Vantec NexStar 3 SATA/eSATA 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosure Review

Bottom-Line: At a retail price of approximately $50.00 the NexStar 3 is a little more expensive than some others on the market, but I believe it's worth it. 

I recently upgraded my standard satellite receiver to a Dish Network ViP722 HD-DVR that offers up to 55 hours of recorded HD programming.  Not enough.  Good thing the Dish Network ViP722 HD-DVR has a high-speed USB port and allows for the connection of an external hard drive. 

Lucky for me I had an external Seagate Barracuda ES 750GB hard drive lying in wait for just such an occasion; all I needed was an external hard drive enclosure to put it in.  After some research I concluded that the Vantec NexStar 3 SATA/eSATA 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosure was the one for me.  

The NexStar 3 external 3.5 inch hard drive enclosure features a (1) USB 2.0 & (2) Firewire hook-ups that can be mated with SATA I/II or eSATA hard drives.

The Enclosure

The NexStar 3 case is composed of two parts, one of which, a tray that holds the hard drive, slides inside the other and are secured by two screws. To install your hard drive, simply ease the back-end with the ports out of the enclosure, connect then secure the hard drive with the provided screws to the tray.  The whole process took less than 10 minutes to complete.  

Use  

The NexStar 3 was immediately discovered by the Dish Network ViP722 and formatted for use.  The aluminum housing does its business quite well, that is keeping the drive cool, or reasonably cool, and even after several hours of continual use, the drive was hot to the touch, but not excessively so.  

My Viewpoint

Since installing the Vantec NexStar 3 SATA/eSATA 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosure almost a month ago, the unit has performed flawlessly, and frankly the NexStar 3 is one of the best external hard drive enclosures I used.  Sleek design coupled with the near silent operation of the Seagate Barracuda ES allows the NexStar 3 to better the competition.   At a retail price of approximately $50.00 the NexStar 3 is a little more expensive than some others on the market, but I believe it's worth it.