RaidSonic IcyBox IB-318StU3-B review

Gallery

Verdict:

RaidSonic's USB3-capable IcyBox looks good and is straightforward to assemble, but its performance is disappointing.

Review Date: 9 Apr 2010

Price when reviewed: £43

Supplier: http://www.scan.co.uk

Reviewed By: Alan Lu

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

The catchily titled IB-318StU3-B is a hard disk enclosure that allows you to reuse a 3.5in SATA hard disk as an external USB disk. It's the first 3.5in enclosure we've seen that has a USB3 connection.

The IcyBox's black and chrome appearance is understated but attractive and feels reassuringly sturdy. It can be placed on your desk vertically using the included stand or can sit horizontally – with stick-on rubber feet provided to prevent it from sliding around your desk. Fitting a disk isn't difficult, only requiring a couple of screws.

Unfortunately, although the IcyBox is faster than any USB2 disk, it couldn't keep up with the fastest preassembled USB3 disks we've seen. Even with a fast hard disk installed, it only wrote large files at 65MB/s, which is only half the speed of the Buffalo DriveStation USB3.0 (see What's New, Shopper 264) which managed 130MB/s.

The RaidSonic IcyBox IB-318StU3-B isn't an awful hard disk enclosure, but unless you must have a USB3 model right now we'd suggest waiting for improved models with performance that at least lives up to preassembled disk speeds.

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