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Guatemala, Guatemala City
1 Level
717 Review
66 Karma

Review on StarTech.com USB 3.0 Slimline SATA ODD Enclosure for Blu-ray & DVD ROM - Portable Aluminum Drive Enclosure (SLSODDU33B) by Kevin Garcia

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Not bad at all - just a few small threads

I spent an extra $4 to get a USB3.0 version for future compatibility. As for the hidden clip part of Andrey's review, it's definitely there - see the details in the pictures. Part of the problem is that it's very difficult to solve as the only way you have is through the bezel itself and the only way you can really pry it open is "wrong". I carefully used a (very) small flat head screwdriver to pry it loose and the rest of the assembly was easy. The case itself is solid on the outside, plastic for the board mount but stamped steel for the PCB machining. and connectors and uses the initio INIC-3619PN bridge chip. Build quality was good overall, with only one overstated electrolytic cap (16V) and the soldering appeared to be of average quality. The only other flaw I could find was that it's pretty easy to push the disc just A BIT too far into the bin so it gets stuck when you try to eject it. I would recommend the following: 1 - Pull the stamped metal drive cage out all the way to reduce the "wiggle" of the molded plastic. 2 - Remove the backplate configuration and add a simple eject mechanism for the drive itself. There shouldn't be any need to fiddle with the clamps and swapping out discs becomes a breeze. All in all, it's definitely worth the $20+ and gives me a nice external drive.

Pros
  • WIDE COMPATIBILITY: The optical drive enclosure is OS independent, making it compatible with any OS. It's also backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1 for older devices.
Cons
  • Hard to tell