WiebeTech ToughTech XE

reviewed by Wayne LeFevre, November 2006

Ease of Installation

Installing a drive demands tools, but are provided. To install the drive, if not purchased already with a hard drive, you must remove 3 very, very tiny #4 countersunk screws. Surprisingly, included with the drive was it’s own screwdriver. After removing the screws, the top slides off exposing the mounting brackets and bridge circuit. Simply place the included mounting screws through the FlexMounts™ and attach the drive. Place the two cables onto the drive and reverse the process to close.

Instructions

Instructions, manual and photos, including icons, are included on a CD. Very easy to follow. 

Effectiveness

An excellent external drive, worthy of the WiebeTech name. Built like a tank, but lightweight and fairly portable. Dimensions are 9”x5.25”x1.5”. Includes an on/off switch to prevent port blow-out. Speeds concurrent with what you would expect. F/W 400 averaged in the mid 30’s.

Includes everything needed to be up and running in minutes. Cables included are a FireWire 800 cable, a FireWire 400 cable (?), a FireWire 800 to 400 connector cable if you do not have F/W 800, an eSATA cable, a USB2 cable, and the AC Adapter.

Ease of use

Requires 9-pin to 6-pin (800 to 400 F/W) cable if you do not have a FireWire 800 port.

Note: Mac Pro’s are the only Macs able to take advantage of the eSATA port, if an external port is purchased.

Observations

FireWire 800 seems to be having a tough time of it lately. It used to be only on very high-end Apple hardware, and seemed to be on the way out. It then appeared on the larger, then the smaller, MacBook Pro. The Mac Pro and 24” iMac followed. Does this bode well for FireWire 800? Should it? No matter the camp your in, if you happen to have a FireWire 800 port on your Mac, or think that perhaps one day you will, definitely take a look at this enclosure.

First off, WiebeTech is well-known for quality enclosures, RAIDS and forensic tools. You can order these enclosures by themselves, or with drives installed. The drive included with the review ToughTech was a Seagate Barracuda 250GB, 7200 RPM and 8MB cache. The 500 and 750 Gigabyte drives come with 16MB in cache.

The ToughTech XE is just as the name implies. It is a full aluminum heavy-duty case. The sides are rounded, so it cannot be stacked vertically. There is an LED bar on the front that very subtly lets you see that the drive is on or being accessed. The enclosure is fanless, and exhausts through vents on the bottom.

For shock absorption and drive protection, the SATA drive is held in place by four FlexMount™ anti-shock rubberized mounts. This combined with the all metal enclosure and no fan makes this a nearly silent drive.

All ports are covered with this drive, and includes an 800 to 400 adapter cable, if you do not have a FireWire 800 port on your Mac. Why Apple is not moving toward eSATA, I do not know. FireWire 800 has had a bit of a black eye ever since 2003, when the infamous move to a new release of Mac OS X wiped out many FireWire 800 drives. Since then, and a few updates in firmware and software, it has been relatively stable, but not moving forward. However, eSATA seems to be the up-and-coming standard in external storage standard. In any event, this enclosure has it all.

Recommendation

In conclusion, this drive/enclosure is well worth purchasing. It is ready for any port you may have, now or in the near future. The Oxford 924 Chipset ensures that your data will move as quick as any external drive can, no matter if your using USB 2.0 or eSATA. There is also shock mount protection to keep your data safe from any accidental bumps, and a premium aluminum housing to protect it from heat and also keeps it silent.