Date:
Monday , September 25, 2006
Author:
Tim Roper
Editor:
Jason Wall
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Icy Dock MB559 External Hard Drive Enclosure

Hard drive enclosure manufacturer Icy Dock rolls out a hot-swappable eSATA/USB hard drive enclosure. It looks great, but what are you really getting?

Introduction

A few weeks ago, we posted our first review of an external hard drive enclosure. The Vantec enclosure interested us because of its stand-alone file serving capabilities as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device. This new enclosure from Icy Dock caught our eye because it supports the newer and faster SATA standards, whereas the Vantec was limited to IDE.

Newegg.com currently lists the MB559 at $54.99 (plus shipping) and has it in stock as of 09/24/06. A search on Froogle listed a few available on Ebay for around $65.

Note: Icy Dock's similar model, the MB559UEA-1S, offers FireWire connectivity instead of SATA. This article only refers to the SATA/USB model.

The Icy Dock MB559US-1S Enclosure

Like the Vantec NexStar, the MB559 is only an enclosure. You need to provide your own SATA hard drive in order for it to work (and only SATA - the enclosure is not compatible with any other standard, such as IDE or SCSI). The MB559 offers USB 2.0 and eSATA connectivity. The retail package comes with an external power supply, a USB cable, a SATA cable, and an eSATA port bracket that you can install in a desktop expansion slot (provided your motherboard supports SATA, of course). The rear panel also sports a micro-security (Kensington style) slot.

The enclosure is remarkably compact - only slightly larger than a 3.5” HDD - and is constructed of brushed aluminum with plastic trim. It’s very elegant-looking and feels very solid. At just over a pound (empty, but with power supply), it’s easily portable.

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