KINGWIN ELITe Author:  Dan Shannon Date:  2008.04.02 Topic:  Storage Provider:  Kingwin Manufacturer:  Kingwin

A Closer Look:

After removing the screws, the tray slides out.	Closer look at the removal of the tray.	The tray comes completely out of the unit allowing for easy installation of the hard drive.	A view of the interior of the case with the tray completely removed.

The enclosure itself is made from Aluminum, allowing for more heat dissipation from the hard drive and probably an increase in hard drive longevity. You can tell that KINGWIN has gone the extra mile in making this enclosure look good and product looks account for a lot. The model we received had a tiny fingerprint in the chrome above the blue KINGWIN LED We are sure this was a minor flaw in an otherwise well crafted hard drive accessory. The case is solid and makes no noise when in operation. As mentioned before this particular model comes in red and blue as well as black. Upon taking this case apart we noticed that the black pieces, at top and bottom, are removable, allowing for you to change the color of your enclosure if you see fit.

Testing:

This is a screen shot of the benchmark that we performed on the KINGWIN ELITe. This benchmark shows the performance that one should expect when using the USB 2.0 interface. Although KINGWIN's claim of 480Mbps is technically correct, one can never expect to reach these speeds due to the transfer rates of both your computer and cable, as well as the speed the hard drive is capable of attaining. Below is a chart of Real Transfer Speeds on average for both ESATA and USB 2.0:   USB 2.0 ESATA Claimed Speed 480Mbps 3.0 Gbps Speed Actually Obtainable 60Mbps 375Mbps

Compare the case and tray next to a 3.5" 200GB Seagate hard drive.	This is what the Tray should look like when affixed to the tray.

Conclusion:

If you are in the market for an external hard drive, the KINGWIN ELITe may be what your looking for. For the low price of $29.99, KINGWIN has engineered a sleek yet excellent performing external hard drive enclosure. If you have a hard drive laying around collecting dust, why not make it external. The ELITe is beautifully designed as well as durable. This package comes with everything that you need to turn your old internal hard drive into a sleek new external hard drive in about five minutes and for about a third of the price.