When we last visited the Vizo Luxon series back in November of 2006, we found it to be a competent enclosure and one of the first generation to bring external SATA to the masses.  Fast forward to the new Luxon Advanced ED.  With over a year to perfect the design, how does the latest Vizo enclosure stack up?  Read on to find out.

     The Overall design of the Luxon enclosure maintains the same high polished Aluminum finish and two piece book style we have seen before.  The vented chassis is offered in both the black you see here and in metallic blue or a polished grey.

FEATURES

• Compatible with 3.5" SATA Hard Drive
• Support 480Mbps High Speed USB 2.0 and USB 1.1
• Support 3.0Gbps High Speed external Serial-ATA ( eSATA )
• Real 3Gb/s Chipset for eSATA speed
• Aluminum housing for excellent heat dissipation
• Side vents improve convection for better system cooling
• LED light indicates working status and file transfer
• Stylish outlook with sleek design
• Support plug and play & hot swappable
  *Must be attached to SATA 3.0G/eSATA 3.0G hot swappable compliant host to enable hot swappable function

SPECIFICATIONS

• Case Material : Aluminum
• Host Interface:
  480Mbps USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 Compatible)
  3.0Gbps High Speed external Serial-ATA ( eSATA )
• HDD Type : 3.5 " SATA Hard Drive
• Power Supply : AC/DC Power Adapter
  ( AC input: 100~ 240Vac , DC output: +12V, 2A )
• Indicators : Blue for Power on / Purple for file access 　
• Available colors : Black, Blue, Silver
• Model No. : LUE-360-BK, LUE-360-BL, LUE-360-GY
• Weight : 400 g (without HDD)
• Dimensions : 210(L) x 125 (W) x 34 (H) mm

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• For USB 2.0 : Windows 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP or Mac 8.6 & above
• One USB port available for USB Host
• For eSATA : Windows 2000/XP/Vista or Mac 8.6 & above
• Proper SATA/eSATA port or SATA card available for eSATA host
  * Must have SATA 3.0G/eSATA 3.0G hot swappable compliant host to enable hot swappable function
• Note : Driver needed for window 98/98SE
  Click Here to download Win98 driver

PACKAGE INCLUDES

• 3.5" SATA HDD External Enclosure
• Stand
• USB Cable
• eSATA Cable
• Power Adapter
• Screw Fitting Kit
• Cleaning Cloth
• User Manual

     From this view you can see the enclosure's book design.  Four screws hold the center piece in the black taco like shell.  The blue power light across the front and top doubles as a purple drive activity light and nicely accents the color scheme.  The mirrored finish is truly spectacular in person and the inclusion of a cleaning cloth is a nice touch for those pesky fingerprints.

     The back side provides sockets for the USB 2.0 type A plug, 3.0 Gb/s eSATA, a power switch and the optional power plug.  Thankfully the labeling has been kept to a minimum.

     Some 2.5' enclosures can be powered directly by the USB port but the performance is limited.  The extra power requirements needed for a 3.5' hard drive require a leash like this power supply.  Fortunately the cable is around 6 feet long.  The trade off is increased performance through USB 2.0 and 3.0 bps eSATA.  Seems like a fair trade to me!