Summary: Icy Dock has an interesting hard drive case which lets us mount 2.5 inch SSD hard drives (or normal mechanical 2.5 inch drives) in conventional desktop chassis. In other words it converts a 2.5 inch SATA150 or SATA300 drive to a 3.5 inch SATA drive.

INTRODUCTION

Until recently there was no point in installing 2.5 inch drives in desktop cases. These drives couldn’t compete with the 3.5 inch drives either in performance or price. With the SSDs now dropping in price the scene has somewhat changed or is at least undergoing a change. If you are building a HTPC or something similar you may actually want a SSD in it to make it more silent, faster or for whatever reason. Now as most desktop cases, even smaller HTPC cases, only supports 3.5 inch drives, you will need some kind of converting hard drive enclosure if you want to install a 2.5 inch hard drive. And this is where the Icy Dock MB882 case comes in.

Let’s take a look at the specifications:

The average score of the Icy Dock MB882 from other expert reviews is currently 85% at TestSeek and it has won several awards. More info from the manufacture can be found at the product page.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The enclosure comes enveloped in a simple hard plastic cover which lets us see the product entirely.

The only accessories included in the bundle were the manual and a couple of screws for mounting the enclosure in a desktop chassis (as you do with normal 3.5 inch drives).

ICY DOCK MB882 IN DETAIL

The external appearance of ICY DOCK MB882 is sober in its matte black color casing made of plastic. On top of the case we can see the manufacturer logo and also some instructions on how to open the case. On the front side of the case you can see the ventilation grid.

In the back side of the case I found the SATA data and power connections located directly under the ventilation grid. The fact that this case has ventilation openings both in the front and back means that if you place a fan in front of the case the circulation of air will move perfectly through the enclosure.

To open the ICY DOCK MB882 you just push the top cover towards the back of the case and then just lift it up to open the case. Inside the box I found a steel structure which will hold and secure the hard drive which you place in it. The anti vibration system which I mentioned in the specifications consists of two rubber bands which will press against the hard drive and thus absorb the vibrations. The small PCB in the case is the adapter between the SATA connectors from the hard drive to the casing’s SATA connectors.

INSTALLATION AND TESTS

The installation of a hard disk in the ICY DOCK MB 882 is really easy. Just place the drive inside the case in the right direction (…I know) and then when you close the case the disc will connect to the casing’s SATA connectors through a mechanical solution which activates when closing the top cover.

In my test I used a regular (mechanical) Toshiba of 2.5 inch drive of which I did not have any previously measured data of temperatures or performance. I therefore measured the temperatures of the drive mounted inside the ICY DOCK MB882 enclosure and compared them with the temperatures of the drive when not mounted. There results of my measurements can be viewed in the table below:

The test was realized in the Antec Skeleton case which has a front cooler blowing air on the hard drive at all times.

As I had hoped, the performance of the disc was not affected. The tiny differences which followed my test is normal, the exact same figures are very rarely obtained in these kinds of tests even if no outer conditions are changed. The slightly higher temperature of the disk when mounted within the enclosure should be expected since the cooling surface is naturally smaller.

CONCLUSIONS

As I mentioned in the beginning of this review, the fact that all solid state disks are in the 2.5 inch format has created a problem for consumers who wants to have SSDs in their desktop systems. For the time being there are very few solutions like this so Icy Dock is in a good spot with this enclosure.

I would like to emphasize its cooling system which consists merely of two ventilation shafts, one in the front and one in the back of the enclosure. This may not sound like much but it does the job very well. Another strong point is its super easy installation. The cost for this case isn’t much to talk about at around $25 (18€). It’s just another factor which makes it even easier for me to recommend.

Pros:

• Good quality
• Lets us use 2.5 drives in regular chassis
• Affect on drive performance and temperature is minimal
• Low price

Cons:

• None

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Icy Dock MB882” our Editor’s Choice Award.

As you know, TestSeek collects all expert reviews of many different product types. Head over to our Harddrive Enclosures category to find all expert reviews of alternatives to the Icy Dock MB882.

Thanks goes out to Icy Dock for letting me review this enclosure.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson