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Kingwin Night Hawk 3.5" SATA & USB 2.0
Combo
External Drive Enclosure Review
With so many external hard drive enclosures on the
market these days, its nice to see some new tricks. And when those
new tricks come form an industry giant like Kingwin you really take
notice. With the Night Hawk TL-35CS external drive enclosure,
Kingwin has brought the convenience of a USB 2.0 drive enclosure and
added SATA capability. That's right, external USB and SATA.
How does the Night Hawk perform under pressure? I'm glad you
asked!
The Kingwin packaging really tell you everything
you need to know about the Night Hawk drive. With so much
information present, the information never overwhelms the purchaser.
When I said the box tells you everything, I meant it.
The back of the box provides all of the setup information. Take a
good look at these instructions, this will be your only directions or
manual. Even the basic specs are listed. I am glad SATA is
so simple because its not even mentioned.
The cables are exactly what you would expect.
Both the USB and SATA Cables are included. Worth mentioning is the
length of the SATA Cable, at some 3 feet long, its the longest
SATA cable I have seen.
Lets take a better look at the details using the
Kingwin website as a reference.
Features:
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Tool-less installation.
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SATA H.D.D. to USB 2.0/SATA combo
interface.
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Plug & Play.
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Shock resistant protection.
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Aluminum material.
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Ball bearing fan.
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Fan failure alarm system.
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Power adapter included.
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Prolific chipset.
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Specifications:
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Interface:
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USB 2.0 and SATA
combo to SATA H.D.D.
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Application:
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3.5" SATA H.D.D.
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Material:
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Aluminum alloy.
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Cooling
fan:
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Ball bearing fan.
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Power
adapter:
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AC
input:100~240V, 50~60Hz; DC output:
12V,2A/5V,2A; Watts: 34W.
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Color:
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Black
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Dimensions:
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210(mm)L x
122(mm)W x 39(mm)H / 8 1/4"(L) x 4
3/4"(W) x 1 1/2"(H) inches.
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Weight:
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4 lbs.
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System
reqirement:
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PC or Mac system
(Desktop / Laptop) with available
SATA or USB ports.
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Operating
system:
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Windows
98SE/ME/2000/XP, Mac OS 8.6 or
higher.
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Contents:
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Aluminum main
enclosure, SATA cable, USB2.0 A-B
cable, DC 5V/12V dual power adapter,
power cable for adapter, driver CD,
and mounting screws.
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The TL-35CS has a look that you will immediately love
or hate.
The shape of the drive enclosure reminds me of the new
Cadillac line or maybe the angular profile of the Stealth fighters.
The fact this drive only comes in black aluminum helps this impression
as well.
Maybe the Stealth is a bit of a stretch, but the
simple efficient lines are just angular enough to pull it off.
One of the many things that stick out on the Night
Hawk is the active cooling fan. Many aluminum enclosures use the
aluminum material as the only heat sink. Kingwin not only adds a
nice quiet 40mm fan, they also provide a fan failure alarm system.
If the warning LED lighting comes on, simply replace the fan not the
enclosure.
The back is where the real difference is visible.
Kingwin provides a USB port for USB 2.0 Plug and play and a SATA port
for external SATA connectivity. External SATA may not be common
but with the speed boost you may find yourself picking up an adapter.
I used the motherboard connector directly and also an
ACRyan SATA Backy.
An IDE version is also available, though without an external IDE port.
The Install is next..
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