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RBMODS REVIEWS |
Date 2008-07-30
Provider: Spire
Author: Ville Ilonen
Editor: Amber Lupala
Spire SP175SU-SL-EU 2.5” SATA to USB Hard disk enclosure Review
Spire is one of the manufacturers everyone knows. Spires product range includes everything from computer cases to computer coolers and from card readers to USB hard disk enclosures. This time we will have a look on their new SATA to USB enclosure.
About Spire:
Founded in 1991, Spire is the premier brand for computer thermal solutions. In order to meet the needs of the global market, we have established the production facilities in China, our corporate office in the USA and overseas branches in The Netherlands, U.K., Germany, France, Taiwan, Japan and Brazil. All are strategically located to better work with the customers we serve.
The purpose built Spire factory and all of the products were approved by CE, UR, CSA, and TUV in 1998. We have gained AMD and VIA approvals along with recognition by International Standard Commission for Quality Assurance in 1999 against ISO-9002 and ISO-9001. (No.Q16437)
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With today"s high-speed processors functioning at an unprecedented speed and output, the demand for better and more reliable cooling solutions has become one of the most important issues in the computer industry today. As a premier manufacturer of high quality cooling solutions, we are able to meet the demands of the computer industry by providing competitively priced products, next day delivery and lifetime warranty.
The reliability of our products has earned the loyalty of many well known manufacturers and distributors throughout the world and we have maintained close business ties with international names in the computer industry.
At Spire we continually strive to improve and develop a wide range of thermal products by investing heavily in our quality manufacturing process and Research & Development. Our objective is to provide top quality products for national distributors as well as for ODM and OEM clients. We are always moving forward with new and innovative thermal solutions.
This year we are continuing the ongoing enhancements of our current production machinery as well as purchasing new equipment in an effort to provide an ever improving product line. One of our latest machines enables us to balance our fan blades with a greater degree of accuracy. By balancing the blades more efficiently, we are able to extend the life of the bearing and reduce the overall noise of the fan. This technique also allows us to increase the speed of fans without increasing the noise.
Our focus is to build on the current success of the Spire brand so that our brand is recognized world wide as a provider of top quality cooling solutions. We will continue to work to maintain the satisfaction of our customers and share the knowledge of our experts to provide our customer's with 'The perfect cooling solution'.
Specifications:
CablesUSB Cable
ColorsSilver
Data transferUSB 480Mbit/sec
Dimensions145*100*20 mm
FeaturesHard drive support up to 320GB
InterfaceUSB2.0(Backwards compatible with USB1.1
OS supportWindows 98/ME/2000/XP/VISTA Mac OS 8.6,OS X
The product:
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
The package itself is colored in pure black and red. On the front side of the packet you can find the most important features of the Handybook. These features include tool-free design, plug & play, and hi-speed data transfers. Unfortunately Spire does not tell us how fast is their idea of hi-speed. There are also couple of pictures of the product itself labeled on the front side. When you look on the backside of the packet, you can find more information of the device itself. It seems that the same packet is used SATA to USB/IEEE1394/eSATA versions of the enclosure. Therefore there is a stamp in upper left corner of the packet indicating that the product we have is USB2.0 version. There is also another stamp which indicates the color of the enclosure itself.
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Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
Looking inside the packet surprised me a bit. Unlike the previous enclosures I have had, this time the accessories were awesome. To be honest, while Handybooks price is very reasonable there are lots of nice stuff in the packet. Unlike some other manufacturers enclosures, Spire’s accessories are exemplary. Enclosure itself, a stand for it, USB-cable, USB-power cable, driver cd, some screws, small manual and a screw driver is all we need for assembling the hard drive in and setting it up and running.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
Device itself is a quite bulky. There is a spire logo branded on the other side, and Spires www-address on the other side. You can find from the backside of the packet all the needed connectors. These include only USB-connector and power supply connector. However I would have liked to see powerswitch in this product.
Testing:
Like previous times when reviewing Spires products we decided to stick with regular user experiences of products rather than driving the enclosure through some test programs.
However we did compare handybook against Raidsonic’s 2.5”IDE -> USB adapter. I was not very surprised to see how Handybook outranked the old ide->usb adapter I had. The performance is good even for a 2.5” hard disk. You have to keep in mind that USB-disks are not the best drives to install your programs in to, not to mention installing your operating system in one. As a storage drive with your laptop, Handybook is a must.
Conclusion:
Being priced around 20€, Handybook is cheap product. Despite of its cheap price, I assure you it is a great product! There are some cons in it, like using two separate USB cables rather than one dual cable, but you can’t expect to get everything. Performance is nice, though it’s always the USB-enclosure which is slower part than the hard disk itself. As a storage hard disk with your laptop, I’d recommend Handybook.
Pros:
+ Great value for 29€
+ Backwards compatible with USB1.1
Cons:
- Two separate USB cables rather than one dual cable
Current Real Time Pricing
Related Articles:
Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard Review
Verbatim Desktop Mouse Roundup
Logitech MX5500 Revolution Cordless Desktop Review
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