Sans Digital MOBILESTORE Hard Drive Enclosure Review

Packaging and Accessories

The box which the MobileSTOR comes in has a very nice and clean looking packaging scheme. It has large pictures of the two models on the front, loads of details on the back and even includes an integrated carry handle. What as especially pleasing about this unit was the amount of details the information on the back of the box goes into. If one is lucky, usually all an enclosure package will include is the dimensions of the unit and the kind of hard drives it accepts. Well, we are glad to report not only is this information present but also it includes connection diagrams so first time buyers will know exactly what to look for when they go to hook up this unit. It is the small touches which really highlight how much time and effort Sans Digital spent in making their product as user friendly as possible.


This commitment to ease of use continues with the interior layout of the box, as the very first thing you will see when you open the container up is the accessory box right there on the top for easy access and removal. Not only is the accessory box on the top but it even has two good-sized holes designed to make it a snap to remove it from the larger container. No one likes having to tear up the packaging box just so they can remove everything from the inside and this is one of the simplest, most elegant solutions which we have seen to date. The elegance is in the fact that this box not only is the carrier for all the included accessories but also a very sturdy second level of protection. If one gets a little too enthusiastic with the old box cutter when opening it, the most likely results will be a gash in the accessory box or at worse a damaged cable.


Once you are finished marveling at the ingenuity of the Sans Digital's packaging and actually remove the accessory box from the top of the container, you get the next enjoyable surprise. Instead of just using bubble wrap or cardboard cut outs to stabilize the MobileSTOR in transit, Sans Digital has taken the overkill route and used two large molded pieces of Styrofoam to allow the MobileSTOR the luxury of blissfully floating in the center of the box. This means for all but the most severe of bangs, crashes and other assorted disasters not much will affect the MobileSTOR itself. Quiet honestly, anything which could damage the enclosure would probably be severe enough to literally destroy the packing box first.


As one would expect from such a high end unit, the list of accessories is long and very complete. In fact it is suffice to say that anyone who expects lots of goodies or swag for their money will not be disappointed. You get the normal range of accessories such as mounting screws, an instruction pamphlet, power cord, and keys to open the hard drive doors, USB and eSATA cables; then on top this list you get NTI shadow copy backup software and even a PCI eSATA bracket which allows older non-eSATA equipped computers the ability to use one of their free internal SATA ports as a virtual eSATA port. The list of accessories is not only long and very complete, but the quality of the parts used is also top-notch. For many enclosures the very first thing a lot of people do is replace the included connectors with better, higher quality ones; for this enclosure this is not needed as the connectors are durable, long and flexible. What more could you ask for?

Overall, this enclosure has to leave even the most cynical and morose buyer with a good first impression. For the first time in a long time, there is simply nothing on first inspection which one can point to is was subpar.