Macally MAC-TB-S120 review

If you've upgraded your notebook's 2in SATA hard disk, you can put your old disk inside an external enclosure. We've looked at two suitable models: Macally's MAC-TB-S120 and RaidSonic's Icy Box IB-266StUSD-B.

The S120's metal enclosure looks attractive and feels sturdy. In addition to USB, the S120 has FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 ports, and Macally provides cables for all three.

We tested the S120 with a 60GB Hitachi hard disk, and its performance over USB was in line with what we'd expect. Over FireWire 400 it managed an average of 31.51MB/s in our large files test and 11.55MB/s in our small files test. Sadly, using FireWire 800 saw no improvement in our small files test and only a small gain in our large file test.

The S120 needs the included power adaptor when connected over USB. This is inconvenient and puzzling since it doesn't need a power adaptor when connected using either FireWire interface.

The Icy Box looks sleek and it's even easier to disassemble than the S120. We fitted the Icy Box with the same 60GB hard disk as the S120 and its performance when connected over USB was also in line with what we'd expect. It was quicker than the S120 in our small files test and scored almost identically in our large file test.

The Icy Box has an eSATA port, the external version of SATA used by internal hard disks. It wasn't much faster than the S120's FireWire connection, with an average score of 32.27MB/s in our large file test and an average score of 10.15MB/s in our small files test. Notebook hard disks aren't that quick, but this month's PC Builder on page 174 shows the performance you can get from eSATA when using desktop hard disks.

The Icy Box has a docking station that fits inside a spare 3in drive bay on your PC and plugs into a spare SATA port. Power is supplied by a Molex connector. You can still remove the drive for travelling, though.

The S120 is hard to recommend, as it costs as much as a 120GB portable FireWire and USB hard disk, and can't be USB bus-powered. The Icy Box is better value and the internal docking station is a great idea.