Century USB HDD Chassis Helps Drives Keep Their Cool

External storage solutions can be expensive, especially if you need a larger capacity drive like the newer 1TB HDDs. You can save some money when adding external storage, if you already have a hard drive available, by using an external hard drive chassis. One issue with some external drive chassis' is that they may not be ventilated well, leading to overheating and potential data loss. A new drive cage from Century in Japan promises to eliminate overheating of your hard drive.

The drive chassis has a built-in 8cm fan to keep the drive cool and a LCD display that shows the ambient temperature and the fan rotation speed. The chassis can be connected to your computer via USB 2.0 or eSATA connectivity, and it can accept 3.5-inch hard drives with either SATA or PATA connections. The required cables and screws for mounting and connecting the drive are included. The Century enclosure measures 73 x 193 x 130mm, and requires AC power to operate. Personally, we would rather use something like the Unitek USB SATA Dock that is much easier to install and offers features like a memory card reader and a hub that are more useful than a temperature display.

Filed under External Hard Drives & Other USB Storage