Vantec NexStar 3

3.5-inch external hard drive enclosures have been around for a while. What makes the NexStar 3 different is the eSATA interface that comes along with the USB interface.

But before that—for the uninitiated—lets understand what a 3.5-inch enclosure is. '3.5-inch' is the form factor of the hard drive. A 3.5-inch hard drive is the one that goes into your desktop. The hard drives that go into laptops are 2.5-inch hard drives. In normal circumstances, i.e. inside your computer case, the hard drive is connected to the IDE or SATA port of the motherboard—depending on the type of hard drive you have—and is screwed to the computer case. But, what if you want a large capacity storage device that is also portable? One of the most cost effective options would be to use the very same 3.5-inch hard drive and mount it into an external 3.5-inch hard drive enclosure like the NexStar 3. The NexStar 3 can then be externally connected to the USB port of a computer and in NexStar’s case, also to an eSATA port.

Also lets see what eSATA is—eSATA stands for External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It’s an interface for external storage devices with its competitors being USB and Firewire. From the chart below you can see the maximum transfer speeds using each of the interfaces. The Vantec NexStar is SATA II ready. These are theoretical maximum speeds. We will benchmark the enclosure in real world conditions to see the actual speeds.

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Design

The glossy look is in fashion, at least with gadgets. The PlayStation 3, the latest range of HP laptops and NexStar 3, all have a glossy finish. Apart from it being a fingerprint magnet, the body is scratch resistant. The black glossy surface along with steel lines gives it a very striking appearance. Vantec also bundles along a stand to hold the drive vertically.

Incase you plan to keep the drive horizontally, there are four rubber pads at the corner to keep it intact on slippery surfaces. This is necessary, since its not advisable to move the drive when in operation because of the moving parts inside the drive.

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Installation

You just need to get a 3.5-inch hard drive (not provided in the package). As you have seen in the above charts, SATA II supports transfer rates up to 300 MBps ( Mega Bytes per second). So we recommend using a SATA II drive. In fact most of the manufacturers selling SATA hard drives, sell only SATA II drives, even for the economy models.

Accessories

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After that you just need to screw the hard drive to the enclosure. You can then connect the enclosure to the computer’s USB port or if available, an eSATA port. Incase you don’t have an eSATA port, Vantec provides an eSATA bracket that fits into an expansion slot and the cable attaches to a SATA port on the motherboard. The enclosure needs to be externally powered and for that an adapter is provided.

eSATA Bracket

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Performance

Since all enclosures have a USB interface and are almost similar in transfer speeds, we will not compare the NexStar 3 with them. Instead we will compare NexStar's own USB transfer speed to its eSATA.

We have used Western Digital’s Caviar SE, 160 GB, SATA II hard drive for the enclosure.

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Real World Tests

As we can see from the above figures, eSATA gives as much as twice the transfer speeds. We also benchmarked the hard drive that we used in the enclosure (WD 160 GB Caviar SE, SATA II) connecting it to the motherboard. The transfer speeds were just 2 to 4% faster. This shows that the eSATA interface doesn't slow down the drive much.

Conclusion

The Vantec NexStar 3 with eSATA is a new breed of next generation portable storage. Along with its striking good looks, eSATA is twice as fast as compared to USB 2.0. The NexStar 3 costs Rs. 3600. If you can live with USB 2.0 speeds, you can get regular enclosures for Rs. 1000. If you want the same striking looks of the NexStar 3 then you can also avail its non-eSATA version costing around Rs. 2100.