Manufacturer specifications RS017

• Material : Brushed Aluminum
• Color : Silver
• Size : 132 x 87 x 15 mm
• Suited for : 2,5” hard disk
• Connection : USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Scope of supply : Alu Book, CD-ROM Software, installation material, carrying pouch

RS018

• Material : Brushed Aluminum
• Color : Silver
• Size : 198 x 125 x 33 mm
• Suited for : 3.5” hard disk
• Connection : USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Scope of supply : Alu Book, CD-ROM Software, installation material, external power supply

RS019

• Material : Brushed Aluminum
• Color : Silver
• Size : 240 x 170 x 48 mm
• Suited for : 5.25” optical drive
• Connection : USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Scope of supply : Alu Book, CD-ROM Software, installation material

Alu Book, 2.5"

Bundle

Drive packed

Starting with the smallest of the three, the 2.5” Alu Book comes with a good bundle. Except the necessary cables and mounting screws, there is a well-written manual and drivers CD (only necessary if you aren’t running Windows 2000/XP), along with a small carrying pouch. The carrying pouch was very nice since most people that will buy the 2.5” Alu Book, will buy it for moving a small laptop HDD around.

2.5" Alu Book front

2.5" Alu Book rear

2.5" disassembled

The 2.5” Alu book is also the simplest out of the bunch. Small and elegant, it has no sharp edges or rough surfaces anywhere. There is a small blue LED at the front, which lights up when it powers the disk on. It also requires no external power; it is able to feed the drive off the USB port. The installation of the drive is extremely easy and requires no cables at all. You simply have to remove two screws, remove the PCB from the rear, put the drive on it and lock it in place, screw the drive down and put the PCB with the drive back inside the case. That’s it, you are done.

Alu Book, 3.5"

3.5" Power Supply

3.5" Power Bundle

The larger counterpart of the 2.5” Alu Book is also meant for hard disk drives, but common 3.5” drives this time. Revoltec includes a USB cable, a well-written manual and drivers CD (only necessary if you aren’t running Windows 2000/XP) and also the external power supply. The external power supply is rather small and light, but certainly it is somewhat of a problem when you want to carry the drive around, so it reduces mobility.

3.5" Alu Book front

3.5" Alu Book rear

3.5" disassembled

The 3.5” Alu book is almost identical to the 2.5” version, simply larger. No sharp edges or similar defects. The casing has a sturdy feeling, being totally made out of aluminium, and also will dissipate some heat away from your disk drive. At the rear of the casing, there are two cable ports (one for the power and one female USB port) and also an on/off switch, which can be convenient. At the front, there is a blue LED which light on when the drive is powered on. The installation of the drive is also similar to that of the 2.5” unit; you have to remove the PCB from the back, screw the drive in place and then place it back inside the Alu Book. The only difference here is that you have to attach the IDE and power cables to the drive yourself, plus be careful of the LED power cable which you have to remove/attach as you install the drive in the Alu Book.

Alu Book, 5.25"

5.25" bundle

5.25" Alu Book front

5.25" Alu Book rear

Going to the largest Alu Book of the family, the 5.25” version was designed to house optical drives. The bundle that comes with it is rather basic, being only an USB cable, a DIN power cable, a well-written manual and a drivers CD (only necessary if you aren’t running Windows 2000/XP). The front of the casing is not covered, for the obvious reason as it is meant for optical drives, with a large blue LED sitting there which turns on while the drive is powered on. At the rear there are the cable ports, an on/off switch and a cooling fan, which ensures the low temperature of your optical drive and the internal power supply unit.

5.25" Installation 1

5.25" Installation 2

5.25" Installation done

The installation of an optical drive inside the 5.25” Alu Book is easy. First, you have to remove the back panel and the whole top cover will slide out. Then you install the optical drive via the front of the Alu Book, install the power and IDE cables and screw the drive into place. Finally, you simply slide the top cover back in place and screw the back panel in place also. You are ready to enjoy your external optical drive. Black optical drives will match the Alu Book much better, but unfortunately I only had the Plextor PX-708A drive available at the moment for demonstration.

Final words and conclusion

The 3 Alu Books are certainly nice and the whole aluminium construction makes them not only look but also feel better. The 5.25” unit also has its power supply internal, which was a very nice thing as many companies ship 5.25” external drive casings with external power supply units. The 2.5” does not require any kind of power; it feeds the drive via the USB port. What I didn’t like is that the 5.25” is not one solid unit but consists of two large aluminium parts, but the problem is that these two are not firmly pressing to each other, so moving the case around might create a vague metallic noise. I would prefer a more firm contact between the two plates. Nevertheless, that is a minor problem. I can only recommend the Alu Book external enclosures line to all that seek a good quality and stylish external enclosure for their storage devices.

My thanks to Dorothee Renger ( Listan DE, public relations) for providing us the current review sample for the needs of this review.