For being a "house brand", Rosewill makes some good quality products. The RX353-S hard drive enclosure is no exception. It's a nice, solid case that makes installing your SATA hard drive a snap. I like the brushed aluminum finish and the simple to use functionality. Rosewill has done a good job with packaging this product and the bundled accessories mean you won't have to buy additional cables to use it for either USB or eSATA connections. Including the PCI bracket and internal and external cables is a great idea since most computer cases do not have eSATA connections built in yet. And if you happen to have an older computer without SATA you can still use this as a USB drive, then take advantage of the extra speed eSATA offers if you upgrade later on. For most users however, having dual connection types will probably mean you can connect the RX353-S to your primary computer using the eSATA setup and use the USB connection when you take your drive on the road. This gives the advantage of both fastest speed and widest compatibility.

The built-in 40mm fan is a bit noisy; you can definitely tell when it's on. I found it to be just loud enough to be annoying, especially with the drive sitting on my desk, away from other sound sources that might otherwise mask the noise. Using SMART reporting to log the drive temperature, I discovered that it can easily hit 50° C inside the enclosure, even if just sitting idle. Unfortunately the buzzing fan only reduces the temp by 3-4° at most, so for me, the limited cooling enhancement doesn't justify the extra noise. To keep temps under control I would rather turn the drive off when not in use.

When it comes to cables, the USB is around four feet long although the eSATA is a bit short at three feet. The power cord is the longest of the three. The drive stand is a nice addition to free up desk space. It grips the drive and has an anti-skid rubber bottom. Rosewill has put together a nice package here. Of course, you supply the hard drive, which allows you to go as economical or as large capacity as you need, up to 1TB in size. With an MSRP of $60 and a "street" price around $35 it is slightly more expensive than the RX81US by $10-$15. Unless you absolutely love the brushed aluminum look, in my opinion, save that money to put towards the drive and pick up the RX81US without the noisy, largely ineffectual fan.



Thanks to Rosewill for providing the RX353-S for review.