Introducing the ICY DOCK MB080USEB-1SB Blizzard

[btarunr]

External enclosures are a great way to have high capacity data storage on the go. Data can also be a critical factor for media, backup, or music professionals. Some of the top tier hard drive companies have made their own all in one enclosure with hard drive included. However, one of the known major causes of hard drive failure is due to excessive heat buildup caused by a lack of a proper cooling system. Also, a majority of hard drive manufactures only allow a 1 year warranty on their all in one external hard drives.

This can be fatal for someone who has just lost their data and has to spend a significant amount of money in order to recover their data. There are other external enclosures in the market that provide a cooling system to help prevent this, but the physical placement of the cooling system does not always allow for the optimal airflow to cool the hard drive. Going above and beyond, the MB080USEB-1SB Blizzard is the next generation of external enclosures dedicated for maximum performance in cooling.



Elegantly Designed Hardware
The Blizzard has a uniquely designed front panel integrated with a massive 80mm fan for an elegant and nonintrusive design for the best ventilation, all in a single 3.5" hard drive that is installed into the front of the enclosure. There are two important reasons for the particular fan placement and design. First, the MB080USEB-1SB will be able to cool all sides of the hard drive and create only one direction of airflow from the front to the back, where the air then exits. This extends the life of the cooling fan as it only intakes cool cold air and increases the overall cooling efficiency of the hard drive, in comparison to other enclosure cooling designs.

Second, the 80mm fan is integrated into the detachable front panel which allows to easily swap your hard drive without any screws or tools to worry about. On the sides includes two slightly concealed button ejectors that when pressed, will eject the front panel enabling the user to swap the hard drive as needed. Alongside our tool-less drive installation system, media producers can easily remove their hard drive from the Blizzard and directly transport their data to another location, ultimately removing the setup process of the enclosure.



Smarter Cooling Functionality
The rear panel comprises of a multitude of defining features coming all together from only the best ideas of our previous external enclosure models. The enclosure has a LED brightness dial to adjust the cool blue ambient LED brightness to your preferred liking. . To add more functionality, the Blizzard's LED color will turn red when the hard drive temperature is over 50°C. The built in fan controller allows you to select low, high, and auto to properly cool the hard drive to help if such a case appears. The auto mode properly adjusts accordingly to your hard drive's requirements by increasing or decreasing the fan speed as needed.



Everything but the Kitchen Sink
One of the most interesting features of the MB080USEB-1SB Blizzard is the Triple-Interface design. First off, the eSATA interface introduces increased performance which enables the user to transfer and get the job done much quicker with your laptops or PC system. Meanwhile, the USB 2.0 interface provides maximum compatibility while on your legacy PC or Mac to make sharing as easy as possible. Lastly, the Firewire 800 interface is perfect choice for any Mac system. With the MB080USEB-1SB supplying a variety of interfaces makes it the first and foremost choice for media professionals who are using different computer systems.



Key Features:

• Unique & Elegant design.
• Massive 80mm fan for optimal cooling.
• Direct airflow design to completely cool all sides of the hard drive.
• Completely screw-less / tool-less design for any 3.5" SATA I/II/III HDD.
• FireWire 800, eSATA & USB 2.0 interface for maximum versatility.
• Backward compatible with USB 2.0 for wide-ranging use.
• 3 Speed Adjustable Cooling Fan, including auto setting featuring Smart Cooling technology.
• Smart Cooling Technology is active in auto mode and accurately adjusts the fan speed according to your hard drive's needs.
• Cool blue ambient LED with adjustable brightness control.
• Smart-Temp functionality - Front LED changes from blue to red when over 50° C.
• Supports SATA 6 Gb/s hard drive up to 3 TB capacity.
• Great for Media and IT Professionals.
• Designed for PC & Mac systems.

[natr0n]

although it looks funny, it works perfectly.

[popswala]

Though it looks different, it doesn't look to bad. Plenty of connectors for anyone's needs. Be nice if you had the option of installing 2x2.5 hdds. You don't see many enclosures that supports 3.5/2.5 hdds.

[Breathless]

Holy unnecessarily big Batman!

[RejZoR]

Idiotic. How hard is it to make a aluminium case that gets attached with thermal pads and works as a case? Smaller, silent, cool and aluminium always looks nice.

[blanarahul]

dummie looks!

[zAAm]

They should definitely make a 120mm version for even more optimal cooling!

[joellim]

yeah, the front looks like it count fit a 120mm fan and in this time and age, still no USB3.0? that's a big no-no if you're gonna get such a spanky HDD enclosure. though, love the LEDs color changing with the hdd temp.

[Andy77]

The only reason external enclosures exist is portability. Unless you're a woman, hauling one of those huge luggage-type hand bags with you, this is pointless. Might as well buy a 2 or 4 bay enclosure that makes full use of the space and offers that fan, untilted.

[Octavean]

Looks like wasted space IMO. A single bay with a fan that size isn’t an economical use of space. USB 2.0 and FireWire is somewhat antiquated as well. They should have gone with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. eSATA is a great option but I would prefer a port multiplyer capable eSATA port which again would be wasted on a single port enclosure.

[Frick]

I would actually like a PC case that looks like this.

[Sasqui]

Originally Posted by Frick

I would actually like a PC case that looks like this.

At first glance, I thought it was a PC case.

For mini ITX, it certainly would be, full tower you might was well strap a box fan to the front, lol.