a twin disk enclosure to the table with a one button back up making large back ups painless.  The I-Series also goes both ways, as in it can be used as an internal or an external enclosure.  The N-Series is an external single drive solution that comes in both an IDE and a SATA model.  Thanks to the crew of Eagle Tech Computers for offering these units up for some closer inspection.

Specifications

Eagle N-Series

• Application: Single Drive External 3.5" SATA300 HDD up to 1TB max

• Interface: USB 2.0

• Dimensions: 1.25" x 8.5" x 4.75"

• Power: External Power Adapter

• Hot Swappable

• Construction: Aluminum

• Colors: Black

Eagle I-Series

• Application: Dual Drive Internal 3.5" SATA300 HDD up to 2TB max

• Interface: USB 2.0

• Dimensions: 3.2" x 8.5" x 5"

• Power: External Power Adapter

• Hot Swappable

• 1-button Backup with FNet Backup Software

• Construction: Aluminum / Plastic Bezel

• Colors: Black with interchangeable Orange / Silver Bezel

  

The Eagle N-Series

What you get

We'll start off today by taking a look at the Eagle Consus N-Series External SATA Enclosure.  The packaging is actually quite impressive with the Styrofoam supports to make sure the enclosure doesn't get dinged around during transit.  It's easy to pop open and get at the goodies inside.  As you can see, included in the box was the Enclosure, a Driver CD, a Power Cord, USB Cord, a stand, some screws to secure the HDD in place, and even a small screw driver to secure the drive.

  

Taking a closer look at the enclosure, you can see that it's done up in a matte black finish.  It is all aluminum and feels very sturdy.  There's a small but unobtrusive Eagle logo on each side of the Consus Enclosure.  On the back side of the enclosure are the only plugs available, and the only ones you should need; a power button, a USB plug (standard), and a plug for the power adapter.  You can also see that the side panels are secured to the enclosure with thumb screws.  These are thinner than the normal thumb screw, which is actually a pretty nice look, so they will also support an Allen wrench in the case that you cannot get them off.

     

Upon removing the thumb screws from both sides, you can see how the drive secures.  It plugs into the SATA plugs on the small PCB and secures to the enclosure with four screws that line up nicely once the drive is in place.  EagleTech also makes an enclosure to support an IDE drive if that's what you have.  These screws secure the drive, and the side panels can be re-attached.  Installation, if you can even call it that, was easy as pie.

  

Here, you can see what the N-Series Consus Enclosure looks like next to my PC powered up.  There's a small power light, and an HDD activity light on the front.  These are very unobtrusive, but enough to show you if the drive's doing anything.

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