Tagan IB-390 Hard Drive Enclosure Review

INSTALLATION

As mentioned in the last section, installation is very easy and straightforward. You simply use the included key to pry open the two metal wings, and slide the hard drive chassis out the back of the external enclosure.


When this is accomplished you insert your hard drive so that its SATA power & data ports are locked into place and then use the included plastic locking pins to freeze the hard drive in place. The beauty of this setup is you don’t need a screw driver or screws to secure the drive but you can rest assured it is secure.

When this is accomplished you simply slide the chassis back into the enclosure, close the two metal wings and put the key hole cap back in place. At this point you can plug in the power adapter and SATA (or USB) cable, turn the switch on the back to “ON” and use it just like a normal external hard drive enclosure.

For most people who buy this enclosure they will want to take the further steps of installing the docking bay. This bay is also very easy to install since all you do is slide it into any free 5.25 bay and secure it just like you would any optical drive. When this is accomplished you simply plug in the MOLEX connector into any free 4 pin Molex cable of your Power Supply; and then you simply plug in the awfully short attached SATA cable. If you are not careful and have not “eyeballed” where your SATA ports on your motherboard are in relation to the 5.25 bays you may end up repositioning the dock lower down in the case; this may be necessary so the short SATA cable will reach. At this point the docking station is ready for use!


To use the enclosure like this, all one has to do is first make sure there are no cables attached to the back of the enclosure (including the power cord), turn the switch to the OFF position and slide it gently into the front of the docking station. The front of the docking station is hinged so it will flip up and out of the way while you are installing the enclosure. When it is almost fully inserted you feel a bit of resistance at which point a gentle push will slide the SATA Power and data connector home. The unit should now be flush with the front of the docking station and if it is not the enclosure has not been fully seated.

At this point your enclosure is now nothing more than a glorified 5.25” bay hard drive adapter; and your computer will recognize it as just anther internal drive (you will most like have to reboot, but this all depends on your motherboard and OS). When you are finished transferring data to the unit, one simply pushed slightly in on the spring loaded arm located on the front of the dock just to the side of the seated enclosure. When the arm pops out slightly you simply grasp it and gently pull the enclosure out of its dock. When it is out far enough you can grab the enclosure and use it just as you would any other standard external SATA + USB drive enclosure.

This is the installation and use of the IB390 in a nut shell. Overall it is a very user-friendly device which is not only robust but elegant in its execution. Earlier in the review we likened it to a Russian engineered piece of equipment but after using it and getting a good feel for it, it is more reminiscent of a finely tuned German sports sedan: i.e. it can get up and boogie with the best of them yet it is still has all the sensibilities of a “family car”!