Vantec EZ Swap EX & NexStar SX 2.5" Hard-Drive Enclosures

[Rob Williams]

We've taken a look at a fair amount of external storage devices in the past, but here's one that's unique. At home, you can plug the drive in like a diskette for full S-ATA speeds, and eject it to take on the go with USB-functionality. In addition to the EZ Swap EX, we are also taking a look at Vantec's latest NexStar offering.

You can read the full review here and discuss it here.

Does the drive insert also work in 3.5" bays?

The bottom comes off in order so that you can secure the drive by screwing it in through the bottom , using the supplied screwdriver.

So far, it works great BTW! It makes a nice addition to an EeePC.

I have about 6 external Vantec enclosures. Only one failed on me, but it was an older version. Luckily I had two of them so now I have to power cords for one! (Think positive)

I love my EZ Swap enclosures except that on Vista X64 I could swap them while in Windows and it would recognize, but now that I've moved on to Windows 7 X64, it no longer does that. I have to boot the computer with the drive already in. That's very annoying!

I have four 2.5" enclosures, and three 3.5" enclosures. (including the one that failed). All of them have been a simple pleasure to use and none of them are slow in any way. The great thing is, at least at the time I ordered mine, the EZ Swap IDE versions are only 14.99 from Newegg! That is insanely cheap for such an amazing product. The included carrying case is functional and small and the cord fits in it nicely as well. Vantec is the only company I turn to when its time to buy an external anything. Soon I'll be ordering a external 5.25" enclosure for a portable Blueray burner.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Does the drive insert also work in 3.5" bays?

The drive insert is indeed made for 3.5". In his pictures he has it mounted in the included 5.25" adapter.

[2Tired2Tango]

I have this little thing I do when I upgrade someone's hard disk... I take the old one (if it's still functional) and put it in either a CX or SX enclosure and then give it back to them as external storage. If they don't want it, I will sell it and make myself a couple of extra bucks.

I also use a CX enclosure with a terrabyte in it as my primary backup device on my own network.

Over the past 3 years since I started using Vantec (Nexstar) not one of the enclosures has failed or given any problems at all. I've even shipped them through the mail half way cross the country without any problems at all.

Methinks an 8 is underrating these products. In my experience they've been flawless.