When it comes to enclosures for external hard drives, the average consumer may think that all products are
created equal. The Akasa Corporation, however, is beginning to
change that thinking. The Akasa Group,
founded in 1997, offers numerous products in addition to external drive enclosures that will allow you to
individualize your PC or laptop. They design numerous products that help ensure no two PCs are alike.
Their newest external enclosure is the AK-EN-02CB-SL, which is a part of the Integral Series.
3DCool provided our sample of the AK-EN-02CB-SL.
PRODUCT FEATURES
High speed: USB 2.0 interface, backwardly compatible with existing USB 1.1 ports
2 x IEEE 1394 connector
Suitable for all 3.5" internal or external device
Auto-eject HDD tray for easy installation
Silver aluminium alloy body
Crystal acrylic side panels with blue LED illumination
Acrylic holder for vertical use
Plug and play/hot swappable
OS support Win 98SE/ME/2000/XP/ Mac OS 8.6 above
Package Contents
The model we received is the silver one, but a black model will also be available. 2.5" and 5.25" Integral
Series enclosures are also available, but the 3.5" is the most common enclosure. Every enclosure that is
part of the Integral Series will have the power/activity LEDs.
HARDWARE
I am a firm believer of "Less is more," and Akasa does not disappoint. The case consists simply of a front
panel, back plate, and an aluminum shell. The effort to keep things minimal carries over into the mechanism
that allows access to the internals of the case. On the bottom of the front panel there is a sliding switch
that unlocks the shell. This allows the shell to easily slide away from the back panel, making it very easy
to change out drives.
Back Panel
On the rear panel, in addition to the USB port, is a pair of Firewire ports. With Akasa deciding to include
this, the AK-EN-02CB-SL keeps racking up the accolades. The ports can be used to connect directly to your
PC or to directly connect a Firewire device to the enclosure. This is a revolutionary idea because now you
won't have to crawl behind your desk and hunt for a Firewire port. So, the AK-EN-02CB-SL becomes more than
just a place for an external IDE drive, but a miniature IEEE 1394 hub as well. Bravo to Akasa for this
stroke of genius.
