Other by stefan @ 2013-03-20
The Mercury On-The-Go Pro USB 3.0 is a stylish enclosure from OWC which can include storage or can be ordered empty. The product comes with a transparent acrylic housing and a small heatsink in order to eliminate the excess heat and also features an On/Off button near the USB port.
At first I would like to thank OWC for offering their Mercury On-The-Go Pro USB 3.0 Portable Enclosure Kit for testing and reviewing.
"Other World Computing (OWC) has been providing quality hardware products and support to the computer industry since 1988 and features one of the largest online catalogs of computer, iPod, and iPhone enhancement products through its e-commerce portal www.macsales.com. As an Apple Certified Developer, OWC also provides extensive US based technical support for Macintosh users around the world as well as Internet access via www.fastermac.net and www.owc.net."
OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro USB 3.0 storage solution for SATA 2.5" Hard Drives
High Quality Double Shielded USB 3.0 certified connecting cable
Carrying Case
On-The-Go Pro Assembly Manual
OWC 1 Year Warranty with 48-Hour Turnaround Time
Bus Interface
USB 3.0 / 2.0 & 1.1 Backwards compatible port.
Chipset
ASMedia 1051e USB 3.0 chipset
Drive Mechanisms Supported
Any 2.5" SATA hard drive or SSD up to 2.2TB in capacity and up to 12.5mm in size. Use of 12.5mm size drives requires Installation Support Kit.
Max Data Transfer Rate
USB 3.0 - 500MB/s
USB 2.0 - 60MB/s
System Requirements
Macintosh: Macintosh OS 8.6 to 9.2.2, OS X 10.2.x or later including ‘Lion’ 10.7.x, and an available USB 3.0 port. Time Machine® Compatible: Mac OS X 10.5 (version introduced) and later.
PC: Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT, 98, and an available USB 3.0 port.
Linux: Linux compatible via supported the USB interface.
Power Supply*
Bus Power via USB on most computers with USB 3.0 port factory stock.
Optional AC Adapter* (available as a separate purchase here)
* AC adapter not required for most applications provided computer bus supplies appropriate power needs.
External Case Dimensions
3.5" (W) x 5.5" (D) x 1" (H)
88.9mm x 139.7mm x 25.4mm
Unit Weight (no mechanism)
0.40lbs. (0.18kg)
In this review we will take a look upon another product from Other World Computing, the Mercury On-The-Go Pro USB 3.0 enclosure; the solution is packed inside a themed cardboard box, with a photo of the main product on the top:
On one of the laterals, we will see a small product description, along with the serial number:
Some of the enclosure components are also explained on the box:
On the bottom, we will find additional product details like Specifications or the list of package contents:
Inside the cardboard box we will find the product along with its bundle surrounded with a protective foam material:
Besides the Assembly Manual we have seen earlier, we can also find a carry pouch, the screws and, of course, the USB 3.0 enclosure:
An USB 3.0 A-B cable is also included in the carry pouch:
Inside the Assembly Manual, we will find all necessary instructions in order to perform the installation:
The option that we have received is the 0GB model, which means that it does not contain any preinstalled drive. The enclosure is made from transparent plastic, so we can see all the internal components without opening it up:
The PCB can be easily removed, because in its initial state it is not fixed by any screw:
The enclosure also comes with a bottom aluminum heatsink:
On the small PCB we can find the SATA Data/Power connector, the USB port, a Power On/Off switch and one DC-IN 5V port:
Here is also a look on the back side of the board, where we can find the ASMedia ASM1051E controller:
The enclosure also ships with a transparent cover, which will be used after the drive has been installed into the unit:
After removing the two screws, we can detach the heatsink from the enclosure; the heatsink also comes with two pre-attached rubber strips for vibration dampening purposes:
The drive can be installed right away on the PCB, by sliding it into the SATA connector:
After turning the PCB on the other side, we must make sure that the 2.5’’ drive holes are aligned, in order to use the provided fixing screws:
Afterwards we will slide the PCB onto the heatsink and use the rest of the fixing screws, on the laterals:
Then, we will move the assembly into the acrylic case:
By turning the unit with the bottom facing upwards, we will fix the heatsink onto the plastic enclosure; make sure not to overtighten the screws:
The cover we have presented earlier will be attached on the other end:
The plastic cover can be also fixed with the two remaining small screws:
The enclosure also features ventilation holes on the opposite side:
The black carry pouch is very handy and will be used to transport the assembly safely:
The pouch comes with a separate compartment for the USB 3.0 cable:
If we are not changing drives often, we can also cover the bottom screws with the 4 provided silicone feet:
After the drive has been powered up, a small cool blue activity LED will light up in front:
In order to test the performance of the OWC USB 3.0 Mercury On-The-Go™ Pro enclosure, we have installed inside it the KingFast F3 Series 2.5" SATAIII SSD 240GB KF2509MCF. The tests were performed with Anvil Storage Utilities on both USB and SATA interfaces.
A drop in performance compared to the SATA interface is expected and it may vary with the compatibility between the USB 3.0 controller from the enclosure and the one from the motherboard.
The enclosure is easy to work with when following the written instructions and the transparent plastic chassis gives it an overall modern look. Something we haven’t seen on from the other manufacturers is the On/Off button, a feature which we think that is useful as an extra protection for the HDD, after we remove it from the computer via software.
The variant that we have tested did not include any storage but we can choose from OWC a better equipped variant, with HDDs from 5400RPM to 7200RPM and maximum storage of 1.5TB. SSDs can be also included, with capacities up to 480GB. Also, we can opt-in for the version with more connectivity ports (FireWire 800/400 + USB 3.0).
The enclosure, in the 0GB variant can be had from the online shop for about $37.99.
I would like to thank again to OWC for making this review possible!