Friday, April 25, 2008

Internal rack unit that is compatible with the MB559 tray?

Icy Dock always strides in providing convenience in storage, and we would want to make sure that our loyal customers are always satisfied with our products. So we want to get your feedback for a new product we’re thinking of releasing.


Here is the scenario: You come home from work with all your work information on your MB559 external hard drive. You take out the hard drive only to find that you have to unscrew the hard drive to place it inside the internal enclosure unit. But you decide not to do that and you just go for a USB connection. Now you have to plug in the USB cable to the back of the computer (What a drag!). Maybe you have an MB453 and decide to use that instead of MB559, and you find yourself left with two open slots and it looks hideous. If that has ever happened to you, or you don’t want this to happen to you, we need to hear from you.


Anyone who has purchased an MB559 knows that the tray can also be stored into an MB453, MB454, MB455 and MB561 series. So we are deciding if we should create an internal rack that fits inside a 5.25” slot. We want to hear your thoughts on creating a new single, internal rack unit that is compatible with the MB559 tray. Your feedback can affect what features it will have, such as key lock, cool LED design, and others that will revolutionize the way hard drive enclosures are built.


We would like to know if this is a product you might be interested in, because who’s to say that the scenario above never happens. Please give us your feedback if you might be interested in purchasing such a product and what kind of features you would want on it.

21 comments:

  1. I was actually looking for a tray like this for a while. I wanted to have my HD in the computer, but available to pull out and put in the enclosure when I went out of town. I ended up getting the power adapter that hooks up to the computer instead, but this would still be a nice product.

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  2. Yes, speaking from a perspective of end user and bench tech working with a moderate (over 100) client base), I believe there is sufficient demand for this product. Many mid towers and smaller form factor systems have only one additional available bay, so this would fit the bill quite nicely. My vote is for simplicity over extra features, sleek asthetics over bling. BTW, we're still waiting for a SOHO NAS..(with RAID and remote access)
    Cheers.

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  3. I think that this is a great idea to make an internal 5.25" case that holds an MB559 tray. We carry another brand that comes with a holder and larger tray but I would prefer an internal holder for the MB559 instead.

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  4. Yes, we need a single internal case for the MB559 tray. The 3 bay unit is too much for some customers.

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  5. I was looking for this, too - found it weird it didn't exist! (too expensive for the demand?) Anyway, I'd vote yes, even make it a combo - external case, 1 sled, and internal case. Maybe even an anti-static bag to put the drive in.
    What would be good, too, is a flap to at least visually close the door, if possible. I don't care about locks (actually, I do care - I don't want them). No bling, just function.

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  6. I agree. I've got one system with 2 of the 3-in-2 backpanes, with the M559 external for my laptop - multimedia, program installation files, etc. I need the single slot unit so my HTPC can join in the fun.

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  8. I think that will be a great product, I have a 5 bay backplane on my Primary Desktop, but for other machine, more than 1 hd in removable enclusure are unusefull, so this product is approved for me :)

    Andrea
    Nexthardware Staff

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  9. I think this is a great idea. I would get two and two external Firewire 800 and eSATA.

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  10. Having a drive that can plug into both an external and internal case would be great. When working with large video files, using the external case out of the office and then being able to swap the drive into an internal case makes going from the field and back into the office so much easier. This definitely completes the mobile drive environment.

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  11. when is this being released?

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  12. this is just a concept design. We're not sure if this will be released.

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  13. Yes, Yes Yes! I want this. I'm shopping for a system where the tray can work in a mobile or desktop enclosure. If somebody else beats you to it, you'll have lost a customer.

    Why would you spend so much engineering time on non-compatible trays in the first place? Shouldn't ALL of your SATA systems use the same tray? You should have done it this way from the start.

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  14. What I'd also like to see - and I'm surprised it doesn't exist - is a carriage/tray that allows use of a 2.5" SATA drive in a MB559 enclosure. (Right now the available trays only allow use of standard 3.5" SATA drives.)

    The drive SATA connectors are exactly the same between the two sizes - we just need a tray that can hold the smaller drive in the right position. Should be simple, yes?

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  15. Any word on this enclosure? I have an MB453 and external eSATA enclosure that accepts these trays and I'm just about to build a HTPC and would love to use one of the external drive bays to install something like this

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  16. Actually, this will be coming out next month. I can't wait to see this item for myself.

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  17. That's fantastic news!

    We've starting using MB559 recently and have started looking for exactly this solution for our workstations.

    Any word on model number / release date so I can start harassing my supplier :-)

    So refreshing to see a company actually listening to its customers - keep up the good work!

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  18. Yes Please
    Already own:
    external 4 bay sata
    3 in 2 internal backplane
    2 external firewire / usb

    All I need is a simple 1 bay solution
    for my new small form factor pc

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  19. Yes - this will complete your line for desktops / servers!

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  20. Well is this going to be available?

    THIS WOULD REALLY ROUND OUT THE LINE.

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  21. Asked you guys about developing this item some time ago. Damn, I was surprised when I saw it on your website. Just received mine from Newegg today. Can't wait to install it.

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