Hard Reader from IcyBox

    Circumstances and laziness have done their dirty deed;)

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    Review of a useful piece of iron for a free 3.5 ”slot under a cat. Traffic .

    The trouble, as you know, does not come alone - almost simultaneously two laptops (mine and brother) were covered with a copper basin. The first one stopped detecting the hard drive, the second one stopped loading.

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    The situation is not uncommon - if nothing serious, then you just need to remove the disks and conjure them from the working system. I figured that I might need to rearrange the OS, and since the drives on both laptops no longer read, I decided not to bother with uploading images and installing from flash drives and bought this device.
    I really didn’t want to take a nickname, so “THIS” is a 3.5 ”container for 2.5” SATA-drives from IcyBox. The company’s website itself contains almost no information, all information is on the RaidSoniс company’s website . Apparently, they have some kind of astral connection there, as well as with the well-known company QNAP , so I still decided)

    Equipment


    It is logical to assume that there will not be so many things in the box. Actually, it is:

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    - The IcyBox IB-267 device ;
    - Two keys to open the device;
    - SATA cable for connection;
    - A set of screws for mounting;
    - Brief instructions in 8 languages, including Russian.

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    All this is hidden inside the foam material, ensuring relative transportation safety and the integrity of the piece of iron.

    Appearance


    For some reason, I want to call the piece of hardware a card reader. But this is stupid, there are no cards here. Hard reader? Maybe ... but then it is assumed that the device should read all sorts of different hard disks. However, not much is available, not less - only 2.5 ”inch SATA drives.

    The case is black, metal, matte. Dimensions (L * W * H, mm) - 140 * 102 * 26, weight - 250 grams.
    On the front panel (it is also the door) - on the left is a button to open the device and a key hole, and on the right is the company logo and two LEDs with unambiguous icons.

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    The lock is opened by turning the key. After turning, you need to press the white button on top - the gate will open.

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    There is a small rubber tab on the gate, which, if necessary, carefully and without scratches will push the disc inward.

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    If you look closely - on top are two metal "whiskers" that will press the disc to the bottom. A little further - a small controller scarf.

    On the back side (it is one made of plastic) there is a SATA connector and a place for regular power supply.

    Inclusion and work


    As you know, there is nothing complicated. I insert a disk - it comes in easily. An indicator that he went to the end will be a closing door, which later needs to be closed until it clicks. All? Not.

    To “vibrate” inside, you need to insert and turn the key - only then the indicators light up. Probably such a "defense against the fool."

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    Speaking of indicators. There are two of them - blue (power) and red (disk operation). The first is terribly bright and for some reason the light from it is quite directed - even at a distance of a meter its glow is felt. Why they did this is not clear, but then it will be standing under the table, so it’s not deadly. Yes, and the wiring can be disconnected from the inside. The idea for manufacturers- make ultraviolet LEDs - it will be possible to check money and kill microbes in batches :) Oftop - once told a friend that only President’s hair is used in five-thousand-dollar bills - I believed :)

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    Actually, there shouldn’t be any problems with connecting and working with the disk, everything is quite simple. The reader does not affect the disk speed at all, here are high-speed measurements.

    The graph of the linear reading when connected directly:

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    The same graph when working inside the device:

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    What was read. A completely new disk will have to be formatted.

    Pros and cons


    Pros:
    - Build quality and materials;
    - Ability to "close" the disk with a key;
    - Ease of use;
    - Price (600-800 rubles).

    Cons:
    - Bright work indicator

    conclusions


    Both laptops are Asus, but I am not in a hurry to draw any conclusions - they both worked faithfully for more than one year. One disk died forever (pancakes do not even spin up) with a bunch of various projects (my brother belongs to people who ALREADY started making backups); I brought my disk back to life through a few simple gestures, after which I flooded the image of the working system.

    In my opinion, some program that could show the SMART-indicators of the drive, as well as force it to be turned off, didn’t interfere with this “reader” - although SATA supports hot-swap drives, it’s somehow uncomfortable . However, there are more sophisticated models that partially solve these problems.

    Someone will say - “ Hah, why do you need all this ?!”". In principle, yes, it is unlikely that anyone will have an acute need. Here everything is similar to the hot swap function in NASs - somewhere you need to turn off, untwist the case, insert a disk, turn on. Or it can be simpler - I opened the door, inserted the disk and it worked.

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    So here - you can disassemble the case and connect the drive by hanging it or putting books under it. And you can buy this device (fortunately, the price does not bite) - insert it into a free 3.5 ”connector instead of a prehistoric floppy and enjoy life) It's cheap and cheerful. I picked with an eye to winning last summer housing from Hiper, which is still idle. If you want, I can do a review.

    And so - good workmanship and ease of use from a fairly well-known manufacturer, raise this device to a level higher than frankly Chinese crafts. If you are looking for something like this for a stationary assistant or just too lazy to get inside every time, take a look at IcyBox from RaidSonic - a company that specializes in working with media.

    Good luck!

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