Introduction
With the increased demand for high-capacity mobile storage, we are seeing more and more solutions hit
the market these days. Thumb drives dominate on the convenience factor, but their data capacity is
laughable compared to what we can fit on a single 700MB CD-R. With DVD-R getting very cheap, even a
512MB thumb drive is puny in comparison. A lot of us are finding a compromise between convenience
and capacity with mobile rack mounts though, and today we are here to explore a solution that
should meet everyone’s budget: the Aluminum LCD Mobile Rack ATN-999.
The LCD Rack Mount is a 5 1/4″ mountable hard drive enclosure complete with a cooling fan, an LCD screen to
report hard drive temperatures, and of course a removeable tray enclosure so you can haul your hard drive with
you just about anywhere.
So without further ado, let’s have a look at this sucker…
Overview One
You can’t get any more generic than this unit. I purchased the LCD Mobile Rack from SVC.com,
but with a little work you can find it for sale under a dozen different names from a dozen different
distributors. Who is the real manufacturer? I haven’t the foggiest idea. I suppose I could wrench the
unit apart and hunt down an FCC ID but it doesn’t really matter. Whether you get it at SVC, Directron,
or your local electronics store it’s going to be the same thing, and we really put too much stake in
names as it is.
Let’s have a brief look at the specs on this rack mount:
| Product: | Aluminum LCD Mobile Rack ATN-999 |
| Manufacturer: | Generic/Unknown |
| HD Chassis: | 3.5″ drives |
Here is a diagram included with the product which outlines the basic features and layout of the unit:
The box itself is very generic. There isn’t a single indication of the manufacturer anywhere on the
Same story when we look at the back of the package.
Opening the box up, we find the entire contents stored in a thin plastic case, which is by no means
an extensive level of protection, but it serves it’s purpose and keeps the unit snug in the box.
Digging a little deeper, all we find in the plastic casing is the unit itself. It’s a fairly
nice looking device, and my first impression was that it was a little better looking than I expected.
There is a small LCD on the front to display the temperature of the drive you have installed, as
well as the fan speed of the built-in fan. In addition to a few basic controls for selecting
farenheit/celsius, resetting the display, and changing modes, we also find a lock on the right. This lets
you lock the unit so somebody can’t take off with your hard drive. Actually, you have to lock
the front in order to turn the unit on, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how responsible
you are with the keys. 
Now let’s proceed and look a little closer at the ATN-999…
Overview Two
The casing itself is all aluminum, whereas the front ‘bezel’ is plastic. While it didn’t feel like
it was engineered to a superb level of protection, it still had a sturdy feel to it and I didn’t find
any parts that looked very breakable or flimsy. Aside from the lock of course, I’m sure if anyone
wanted to get in, a few minutes and a screwdriver would be more than sufficient.
Looking at the underside of the mobile rack, we can see the small intake fan that will help cool our
drive once installed. A quasi-duct system has air being pulled from the rear of the unit. While
it would be harder to engineer properly, cool air from the front-side of the case would be a lot better
than recirculating warm air from the case over the drive. This isn’t a major flaw, but it’s something
to consider. We can also see a standard ATA 100/133 IDE connector, and 4-pin Molex plug for power.
The Molex will supply power to the hard drive, the LED, and the fan.
Removing the chassis is as simple as pulling the handle up on the front, and drawing the unit towards
you.
With the chassis completely separated from the rack,we can see what looks like a female Centronics
connector. This connector of course leads from the IDE connector on the rear of the unit to the IDE
header on the inside which the drive will plug into.
We gain access to the chassis by pressing a small tab at one end and sliding the cover off. It came
off fairly easy and when in place appeared to be a snug fit.
Once we have the unit opened up we find the only accessories we get with the ATN-999: a small
instruction manual, two keys, and a few screws. Not that we need much more than this, and not that
we should expect much more than this for a generic mobile rack, but it is fairly minimal all
the same.
Now that we have explored the unit it’s time to get this baby installed. Let’s see how the ATN-999
handles itself when we put it to the task…
Installation
First thing’s first. Installing the hard drive was a snap. Just plug in the ATA cable and the Molex
power header and stick the drive in the chassis. At this point we already have a pretty snug fit, but
there are also screwholes that allow you to screw the drive into place. If you plan on leaving the
drive in place for any amount of time I would encourage you to do that.
Once the drive is installed and the cover is back on, we can install the rack itself in a 5 1/4″ bay.
This is where I hit a bit of a stumbling block. The rack is just slightly larger than my other optical
drives and I had a hell of a time getting it to fit in two of the three available bays on this computer.
Now in all fairness, this case has been around for a few years, and has definitely seen it’s fair share
of Dremel goodness. While it could very well be that my case has been slightly warped over time, the
fact that my CD-ROM drive fit perfectly in each bay leads me to believe that the rack is just a hair
too large. This is where the manufacturing process of these generic components starts to show it’s
flaws. This isn’t a major flaw by any means, but is as always something to consider.
You’ll only have to install the rack itself once, so even a bit of a struggle is no big deal since
you will most likely only need to do it once. But when it comes to installing and removing the
drive chassis itself, we really don’t want to fight with it. And unfortunately, I found myself, if only
marginally, getting a bit frustrated at this point. There is a bit of a trick to getting the unit
in the rack mount. After a few tries it got to be easier, but it isn’t exactly as smooth as silk. You
need to tilt the unit up a bit, push it, and if you’re lucky it will slide right in. If you’re not lucky,
this is where you’ll spend a few minutes or more jiggling the unit around to get the right positioning.
Like the size of the rack itself, this is where cheaper design processes show their weakness.
Once it’s in, the unit looks great. It’s still only $16 of greatness, but it really looks pretty nice. When we
power onthe PC, the LCD lights up nicely and two LEDs serve as power and access indicators. The light is nice
and bright, the letters are fairly easy to read, and you can select celsius or farenheit readings at the
flip of a switch.
Now for some basic testing and it’s time to wrap up this review of the Aluminum LCD Mobile Rack ATN-999.
Conclusion
Before I make my decision on the value of this product I made sure to give it a test run. While the
unit shouldn’t have any impact on the performance of your drives, I wanted to be sure there was no
noticeable detriment due to manufacturing flaws or cheap or broken components.
I fired up Windows XP and proceeded to copy about 10GB of MP3’s from the drive to the test computer’s
primary disk. I then repeated the process copying them back to the first disk. In this time I saw
no noticeable change in read/write speeds, and the copying went quite smoothly.
The drive also operates pretty quietly, although in all honesty I am used to having over 200CFM of air
screaming through my case, so my ears may not be as sensitive to the noise. I’m sure that if the
noise did bother you, the fan could be disabled easily enough.
There is one important point to be considered, though. What exactly is this device going to do for
you? Unless you have a chassis installed in another PC you will still need to plug the drive in
manually to the other computer. BUT, it does relieve the pain of unscrewing and unplugging your drive
from your computer. It’s really as easy as powering down, unlocking it, yanking the drive and
heading out the door.
The convenience factor is going to depend on your specific needs. Aside from the portability of the
unit it does offer a few other benefits, though. While keeping your hard drive cool with the fan, it
also monitors temps and provides a handy readout to watch the fan speeds and temperatures. The lock,
while cheap, provides a basic level of protection for your drive. And even if you don’t travel with
your data, having the ability to remove your hard drive and take it somewhere safe can be a great
security bonus for those of you who deal with sensitive data on a regular basis.
The Aluminum LCD Mobile Rack ATN-999 is a great little budget rack mount device. If you have some
money to throw around you might want to look at some of the higher quality units available, but unless
this is a critical component for you the price tag really can’t be beat. For about $16 USD you can
have a pretty nice looking aluminum rack mount to spice up your case and show your hard drive some
TLC. The unit had no real noticeable flaws aside from a bit of a struggle with the installation. The quality
of the unit looks good enough to handle some roughing up, but I wouldn’t suggest you give it too
hard of a time. The aluminum was fairly thin and with a lot of tossing around, could show it’s age
before too long. Of course, if you’re carrying your hard disk around in this sucker, you don’t need
to be tossing it anywhere.
Pros:
- Great price
- Looks pretty good
- Bright LEDs
- Cooling fan and temp monitor are very useful
Cons:
- Mediocre construction quality
- Installation was a bit of a struggle
- Removal and re-installation of the chassis could be easier
Now, even at $16 there is a better deal on this unit. It’s called free, and you can have this
exact unit for that very special price simply by entering the Fury-Tech.com Hardware Giveaway!!
Yep, I’m giving this very rack away to one of our lucky readers as part of our on-going monthly
hardware giveaway. So please take a few minutes to read about the contest, and as always I encourage
you to post any questions, comments, or suggestions at Fury-Tech Forums.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Store Rating | Store Name | Price | Visit Store |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  1419 Store Reviews |  PCNation | $ 587.66 | 
| |
 365 Store Reviews |  ANTOnline | $ 620.35 |
| |
176 Store Reviews |  Amazon Marketplace | $ 620.35 |
| |
2155 Store Reviews |  eCOST.com | $ 634.99 |
| |
3629 Store Reviews |  Compuplus.com | $ 669.00 |
|
Related posts:
