As far as accessories go, we've got the same offerings here as we do with the other enclosures. Even though there is a Driver Disk, it is intended for Windows 98SE users only. Windows XP and Windows Vista, as well as the Mac OS all have provisions for handling this enclosure in either RAID-0 or JBOD mode. Even if the disks are formatted, we can still get the enclosure to RAID up the drives. Here's how....

     You'll need to go to your Computer Management console and select Disk Management. The quickest way here is to click Start, then Right Click on My Computer, then select MANAGE from the pop-up menu. Once here, You'll see a disk (in this case it is DISK 1) that could have one or two partitions, depending on the condition of your drives.  If there are two, and you have RAID enabled,  simply select each partition and then delete it. Yes, any data you have on that drive is going to be erased, but either (A) you were a responsible computer user and have back-ups or (B) these are recycled drives and you've long since forgotten exactly what was on it anyway.

     Moving on, once both partitions are deleted, the drive will show up exactly as you see it above, as one large unallocated space. At this point you would format the drive like any other hard drive and use it just the same. Likewise, any time you move this enclosure from one PC to another, the drives will be in state in which you chose here. Basically, the point I'm trying to make is once these drives are configured, it's business as usual as far as operation goes.

     Once you have the enclosure all setup, you can monitor the vitals on the front panel. There are separate lights for Power (blue), RAID (green), and hard drive access (red).

     Our last look at the enclosure will be a quick HD Tach benchmark run. Burst speed peaked at 37.5 megabytes/second while the overall read speed was sustained at the 35 megabyte/second  mark.

     Conclusion 

     We've taken a brief look at only three of Eagle Tech's enclosures, each one brings new innovations to the already flooded enclosure market. The T-series is able to mount either an IDE or SATA hard drive while the M-series incorporates a revolutionary mounting system with USB and eSATA capabilities. The D-series is the ultimate SATA hard drive recycling tool, brining driver-free external RAID to the masses. Price is always a consideration, and I feel these units are priced to sell considering the flexibility of these units. As far as warranty is concerned,  each enclosure is protected with a 1-year warranty.

      USB 2.0 is the common theme among all of these enclosures and only one was equipped with an eSATA interface. Firewire is definitely important for our MAC loving friends, but on a PC it's USB. Sure, Firewire B has the potential for faster transfer rates. However, Firewire B devices require a different cable unlike USB 1.1 and 2.0 devices which can operate on either host with the exact same cable.

      All of these enclosures are made as compact as they can be and still pull off their intended purpose. Appropriately, the D series carries the most bulk housing two 3.5" hard drives. Since 3.5" enclosures require an external power source, all of the enclosures came with an AC/DC adapter.

     Eagle Tech has delivered enclosures that are very useful and diverse in their capabilities. They are easy to work with and rugged enough for day to day transport. The only major draw back of any 3.5" enclosure is the AC/DC power adapter, but since it's a necessary evil we can't fault Eagle Tech for that at all. However, they have made the adapters a one-piece unit so you don't have to worry about loosing a proprietary power cord. Overall, I feel the enclosure market is a much better place, now that these enclosures are in it.

Note: Club Overclocker is now using a new rating system based on a score of 1 to 5.
Please go to our rating system page for more information.

Performance:	5 out of 5
Innovation:	5 out of 5
Quality:	5 out of 5
Stability:	N/A
Aesthetics:	4 out of 5
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Overclocking:	N/A
Value:	5 out of 5
Project Skill Level (5 being most difficult)	1 out of 5