Akasa Elite S and Integral S 2.5″ Hard Drive Enclosures Review

1. Introduction2. Akasa Elite S Hard Drive Enclosure3. Akasa Integral S4. Akasa Card and Drive Reader5. Performance6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

Many people will opt for the simple route when purchasing an external hard drive, purchasing a pre-assembled unit from the likes of Western Digital or Seagate.  But the more tech-savvy users out there may decide to purchase the enclosure and hard drive separately to reduce the cost or to achieve better levels of performance.

Today we are going to look at two of Akasa's 2.5″ hard drive enclosures which both support USB3.0 connectivity.  These are perfect for those who need an ultra-fast SSD based external drive or those who want to make the most of a traditional mechanical drive.  We will also be taking a brief look at a front bay Card and Drive reader from Akasa that supports a number of memory card standards alongside 2.5″ hard drives.

Akasa Elite S

Features

• Super Speed USB3.0 connection
• Leather Finish with brushed aluminium fascia
• Aluminium housing for good heat dissipation
• Suitable for all 2.5″ SATA HDD and SSD
• Backward compatible with USB2.0

Specification

• Dimensions: 132 x 90 x 16mm
• Max HDD Height: 9.5mm
• Internal interface: SATA
• External Interface: USB3.0
• Transfer rate (up to): 5.0Gbps (USB3.0) and 480Mbps (USB2.0)
• Power requirements: +5V DC (from USB)
• Plug & Play, hot-swappable
• OS Support: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.3+

Akasa Integral S

Features

• Super Speed USB3.0 interface
• Sleek aluminium body for good heat dissipation
• Suitable for all 2.5″ SATA and SSD drives
• Backward compatible with USB3.0
• Plug & Play, Hos-swappable
• Blue LED access and power indicator

Specification

• Dimensions: 136 x 80 x 16mm
• Max HDD height: 9.5mm
• Internal interface: SATA
• External interface: USB3.0
• Transfer rate (up to): 5.0 Gbps (USB3.0) and 480 Mbps (USB2.0)
• Power requirements: +5V DC (from USB)
• OS Support: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.3+

Akasa BayMaster Card and Drive Reader

Features

• 2.5″ SATA HDD / SSD Dock
• 4-slot card reader
• choice of fascia colour
• Plug and Play, hot-swappable

Specification

• Compatibility: 3.5″ Drive Bay
• Interface: USB2.0
• Max transfer speed: 480 Mbps
• Max drive height: 9.5mm
• Power requirement: +5V DC
• Connectors: motherboard USB plug, SATA power
• LED: Card Reader and HDD Access
• OS Support: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

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