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Made my Mac upgrade very smooth!

I bought this enclosure so that I could use the drive from my old Mac (beige Powermac G3 desktop) as an external HD on my new Mac (iMac G5). Compared with networking the two computers together and using file sharing to transfer my old data to the new machine, using Firewire for the transfer was MUCH faster and much easier. Plus, as an added bonus, I now have a 30G external hard drive that I can use for whatever — a backup device, or a portable drive in case I need to move large files from home to office. (In case you are wondering about the “30G”, I had earlier upgraded the G3’s hard drive! Its original drive was quite a bit smaller. [grin] If you are buying a new hard drive mechanism specifically to put in this enclosure — rather than rescuing an old drive and transferring files like I was — you would almost certainly want a much larger current model of hard drive.)

The process was just as smooth and painless as I had hoped. Pop the old Mac’s drive in the enclosure, hook it up to the new iMac, and voila. No drivers needed (though the enclosure does come with driver software for less-forgiving operating systems), and the old Mac OS9-format drive and its files were immediately recognized.

When I was shopping for an external enclosure, I preferred Firewire for best performance. Well, I found some units that took both 5.25″ and 3.5″ drives, but I wanted a more compact 3.5″ only case. I found plastic USB-only units which were a bit cheesy-looking and rather expensive. And then I found this MacAlly one: USB 1.1, 2.0, and Firewire, all in a nice aluminum case, for less than other companies wanted for plastic enclosures. And Amazon’s price and shipping options were both better than the computer catalog I originally discovered the MacAlly enclosure in!

I have used other MacAlly products in the past, by the way, and have always been satisfied with them. This hard drive enclosure more than keeps up their reputation in my book.

Pros
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* It just works, no fuss (on Mac! Your mileage may vary on other platforms)
* Easy to install hard drive, just four screws (with rubber shock mounts) attach it
* Quiet. The hard drive you put in will determine overall noise, of course
* Decent speed. Again, limited by the oomph of the hard disk you use
* Nice aluminum case (they say it helps heat dissipation, it probably does)
* Rubber STRIPS, won’t peel off and get lost as easily as rubber feet
* USB *and* Firewire
* Includes USB and 6-pin Firewire cables in the box
* Cool blue LED power light, blinks red during drive access

Cons
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* Powered by a “wall wart” AC adaptor. (Since they don’t know what drive mechanism you will use in it, I guess it wouldn’t be safe to offer bus powering)
* The case screws (to open up the unit before installing your HD) are a bit on the small side. You will need a fairly small Philips screwdriver for them. (And don’t drop any of them, you might never see them again!)

Update (5/19/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Macally PHR-100AC FireWire/USB 2.0 3.5-Inch ATA Hard Drive Enclosure Electronics, was written by James M. Fitzwilliam.

The average rating for this item is 4 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.