Bytecc ME-320x USB 2.0 External Enclosure

Today I'll be reviewing one of the many, available external enclosures. The Bytecc ME-320 series is just one of many that Bytecc produces. This one is a USB 2.0 type enclosure. They also make ones that have a Firewire interface or both Firewire and USB 2.0. I chose a USB 2.0 type because my present motherboard already supports it and not firewire.

Features and Technical Specifications:
" ***New Ali Chipset supports up to 300GB Hard Drive!!***
" Can be used with 3.5-inch IDE drives (such as hard drives)
" Can be used with 5.25-inch IDE drives (such as CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R/RW etc. drives up to 7.75" inch length)
" USB 2.0 Interface
" Backwards compatible with USB 1.1
" Support for Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
" Support for MAC OS 8.6 or better
" Plug and Play
" Hot-Swappable
" Stackable Casing
" Case Dimensions: 265x165x55mm/10x6.5x2.25inches (LxWxH)
" Cooling Fan (Approx. 1.5" in diameter) mounted on back panel
" Silver Case
" AC Input: 100-240VAC, 50-60Hz, 0.6A/0.3A
" Supports up to UDMA/100
" No Max Hard Drive RPM
" Supports High Speed CD-RW Drives 
" 1 cooling fan inside

Retail Box Includes:
" Case
" Power Cord (US)
" 5 feet (1.8m)A-male to B-male USB cable x 1
" Manual
" Drivers CD
" Brackets & Screws

Quote from Dealsonic:
This External Case is a portable storage drive case that incorporates the new USB 2.0 High Speed interface! This case provides an easy and fast way to add more storage to a computer. The hot-swappable Plug and Play feature gives anyone great convenience on the road or when using the drive with different computers. This drive is compatible with Apple Macintosh and Windows personal computers.
 

Testing and Performance:

For testing purposes I used my main workstation for the majority of the tests. It is a P4 2.53 GHz running Windows XP Professional. The Asus P4B533 motherboard has native USB 2.0 support so a PCI card was not needed.

For my first tests I used a Maxtor 7200 rpm 80 GB hard drive (D740x-6L) partitioned into 2x40 GB. The partitioning was done with Partition Magic from within Windows. So you have the same kind of control over the drive as if it was an internal one. It was very easy to install. You just pop the top off, connect the IDE and power cables, screw the drive in place and pop the top back on. It has some extra side panels to make it sturdier but I have never used them.
 

I used HD Tach ver. 2.7 for the first tests. As can be seen USB 2.0 is fast but not great compared to internal drive speeds. USB 2.0 beats the crap out of USB 1.1 though. If you don't have USB 2.0 then you need to get a PCI card so you do. USB 1.1 speeds are agonizingly slow.

HD Tach USB 1.1 Test:

HD Tach USB 2.0 Test:

HD Tach Internal Drive Test (WDse 80 GB, 7200 rpm):

I also used SiSoft Sandra 2004 Pro's File System Benchmark.
File System USB 1.1:
It failed to complete the test. It kept freezing up, so no results to post. (Possibly caused by the use of a USB hub instead of a direct to motherboard connection)
File System USB 2.0:
 

The tests pretty much speak for themselves. For external backup or transferring of files from one location to another, this is an adequate solution. What I like is that you can supply your own hard drive in the size you require. Also in the case of a hard drive failure it would be easy to replace, unlike the other pre-built hard drive enclosures.

Just for grins I decided to try another IDE device. I installed an old Plextor CD/RW (12x10x32x). It didn't fit in the case very well but it does work. Perhaps some of the newer, smaller IDE drives would work better, especially if this is going to be a long term setup. It reads and writes with USB 2.0 just fine. It would read from USB 1.1 without any problems, but it wouldn't write at any speed. I was going through a hub (Hercules Game Theater XP) for this test. The hub seems to be the problem with writing at USB 1.1 speeds. I tested this on another computer with no USB 2.0 ports and it burned fine at USB 1.1 speeds under Windows 98se. Although, I did have to burn at reduced speeds to get successful burns at USB 1.1 speeds.
I used Nero CD Speed for testing.
 

Nero CD Speed USB 1.1:

Nero CD Speed USB 2.0:

As you can see the USB 1.1 tests are almost laughable compared to the USB 2.0 speeds. And the CPU usage with USB 1.1 is very high.

I also ran some tests to check compatibility with Windows 98se. Following the manuals instructions and installing the drivers first before hooking up the enclosure worked flawlessly. Windows picked up the new hardware, installed it and it ran fine after that.

Conclusion:

Depending on your specific needs this enclosure could be very useful. I use it in my computer repair business all the time. It's an excellent way to get information off a dead computer before a reformat or repair. I also remove customer's hard drives and hook them up to my laptop to do virus scans. With the purchase (under $10.00) of a 2.5-3.25" adapter it will also work with removable laptop hard drives.
 

Being able to choose your own hard drive size is indeed a plus. You can use whatever you have laying around or buy the size you need to store multiple backups.
The only downside I found with this product is the USB 1.1. It's really slow and when using the enclosure with a USB 1.1 hub results can vary. It will work sometimes but not always the way you want it to. I found burning a CD through a hub to be impossible. So you need to keep this in mind if you use this product with a USB 1.1 hub.

Pros:
Portable
Flexible (supports any IDE device)
Cheap (under $30.00 in most cases)
Operating System support
Backwards compatible to USB 1.1
Comes with everything most people will need
On/Off switch (something lacking on my Maxtor 3000LE )

Cons:
The fan is louder than my computer
USB 1.1 is agonizingly slow
Performance of USB 1.1 (It's not designed with this in mind though)
Plastic case

With all the variations available you should have no trouble finding a type that will suit your needs.
Check out Bytecc for more.