Introduction

As cheap and ubiquitous as they have become, USB flash memory storage devices are still expensive in terms of cost per GB. They also cannot provide the large storage space that hard drives can provide.

This increases the appeal of external HDD enclosures which convert standard hard drives into portable, external storage solutions. Essentially, they become super-large versions of USB flash memory storage devices.

How large? That depends entirely on current hard drive technology which at the moment of writing is 750GB in a single drive. As you can see, such a large storage capacity allows external HDD enclosures to surpass flash memory storage solutions in both capacity and cost-effectiveness.

Today, we will be taking a look at the Luxon 3.5" HDD enclosure. Manufactured by Vizo, the Luxon is an excellent example of current external 3.5" HDD enclosures. While Vizo is a relatively unknown Taiwanese company that makes external storage solutions, coolers, fans and cold cathode lights, the Luxon is no run-of-the-mill HDD enclosure.

Unlike other enclosures which either support IDE or SATA and output to USB, the Luxon supports both interfaces, and outputs to both USB as well as SATA. Let's check it out.

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Packaging

It's interesting how Vizo designed the box for this HDD enclosure. Notice how large the name 'Luxon' is on the box.

It certainly gave us the impression that 'Luxon' is the manufacturer or the brand. They placed the name 'Vizo' on the side of the box, which isn't where most people would look for the brand name.

Other than that, the box has a sleek, stylish design which gives the kit an appearance of being a branded product, even though many people have never heard of Vizo. It even looks expensive!

The front displays the actual picture of the HDD enclosure. Note the large stamp with the word "GRAY" on it. It tells you the colour of the HDD enclosure. If you flip over the box, you will see that the Luxon is available in three different colours - black, gray and blue.

Other than listing down the available colours, the back of the box has information about the company as well as details about the Luxon HDD enclosure. Everything you need to know about the product is listed here.

All in all, Vizo did a great job on the design of the box. It really looks impressive. It certainly doesn't look like a product of an unknown wannabe.

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Contents

On opening the box, you will see the HDD enclosure neatly packed, framed by two sturdy plastic foam braces and a box containing the power adaptor. To the right is a compartment containing the other accessories.

After removing the Luxon and its accessories, we found the driver CD, manual and cleaning cloth at the bottom of the box. We were really impressed with the amount of accessories included with the Luxon. After all, HDD enclosures usually come with just a USB cable and a power adapter.

Here's everything that was included in the box :-

• One Luxon 3.5" HDD enclosure
• One Luxon 3.5" HDD enclosure stand
• One power adapter
• One power cable
• One internal cable for SATA HDD
• One internal cable for IDE HDD
• One internal power cable for IDE HDD
• One SATA cable
• One SATA bracket
• One USB cable
• One driver CD
• One user manual
• Screws and washers
• Cleaning cloth