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 Icy Dock MB452, to ensure that the HDD is up and running the lock must be engaged. This little step is easily forgotten when using the Icy Dock MB452, and it can lead to frustrating moments when the key for the drive lock is not at hand. So make a habit of engaging the lock when the hard drive caddy is put into the bay, every time.

Final Thoughts on the Icy Dock MB452

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. If your computer can't handle another hard drive, or upgrading an existing drive is too much of a bother, an external hard drive is a great solution to the problem.

The Icy Dock MB452 looks great, and works with eSATA or USB2.0 data connections. It supports one 3.5" SATA I or II hard drive, which is not included. The unit is well constructed, and we especially like the rubber vibration absorbing feet that support the MB452 in either orientation (lying flat or standing on its side).

Connecting the external hard drive up to a desktop computer or laptop is as easy as plugging in the Icy Dock MB452's power cord, selecting which data transfer standard you want to use, and connecting the appropriate data cable. The little black switch on the back of the unit is easy to forget about, and we sort of wish there was an indication LED on the front of the Icy Dock MB452 to remind us that it is set up for eSATA, or USB2.0 as the case may be.

As with any external hard drive, theft becomes an issue. The small lock does a decent job at preventing the hard drive caddy from walking off with casual passers buy, but really isn't a serious deterrent. There is no Kensington lock for the entire chassis.

With a retail price of $40 CDN ($35 USD / £20GBP), the Icy Dock MB452 is a simple device which allows anyone to add a substantial amount of external storage to their desktop or laptop PC with ease. The unit is completely compatible with the 5.25" bay mounted IcyDock M122SKGF removable hard drive racks too.

Data transfer speeds on the eSATA cable are just as fast as internal SATA drives, which is the biggest attraction in our eyes. In this day and age we wouldn't recommend any external hard drive chassis that didn't include eSATA as an option. The Icy Dock MB452 does, and it is a good looking and understated approach to burgeoning storage needs.

Find out about this and many other reviews by joining the Weekly PCstats.com Newsletter today! Catch all of PCSTATS latest reviews right here.

Related Articles
Here are a few other articles that you might enjoy as well...
- IcyDock MB122SKGF SATA Hard Drive Rack Review
- Super Talent 2.5" Flash IDE 8GB Solid State Drive Review
- IcyDock MB453SPF-B SATA Multi-Bay Backplane Module Review
- Vantec NexStar GX USB2.0 Hub & HDD Enclosure Review
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD4000KD 400GB SATA Hard Drive Review
- Vantec SATA EZ-Swap MRK-200ST-BK Hard Drive Rack Review
- Vantec NexStar 3 USB2.0 HDD Enclosure Review
- Western Digital Raptor WD740 SATA Hard Drive Review