Kingwin KM-TB235 Aluminum Silver Black 3.5 inch Dual SATA Hard Drives RAID Enclosure - Retail Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a great little enclosure at an affordable price, ONCE you can figure out what you're doing with it.The instructions are not clear at all.It tells you to assemble the internal components but doesn't show/explain at all how.There is a SATA connection on the board for the lower level drive, and then there are cables for the upper level drive.It took me a minute to see it but once you see it, assembly is fairly straightforward.Next, ***BEFORE*** you put the internal component back into the housing, you need to place your jumpers as needed, and then press the reset button on the board.This is kind of a pain since you can't press it while it's assembled but oh well.After doing this the upper level drive will blink red/blue for a good long while.I'm not sure exactly what it's doing during this time but it's ok.I thought there might be something wrong but it recognized the drive right away in my device manager so I'm not sure what it's doing during this process.Next it will alternate between blue and this pinkish purple-ish color for a while, I believe that is the rebuild process where it's going through verifying data on both drives.This took overnight for me and then it eventually all changed to blue lights which apparently means everything is good.It also has an internal fan which is silent - very nice!

The instructions are AWFUL and the LED explanations are even worse.It is very difficult to figure out exactly what your drive is doing so just wait several hours and give it time.Don't automatically assume something is wrong.I thought surely something was wrong with my enclosure since the red blinking supposedly indicates there is a drive failure, but when I disassembled it and switched the drives, it was still the upper drive blinking red.Ultimately, it was fine and the drive did it's thing and is now running with all blue lights.I cannot comment as to longevity of this product as I've just received and set it up but when it fails I will update this review.I installed drives from a less than one year old $200 Western Digital MyBook RAID drive that failed after 10 months of operation so I refused to purchase Western Digital again.So long as this review is not updated, you can assume the enclosure is working properly...which I hope is more than 10 months!

So, to recap:
1) Take apart enclosure.
2) Slide bottom drive into slot and pop onto board mounted SATA connection.
3) Slide top drive into space and connect cables.
4) Attach all mounting screws to upper and lower drives.
5) Make sure cables are not touching fan (if you hear a sound from the fan, the cable is touching it).
6) Place jumpers according to instructions - the only page of instructions you should read!
7) Press reset button on board.
8) Slide internal components into enclosure and mount with screws.
9) Plug in power and USB/eSATA cable.
10) Turn enclosure on.
11) Upper drive will blink red indefinitely but you should immediately be able to see drive in windows explorer or device manager fairly quickly.
12) Upper drive will eventually change from red blinking to pinkish blinking light during rebuild process.
13) All lights should eventually turn blue.
PLEASE NOTE:This process can take overnight depending on the size of your drives and the amount of data to be verified.When drives are accessed, LEDs will flicker pink.

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Product Description:
In the information age, data is king, and no enclosures can protect andpreserve your data better than Kingwin. Before any Kingwin enclosure iscleared for commercial application, it is tested under the most demandingconditions to ensure that it will perform flawlessly for mainstream, technical,and professional users. Kingwin enclosures are specially designed to protectyour information against extreme heat, while preserving the integrity of yourdata. Protect your data with this Kingwin enclosure.Features: Model: KM-TB235 Fashionable, compact and powerful case is designed for two 3.5" SATA HDDsMultiple high speed transfer interfaces include USB 2.0 and eSATA providing maximum flexibility for data transferringSupports JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, Safe 33 and Safe 50 functions for effective storage managementSimplifies RAID management, no software installation is requiredWith temperature-controlled fan ensures HDD running at a silent environmentDynamic LED light not only enhances enclosure with high-tech sense, but offers an easy way for monitoring system statusSpecifications:Interface: USB 2.0 + eSATA.Drive type: Two 3.5" SATA HDDs (Hard Drives Not Included)Special Feature: JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, Safe 33, Safe 50 SupportMaterial : Front & Rear Panel: Plastic, Outer Case: AluminumDimension: 223 x 110 x 85 mm (8.78 x 4.33 x 3.35 inches)Package: KM-TB235 Enclosure, Data Cable, Adapter, User ManualPower Source: External Universal Switching Power Adaptor (12V/5V)HDD Capacity: Up to 2TB Combine (Seagate up to 1.5TB Combine)Support OS : MS Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS, * eSATA not supported on Mac.