Cooler Master X Craft 360 3.5in

[HEXUS]

Cooler Master continues to pursue its interest in the crowded external enclosure market with the X Craft series. Today, HEXUS is taking a look at the X Craft 360. But does this 3.5in SATA enclosure store and deliver as it should?

Read more.

[DeSean]

Considering the number of modern motherboards that are including rear panel SATA, isn't it a tiny bit harsh that you trashed them so much for it?

To people with a recent mobo, it does do what it says on the box... As long as nobody is tricked into buying it thinking they will get an eSATA bracket, then I think thats ok.

[pauldarkside]

I was pretty shocked when reading the conclusions with regards to the eSATA connection. eSATA is provided as an connectable option, not a requirement.

When purchasing a product like this I check what connection options are available, i.e. USB, Firewire, eSATA, making my decision based upon my requirements. If I want a USB device then I ensure I have an available USB host, and likewise for the other connections.

Based upon your conclusions, what if the user did not have SATA on their motherboard? Supplying an eSATA backpane would not appropriate since what is required is a controller. The product does, in my view, do what it is designed to do; offer a hard drive enclosure with both USB and eSATA connection options.

[MD]

There are many reasons why I conlcuded the way I did on this review. You have to remember part of what my thought process is with these is how the product competes in the market place. if you take the Antec MX-1 review I recently did (which passed without any comments) it provided a complete solution with better performance in exactly the same external environment.

Not only that but in the price comparison it was much keener in its price point. if you look at the packages overall the X Craft 360 does suffer with fascination in pretty packaging and not on the product itself.

Whilst if you are looking for a USB enclosure then it would suffice although there are others on the market which provide a much better value for money solution.

The arguement about eSATA on motherboards and indeed chassis is fine and yes I agree with you, modern motherboards do have this but say for example the PC World and Dell purchasers of this world don't.

Thats the key with this product, its aimed at the non-technical and its saying it can do eSATA, it really should, as a product, come with the tools required to use it. It's a bit too much like putting diesel in a supercar...

Matt.

[pauldarkside]

Originally Posted by MD

Thats the key with this product, its aimed at the non-technical and its saying it can do eSATA, it really should, as a product, come with the tools required to use it.

Matt.

Would your typical non-technical user know or understand what eSATA is? Would that same user know that it is related to SATA? Would they know how or where to connect a backpane and its cable? I suspect not and even if they did it might invalidate their PC World warantee.

Further, the non-technical user would surely opt for an all-in-one solution which contains a hard drive? Without doing so, a degree of technical ability would be required to source, install and prepare a compatible hard drive.

To receive certification, a product needs to do what it says on the box. Since the X Craft 360 doesn't include an eSATA bracket, it can only be used out of the box in USB mode, so does not pass that simple test and does not, in our view, merit certification.

The product can still do eSATA, as it says on the box. If eSATA isn't available it can do USB, again, as it says on the box. It does not have a requirement to operate on both connections concurrently, each connection is an option and only one is required for successful operation.

The argument about pricing and noise is a valid but does not effect what the product can do. Your argument about certification is, in my view, invalid.

[PD HEXUS]

hi pauldarkside,

firstly, thanks for your constructive input.

truth to tell, the debate about this matter is still ongoing within HEXUS, and it may even be that we update our article to reflect additional input, received not only from members of the editorial team who have just joined the debate, but also your own thoughts.

be assured that HEXUS is never too big or too proud to say (or even pronounce loudly...) if we get things wrong, or if we could've done stuff better.

cheers,

PD

[pauldarkside]

Originally Posted by PD HEXUS

hi pauldarkside,

firstly, thanks for your constructive input.

truth to tell, the debate about this matter is still ongoing within HEXUS, and it may even be that we update our article to reflect additional input, received not only from members of the editorial team who have just joined the debate, but also your own thoughts.

be assured that HEXUS is never too big or too proud to say (or even pronounce loudly...) if we get things wrong, or if we could've done stuff better.

cheers,

PD

You're most welcome. As I see it, Hexus is a community based site and without community dialogue it would fail. It's one of the reasons I keep coming back.

I for one would certainly welcome a re-evaluation of the certification process. As it stands it does seem somewhat misaligned. If that process involves more community input then I'm all for it.

Thanks for listening

[resma]

What was not mentioned in this review, but is absolutely adding extra value to the product, is the following: the X Craft 360 supports hot swapping of drives. Therefore, the extra plastic case is not for the cables, but to hold an extra SATA drive...

[MD]

whilst that could be the case, a quick check just now with the box and a Seagate 160GB SATA drive reveals the unpadded interior to the plastic box will not remain closed with a drive inside.

We would never advocate carrying a spare drive in a plastic box either - especially as there is no padding whatsoever inside it.

Matt.

[resma]

I agree on not recommending holding a drive in an unpadded plastic box, however the gallery on the cooler master site clearly shows the box holding a drive, so that seems to be it's main purpose.

However, I still think the hot swap support should have been mentioned, since it really adds value to this product, also compared to the Antec. If eSATA is your main usage of this enclosure, and you've got an eSATA port ;-) , this enclosure might be well worth considering.

A negative characteristic worth mentioning is that this enclosure does not automatically power off the drive when the PC is shut down. I don't know about the Antec, but I know there are enclosures who do power of the drive and that saves power...

[yiks]

Just got this a couple of days ago. Sadly XCraft 360 esata does not work with my motherboard Asus M3A78-EMH, an AMD 780G based chipset(it's quite a new chipset). Should have been an indication as to why no esata bracket is provided. hummpphhh.....

I have older esata casings which seems to work fine with my new motherboard.

I also have two other XCraft 250 with esata and both don't work either. Does cooler master casings only work with certain esata/sata controllers which I'm not aware of?????

Either way I'm pissed........that's why this post...!!! WIll be staying well clear of cooler master products.

[sergio]

let me just show the email i sent CM about their product, and decide for yourselfs if you want to buy it:

Dear Sir

Please let me first state, that luckily I am not a hardware reviewer, because If I posted the review of the hardware that I bought,
To let other “would be buyers” know what to expect, not good things would have been said about your product.

So, let me just state why I am angry and feel I was cheated:

I bought a X Craft 360 in an European country, so far so good (1 out of 10 for a good case idea)
After inserting my Hitachi Deskstar SATA disk in it, I found the USB and eSATA were not working.
Trying to figure out what the problem was, I tried removing the disk I had inserted.
And here is where everything “fell apart”.
I was not able to remove my hard drive from inside the case.
Just shaking the case showed that something was broken inside or had become loose.

With no option, to remove my hard drive safely without braking the case, I was left with no other choice than to go back to the
Shop and request that they do it.
Not being able to do it, in front of me, I soon found that my hard disk was forced out be force, away from my presence,
Because the cable that connects the motor part of the hard drive had been disconnected from the connection in the electronics circuit.
Not only that, but the metallic part from inside the case that had become loose was soon found.

Figuring that this was 1 bad case, 2 others were tried.
Results: impossibility of removing hard drive due to drawer hight and another broken metallic part inside the cases.

Now, I have always had high regards for the Cooler Master trade mark,
But the X Craft 360 is a disgrace to a company from which I expected more.

Probably, its due to “the made in china” label I saw inside it, but if I were you,
I would analise your case before I go to a review site and warn buyers of what will happen to them.

I do not expect you to reply to an email stating you have made a very bad hard disk case,
So I will just say “the value of a company depends on what their buyers think of it”.

Best Regards
Sergio

[Jay]

Is this the shops fault or coolermasters?

[sergio]

1-they could be fake cases, which i doubt
2-removing by force was because it would not be returnable if the case was broken
3-every case breaking metalic peaces inside and me not being able to remove a hitachi deskstar drive ?
well, its not the first time i try out a case with "removable drives" and not being able to remove this hitachi drive was never a problem.
So even if hitachi deskstar SATA drives were "weird", it would have to mention it somewhere. SO part 3 - CM fault - bad design which apparently noone has "seen"

[Jay]

I expect that with a production run in the hundreds of thousands a few bad batches would make it through the system. Its just unfortunate that it was yourself who ended up with one.

[sergio]

a bad batch would explain the internal parts coming loose, it would not however explain what became evident to me:
the size of the drawer and how the disks slide in.
a part of my hard disk hitting the exit, and so becoming trapped inside shows they did not plan for all types of hard disks.
and a no reply from them did not help them either.