Tagan Icy Box IB-390 Internal/External Enclosure Review

Manufacturer Product Page: Tagan
Name: IB-390StUS-B
Availability: Limited
Price: $25 US
Warranty: 2yr



When it comes to external storage enclosures, products with true innovation are few and far between. Sure you may see a new way of opening and closing the drive door, or even new and different RAID levels; but really different and unique ideas are as rare as honest politicians. It is for this reason when the ICY Box IB-390 arrived we were very excited to see what the big deal was about, needless to say it did not disappoint.

Ask a hundred people what the term “external storage enclosure” means to them and you will get a lot of different answer which will all boil down to one thing: they are EXTERNAL devices which allow you to easily transport a hard drive (or drives) from one location to the next; but they are never INTERNAL devices.

The IB-390 challenges everything you may think you may know about enclosures as it is not just an external enclosure but an internal one as well. Yes, that is correct; this ingenious enclosure can be carried from system to system just like a standard external enclosure. However, when you are finished “sneaker net’ing” data back and forth you can plug this unit into its 5.25” bay docking station and voila you now have another internal drive. Zero clutter on your desk and perfect integration is the name of the game here.

If this device proves itself to be as effective as we think, it may just redefine what you think an storage enclosure should be. If it doesn't do this, at the very least it will raise the bar to a whole new level as the concept seems very user-friendly, yet extremely safe way of transferring hard drive(s) worth of data from one place to another.

As with the last Icy Box model we reviewed, this one is made by the German company RaidSonic but is distributed in North America by Tagan. While it is not widely available at retailers and e-tailers in Canada yet, it is available online in the US and goes for about $25 American. So with all this in mind is this the dawn of a new era in storage enclosures or is it just “an answer in search of a question”? We don’t know but we sure are going to find out!