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Vantec SATA EZ-Swap MRK-200ST-BK Hard Drive Rack Review
Vantec SATA EZ-Swap MRK-200ST-BK Hard Drive Rack Review - PCSTATS
The Vantec EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK only comes in black, and it supports the Serial ATA I standard although Serial ATA II drives will function too.
 80% Rating:   
Filed under: Hard Drives/SSD Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Vantec Nov 07 2005   Max Page  
Home > Reviews > Hard Drives/SSD > Vantec EZ-Swap MRK-200ST-BK

What Kind of Performance Hit?

Let's have a look at a few quick HD Tach runs; we're not interested in benchmarking the device but rather seeing if it impacts the hard drive in any manner. With a 300GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10 Serial ATA hard drive in the Vantec EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK, these are the results from HD Tach. Keep an eye on the differences in Sequential Read Speed.


Maxtor DiamondMax 10 hooked up directly to the motherboard


Maxtor DiamondMax 10 installed into EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK


Maxtor DiamondMax 10 hooked up directly to the motherboard


Maxtor DiamondMax 10 installed into EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK

As we can see from HDTach, the Vantec EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK does not affect performance one bit. CPU utilization and burst speeds were virtually identical at 15.6 ms/15.9 ms and 137.7 MB/s and 136.3MB/s. That's all we really need to see.

experts tip: powered up but hard drive inaccessible?

with many removable hard drive racks a little led lets the operator know when the hard drive is powered up and ready to be accessed. the situation is slightly different with the vantec ez-swap because the lcd receives power once the caddy is inserted into the bay. yet, just because lcd is illuminated doesn't mean the HDD is accessible in WindowsXP (or the operating system). To ensure that the HDD is up and running, the lock must be engaged. This little step is easily forgotten when using the Vantec EZ-Swap, and it can lead to frustrating moments. So make a habit of engaging the lock when the hard drive caddy is put into the bay, every time.

Comments and Feedback? Suggest a Tweak.

Removable Hard Drive Rack Style

Anyone who has ever had to move a large amount of data around a few different computer systems can definitely appreciate the usefulness of removable hard drive racks. Unfortunately for hardware enthusiasts, most of the units on the market are lacking in terms of cosmetic appeal, and work with IDE devices only.

The Vantec EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK is a nice looking removable SATA rack that sports a few interesting features that give it some added eye-candy appeal. The caddy has simple temperature monitoring, "enhanced hard drive cooling" and sensor alarms.

The construction of the Vantec EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK and caddy is based on extruded aluminum frame parts, and should hold up well in the long run. There is a buffer between the Serial ATA controller and HDD, but the Vantec EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK does not disrupt performance one bit. This is what we want to see from a simple device like this. It wouldn't be very useful of the removable hard drive rack limited HDD access times, or caused some instability in data transfer now would it?

With a retail price of $56 CDN ($45 US), the Vantec EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK is slightly more expensive than the average hard drive removable rack, but the extra money definitely get you a nice looking SATA device, circa 2005. ;-)

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< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Hard Drives/SSD Reviews...»

 

Contents of Article: Vantec EZ-Swap MRK-200ST-BK
 Pg 1.  Vantec SATA EZ-Swap MRK-200ST-BK Hard Drive Rack Review
 Pg 2.  All sides of the EZ-Swap MRK200-ST-BK
 Pg 3.  — What Kind of Performance Hit?

 
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