Zalman ZM-VE200 is a unique external boxing for HDD with advanced features. Zalman ZM-VE300, review, help with the Zalman Box HDD system administrator with CD emulation

Total pinching of the optical storage market under Nati external hard drives and flash drives are due to quite objective reasons, but leads to some unpleasant side effects. In particular, the software is still actively sold on CD and DVD, so that its installation on computers, devoid drives, becomes not always a trivial task. Of course, often installation packages can be simply copied to that very truck, but it is uncomfortable with a huge number of small files trite uncomfortable. Best way The problem solving is the use of images, since each disk turns into one file, and it can be placed on one small drive. However, it is necessary to make a convenient solution to the problem of subsequent use. Translated from the stationery into Russian, on the computer will need installed program To work with recorded images. And what if it is "someone else's" computer, where is it not? Or, worse, there is no system at all, which is just required to install? Microsoft, of course, offers a utility for windows transfer 7 From disk on a flash drive (or other USB drive), but this operating system is not limited to this operating system. And there are still all sorts of special disks for diagnosing or restoring the system, and just a LiveCD for acquaintance with various operatingers, etc. In general, when all this was recorded on the CD, it was easier - inserted the drive into the drive, and that's it. If necessary, just booted from it. Moreover, from any ready-made disc, the benefit of all products do not depend on each other and do not need to prepare the loading flash drive every time (not to mention the fact that not all by correctly transfers the relocation with the CD to the USB drive).

Is there a convenient way to solve all these problems? Now it is. It is even strange that he appeared so late, although the problem became relevant for a long time. And it is doubly strange that the decision of the questions raised is not someone from the old participants of the foreign drives market, and Zalman, more famous for its coolers and other related goods (although in fact the original developer is actually different here, as often happens But he is unknown to generally generally). Now here is a breakthrough to a completely different market. Moreover, the solution to the problem using ISO images on any system is one of the main features of ZM-VE200, but not the only dignity. What makes a desire to get acquainted with the product closer.

Design

Even externally, the device is slightly different from most "typical" external modules, although it has the same design. The case with dimensions of 135.3 × 78.6 × 13.1 mm and a mass of 98.5 grams for the most part is made of anodized aluminum and can have black or silver color. Completely, even if not exclusively :)

But a small monochrome LCD displacer in the top of the front surface is an unusual element. But very useful, although its main task is only the choice of a "working" image (which is done using JOG-DIAL on the left side of the box), which will be mounted on a virtual optical drive. However, in addition, the screen allows you to get information about installed disk, its temperature (as it does not have enough in "ordinary" boxes to many paranoids!), mode of operation, firmware version (it can be updated), etc.

All other active elements are traditionally focused on one of the short ends and include ESATA connectors and USB MINI-B, as well as the recording lock slider. The archiving thing for a person engaged in service computers (and just often walking on suspicious places) - you can not worry to catch and carry some infection with you. In general, one last plus support for two interfaces and, to a lesser extent, the built-in diagnostic tools is already enough for the product to become interesting for acquisition. And after all, we have not reached before main features! So far, we only note that if ISO-image support and the ESATA interface are not required, you can safely save, purchasing the ZM-HE100 model: recording from recording is equipped and it is also.

Contents of delivery

In a box with a device, besides it, you can also detect a pair of interface cables (USB and ESATA), 50 cm each, a couple of bolts for reliable fixation of the assembled drive, miniature screwdriver to twist / unscrewing and protective cover from the leak. The design of the latter allows the use of hard drive without removing from the cover, although if a long continuous work is planned, it is still from sin to extract it to the outside - cooling will be better. And one more element of the kit is a transparent film, with dimensions of approximately with Winchester - puts in a dead end, as it turned out, very many buyers who cannot find the scope of application for it, and in the manual this question is not worked out :) In fact, we have an example The touching concern for Zalman designers about trifles - it should be under the hard drive and put it. Justification Simple: The box itself is made of aluminum, i.e. holds electricity, and on the "trouser" of the hard drive is open printed circuit boardSo, theoretically, something may unsuccessfully closure, and it will fail.

Functionality

And now, finally, we got to the most tasty. In the spoon of the tar, however, it turns out that in the "high-speed" mode (i.e., when connected to a computer with ESATA) no additional to simple copying And the storage of these functionality does not have the device. The display simply displays "ESATA MODE", and that's it. Even, by the way, the ability to learn the current temperature of the disk disappears.

So in order to fully enjoy the "feathers", you should connect a box to a computer when uSB help. And it should be a daddy with the name "_iso", in which ISO images should be leaning in an amount not exceeding 32 pieces (by the way, when using the firmware earlier than 61F dated April 29, it is also required to use on disk file System NTFS - FAT32 and EXFAT have been added only in it).

If all this is observed, we get the choice of one of the three modes of operation, and the current is shown on the display: HDD MODEANOGO ESATA mode (and 99% of external modules and ready-made freedoms on the market), the device works as a banal external hard drive.odd Mode in this mode For the VE-200 system, it looks like a USB CD / DVD / BD-ROM, which is set by one of the "Disc folder". What specifically the ISO image will be mounted - you can select manually using the wheels on the left side, controlling the process by changing the file names. Unfortunately, in addition to the above, they will have to "call" short names and not to use the symbols of Cyrillic: long trimmed, and symbols that are not related to the Latin alphabetics are displayed spaces. However, it is difficult to consider it such a serious limitation. For particularly inquisitive tuning lovers briefly hint that the problem of Russification, as well as the extension of the list of supported types of disks images (justice for the sake of each exotic), can be solved using the firmware, but at your own risk ... Yes, and to flash it instead of "native" It should not be too trivially (but how - look in the network yourself;)). Dual Modecompilation of the two modes described above: connected to a computer external module It gives rise to two devices - and ENZh, and optics. Accordingly, we get access to all stored files (and, as already mentioned above, it can be limited only to reading, which is very useful when working on a stranger potentially unsafe computer), as well as the ability to work with ISO images.

The latter is possible in two modes. The first and easiest, namely mounting images when the operating system loaded, works fine always and does not cause any problems. Thus, you can throw out all the CD and DVDs stored at home with distributions, pre-"Running" them in images. The limit on 32 files does not interfere with this very much - because images can be stored in different folders (type "ISO_OFFICE_PROGRAM", "ISO_LINUX", "ISO_WINDOWS_SYSTEM", "ISO_Games", etc.) simply renaming the necessary in "_iso" before use. More serious restriction, perhaps, it will be that this format is not quite suitable (or does not fit at all) to store some toy protected from copying. But here there are no complaints about Zalman - the company has not planned to encourage piracy. Yes, and to systemic, such disks do not include, so it is quite possible to work with them in the old manner - using software virtual CDs.

For the systemic disks (from different Linux distributions to all sorts of "resuscitatives"), another user scenario is most relevant, namely the download from the virtual CD drive! Here with her, we admit honestly, not everything is smooth. As practice has shown, similar virtual drives does not support a considerable amount of maternal intel cards (more precisely used by the company bIOS version), not only sold in a separate execution, but also found in laptops. This problem concerns not only ZM-VE200 - we have come across it and, for example, testing Silicon Power Ultima 155, where the controller is clearly different. So the guilty should be searched among programmers who worked on the download module (the problem is manifested only at this stage), but it is natural, it does not become easier. However, most of the tested computers are devoid of such problems - the loading from the virtual drive passes in the same way as with usual: just choose it in the BIOS or (which is available on most modern motherboards) to use a special boot menu. Accordingly, it is possible to install any operating system - not necessarily the one-designed for this use (which is true for Windows 7) and without any traditional dancing with tambourine and third-party programs (which are needed for similar windows installations XP). At the same time, in contrast to flash drives, some of which support the selection of part of the disk space for a virtual CD, it is not necessary to be limited to only one system - "boot" discs can be several. You just need to choose the one that will want - and there will be a special LiveCD for the repair system or Windows 95 boot disk, the drive (and computer) does not matter :)

Testing technique

The question arises - did all this developed functionality affected how the Winchester received after the installation of the Winchester will cope with traditional tasks, such as storing and transferring information? That is why we have been subjected to traditional testing. The technique is described in detail in a separate article . There you can get acquainted with the configuration of the test bench, and with the software used. The only change is instead of the seagate momentus 5400.5 ST9320320As used in the tests traditionally used in the tests, from the point of view of modernity is already too small and slow, we decided to take the SEAGATE top model: Momentus XT ST95005620AS. It is clear that for outdoor hard Disk This drive with a speed of rotation of the plates of 7200 rpm and an additional flash buffer is redundant (all the more so it costs somewhere twice as much as the "ordinary powder" of the same capacity, and 750 GB in traditional execution can be purchased cheaper), BUT B. this case You can be exactly confident that it will not become a "bottleneck". Yes, and we will compare the subject with rapid two interface models.

Competitors

As the latter, we took the newly tested Verbatim Store'n'Go (with Samsung HM500JI on 500 GB inside) and Seagate FreeAgent Goflex (inside the Momentus 5400.6 ST9500325AS per 500 GB) with a "regular" interface module (supporting USB 2.0) and Power Esata Upgrade Cable. Despite the fact that Goflex does not provide versatility easy way (To go to USB 2.0 to ESATA and back, you need to change the interface module), it is one of the few (as well as the VerBatim drive) supporting ESATA modification with power, which is somewhat better than the pair of Cables VE-200, to which the latter can be restored. But you can not find fault :)

Lavalys Everest 5.0.

As for the speed of data transmission over the interface, then the Zalman product has nothing to boast - regardless of the interface, it is behind the competitors. Let's see how it affects more close to practical use tests.

Iometer.

But on random operations, where it is determined by the installed inside the Winchester, the kit we assemble easily and not tightening unconditionally takes first place.

Intel Nas Performance Toolkit

Fast hard drive in a bundle with ESATA allows VE-200 unsuccessfully fighting for leadership, but it is worth moving to a more common USB 2.0, as it immediately begins to lag behind competitors.

A similar position is also developing during data recording. However, is it worth it to be very upset? Yes, of course, about 20% of the lag is a lot, however, the external module supports not only USB 2.0. So it is enough to simply use ESATA - this option is faster than USB, at times. And regardless of the implementation;)

If, of course, to lease to the use of EDA to transfer information, and not as a "working" drive - here it is not corrected by a quick interface. Alas, but this is the fee for a functional-complex controller.

Prices

The table contains devices in Moscow, relevant at the time of reading this article:

Zalman ZM-VE200

N / d (0)

TOTAL

If you try, a whole list of claims can be presented to Zalman Ve-200: there is no support for USB 3.0, ESATA without meals, performance is lower than it could be. All this is so ...

However, real and potential disadvantages are more than compensated for truly unique functionality! In principle, as we have already said, initially it is not the development of Zalman, but since the company managed to see good idea and become the main global seller of its implementation, the reward, as it seems to us, will be quite at :) really - the need for something like a long time ago in the air, since it is often the only task that the optical drive performs in modern computerIs installation of the operating system. Or some service events. In general, for the sake of episodic loading to keep such a device (despite its low price) The farm becomes uninteresting. In the face of ZM-VE200, we get a very convenient and fast CD / DVD-ROM in addition to the Code and productive external hoody disk. Moreover, all the disadvantages of the second functional component are not critical - on the background until now, well-sold trucks, equipped with one USB 2.0, it demonstrates a completely different level of performance in successful conditions;) that only exacerbates recording protection support, which, judging by our conference For many users of mobile external drives, forced to work with them and potentially unsafe computers are very relevant. And to the first complaints there is no, if you compare it with, for example, a USB drive. Immediately everything in one. Perhaps, of course, the price will disgregate some potential individual buyers, however, in the economy of a sysadmin, service engineer or a real enthusiast computer equipment Such a box, as it seems to us, will be an indispensable thing.

IN modern world There is a lot of stereotypes ... For example, that Japanese cars are better than South Korean, or that money is best kept in Swiss banks. Sometimes it is interesting to see how the current stereotypes actually justify themselves. Electronics produced by South Korean companies, such as LG or Samsung, has always been considered a good compromise between product quality, and its value. The hero of our current testing is an external 2.5 "Boxing for hard drives, Zalman ZM-VE200 is also made by the South Korean manufacturer. Zalman actually has a good reputation among the cooling system manufacturers for computers. But the HDD body is not a cooling system. Let's see how much It is good to go from Zalman on the market "HDD Pockets".

The factory packaging was relatively small, however, like the product itself. On the front side, the image of the HDD pocket of black color is banging, on the sides of which are reversed two silver devices. Apparently, the manufacturer set a goal to present an external HDD boxing to the buyer with a semi-touch, and in the same way to help him determine the more desired color of the product. Packaging is well balanced, and is not overloaded with secondary information; Only the main names and designations of the external HDD pocket ZM-VE200. Despite the conciseness of the packaging, one inscription is still pleasant to surprise: "External HDD Case + Virtual Drive". Minute, virtual disk included? It's great, but let's all in order.

Let's start briefly read the main features and technical characteristics External pocket for hard zalman Discs ZM-VE200, which can be found both on the back of the packaging and on the official website of the manufacturer.

Key features of Zalman ZM-VE200:

Aluminium case

Preset software for mounting CD / DVD images from ISO files: No additional software is required to mount any ISO image.

Built-in screen, which displays information about hard condition disk

Protective cover included

The ability to mount ISO images, the built-in screen, to which the information is displayed - yes, here it seems that the case with its own operating system, not otherwise!

Technical characteristics Zalman. ZM-VE200:

Dimensions (DHSHV): 135.3x78.6x13.1 mm

Weight: 98.5

Material: aluminum, acrylic, polycarbonate

A type: 2.5 "SATA HDD

Interfaces: USB 2.0 (compatible with USB 1.1), ESATA Direct HDD Access

Data transfer accpair: USB up to 480 Mbps, ESATA up to 3 Gbit / s

Spindle rotation speed: 5400 or 7200 rpm

Food: USB

Color: black, silver

The factory package opens from above, after which you can pull another additional cardboard packaging (gray, already without beautiful pictures), in which, in addition to the HDD pocket itself, a protective cover, a short manual of the user, as well as twig with bolts, is neatly packed. It is nice to note that the standard package also includes USB and ESATA cables. Obviously, the device is supplied without hard disk. Protective cover is a very pleasant bonus defending appearance HDD housing, especially if you consider that the ZM-VE200 may be in it and at a time when it is connected to a computer without fearing overheating.

As mentioned above, the outer body for the hard drive can be both black and silver color. The pocket who came to us for testing a USB pocket is painted in silver color, and as for me, it is more attractive than black, as it contrasts more with a common type of product.

Connection and use of Zalman ZM-VE200 will not deliver any trouble even the most ordinary PC user. On the right, on the upper side of the HDD housing is placed USB port, Record protection function switch, Hard disk activity LED, Factory firmware recovery button, as well as ESATA port. Unlike other 2.5 "and 3.5" devices, this HDD box is powered only from a USB or ESATA cable, which explains the absence of a special power connector. This fact is both a plus and a minus at the same time. The fact is that not all today's ESATA ports support the power supply function of the devices connected to them, so it would still be not bad to leave a special connector for powering a hard disk in case of such a need, well, or at least emphasize the fact of incompatibility with the ESATA standard.

Installing the hard disk in the Zalman ZM-VE200 tested today was even easier than I could assume. All you need to do to install your hard drive inside your pocket is to connect the HDD itself to a special controller through the appropriate connectors, and then insert the HDD along with the connected controller inside the pocket (first HDD, the controller remains up). As soon as you have connected and inserted the hard drive inside, it remains only to securely fasten it inside with a dumping and two bolts that the South Korean manufacturer prudently included in the package. During installation, you need a little one to open the rubber tape hiding the fasteners. By the way, after installation, this ribbon will be slightly lit out because of the swirling bolts, and this is although it is small, but still the flaws of Korean engineers.

After completion of the installation, sin will not test the strength and quality assembly of the case of our today's experimental. Simple shake and moving the device convinced me that engineers designed the housing well, it is stronger enough and reliable. While most 3.5 "devices are not adapted to daily carrying, 2.5" HDD ZM-VE200 pocket is one of the smallest enclosures for the HDD, which I only kept in my hands - specially designed for maximum mobility and portability.

October 12, 2015, Odnocrylov Vladimir 8

Another review is devoted to the external corpus for Zalman ZM-VE350 hard drives. Boxing is designed for 2.5-inch SATA drives and supports USB 3.0 high-speed interface. The device is equipped with a virtual optical drive function, allowing ISO images "on the fly. Record protection feature allows you to prevent damage to important files.

Zalman ZM-VE350 video review

Complete set and characteristics of Zalman ZM-VE350

Arriving for Testing External Boxing for Hard Drives Zalman ZM-VE350 Comes in a black box of dense cardboard.

Zalman packaging ZM-VE350.

Package Included:

Box itself.
Case.
USB 3.0 cable.
A set of screwdriver and four screws.
Quick Guide.

Grade Zalman ZM-VE350

Complete cable has a length of 50 cm, including connectors.

USB 3.0 cable

The cover is very dense, to remove the device from it easily. You can, of course, use boxing and directly in the case, however, we do not recommend this, otherwise the inserted drive can overheat.

Zalman ZM-VE350 in Cove

Technical characteristics of the device we reduced into a single table.

HDD interface	SATA, form factor 2.5 "
Devices interface	USB 3.0 (back compatible with USB 2.0)
Device interface transfer rate	USB 2.0: up to 480 Mbps; USB 3.0: up to 5 Gbps
Work with ISO images	Virtual optical drive
Indicator	Lights when power is turned on, flashes when exchanging data
Food	USB power
Dimensions	131x79x13 mm (d x sh x c)
Weight	96 g (without a drive)

Design Zalman ZM-VE350

Housing Zalman ZM-VE350 For the most part, made of painted aluminum with soft polymer inserts on the sides. On the front side, the LCD display and the LED indicator of activity are placed.

External Boxing for Zalman ZM-VE350 Hard Disk

The upper end is the Backup button and the USB 3.0 connector (type Micro-B, also transmitting power to HDD) to connect a complete cable.

Upper Zalman ZM-VE350

On the opposite end passed technical information About the model.

Nizhny end on Zalman ZM-VE350

On the left side there is a pressure lever for navigating the device menu, and the rest of the space occupies a soft insert.

Zalman ZM-VE350 left side

On the right side, except for the second such insert, there is nothing important.

Right sidewall Zalman ZM-VE350

The quality of the assembly is worthy - the buttons and elements of the housing are not dangling. In general, the design impress the monolithic.

Testing Zalman ZM-VE350

To install the drive in the box, you will have to first remove the module with the LCD screen, which contains in itself, in fact, the entire filling of the device.

Base block Zalman ZM-VE350

For testing we took solid State Drive And they connected it to the internal port of SATA.

SSD connected to Zalman ZM-VE350 board

For reliability, it is worth pressing the module with complete screws - the holes are hidden under the bent edges of the soft inserts.

Screw holes on Zalman ZM-VE350

To do this, we used the complete scolding - good, efforts are required small, so miniature dysfunction of unscrewing is not a hindrance. It is worth noting that the screws bundle twice as much as they need four against the required two.

The base unit Zalman ZM-VE350 is clamped with screws

After connecting to the PC, the display of our device caught fire blue and issued a simple menu.

Display Zalman ZM-VE350

Wherein operating system Recognized two devices at once: the USB drive itself and the additional optical drive is completely virtual, which is indicated in its name.

Zalman ZM-VE350 in Task Manager

This is exactly the main "chip" of this case - you can mount any ISO images by placing them in the folder "_Iso" On the case inserted into the case. For example, the Windows 7 image downloaded from MSDN read without problems.

Image of Windows 7 in the virtual drive Zalman ZM-VE350

However, our instance was initially with an erroneous firmware, and for the right job of the virtual drive function, we had to update the device software to more actual version. The archive with the firmware and the update instructions we apply below. Remember: This operation is carried out for your fear and risk, and if you are definitely not sure what you are doing, better contact technical support or service center.

(122,7 KB).
(579.78 KB).

However, the actuation function can be completely disabled - for this it is enough just to select the appropriate mode, which are provided for as many as three:

HDD MODE - drive mode without drive.
VCD MODE - Virtual Drive Mode.
Dual Mode - simultaneous work.

Zalman ZM-VE350 modes

Another wonderful function Zalman ZM-VE350 - Ability to set protection from recording. This allows you to work even in potentially or actually infected with viruses the system without danger to pick up infesses. You need to select the "Enable WP" menu. The lock icon closes on start screen - And all, no problems.

Installation of protection from recording in Zalman ZM-VE350

Additionally, in the "Information" section, you can see the temperature of the media (I will immediately say that for SSD it is defined incorrectly, you should not be afraid), state S.M.A.R.T., serial number and the version of the firmware of the controller.

Information about the drive in Zalman ZM-VE350

Now check the performance when using the USB interface. 3.0. IN HD Tune 5. Speed \u200b\u200bgraph has an average read speed indicator of 161.9 MB / s at a time of accidental access of 0.169 ms. The load on the CPU amounted to 9.8%.

Today we would like to present to your attention an external boxing Zalman. ZM-SHE350 with function digital password To access the hard disk. This compact solution allows you to protect your data and simplify you work with personal data. Great price, pleasant design, compact size, all this allows you to pay the attention of buyers. Let's get acquainted with the device a little closer and proceed to the review.

Zalman ZM-SHE350

How often do you use portable media, USB flash drives? Personally, our experience shows that the portable hard drive is simply necessary in operation, for all the necessary and important information is always with you, because it is very convenient and practical. But it is not rarely cases when other people's people are trying to steal this data by copying to their personal Computer or laptop.

We recently stumbled upon a very interesting Zalman ZM-SHE350 device. This is an external case, externally resembling an access door, but in fact its function is completely different - protect your data on HDD. How does this happen? Everything is very simple, but before considering the functions and operation of the device, let's get acquainted with the delivery kit and external design.

Zalman ZM-SHE350 Overview

Contents of delivery

The device comes in a small premium transparent package, which can be deducted all the necessary information and familiarize yourself with the characteristics of Zalman ZM-SHE350. The package includes:

Zalman ZM-SHE350 housing itself
USB 3.0 cable for power supply and data transmission
Purchase book
Rubber insert to increase the thickness of the hard disk
Compact case

In the configuration of the device there is everything you need for full-fledged work. Small additional bonuses, like a case and a special rubber insert to increase the width of the HDD, if necessary, I cannot but please your buyers.

Characteristics

Exterior Boxing - Zalman ZM-SHE350
2.5-inch supported SATA discs. Maximum thickness (depth) HDD 9.5 mm.
Connected HDD Interfaces - SATA III, SATA-I / SATA-II
PC Connection Interface - USB 3.0 / USB 2.0
Case material - plastic
OS support - Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows. 2000, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 8, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP
Dimensions (d / w / c) - 135/75/16 mm

Appearance

As we have already spoken, externally reminds the doorway entrance intercom. The device is fully made of black plastic. The quality of the assembly is not bad, no embroidering. But I didn't quite like the fact that with a small drop from the height of the cover of the device immediately diverge to the sides. It is still possible to developers, it will be necessary to think about the reliability of the entire building, because it is not necessary to open it and just pick up the hard disk.

On the front of the device, the main control buttons are located: numbers from 0 to 9, the "LOCK" button and the "Enter" button. Here, slightly tag from the buttons, there are light indicators, and opposite them of their designation.

Micro USB connector is located on the top face. On other faces, there are no controls.

The back cover opens. Under it is a connector under a 2.5-inch SATA disk. The thickness of which should not exceed 9.5 mm. If the disk is thinner, you can use a special rubber insert that allows you to get the necessary thickness.

From the minuses it should be noted that the rear cover is not protected from the opening. That is, anyone can open it. In other words, if you can protect information from transfer to other PCs or laptops, you cannot protect your hard, which is inside the Zalman ZM-SHE350. You can not.

Setup and work

First, let's figure it out with the configuration of the device, in other words, how to install a hard drive in the Zalman ZM-SHE350 and make it work. To begin with, you need to purchase a hard disk, since it is not in the set, we will remind you that 2.5-inch SATA discs are supported. Then everything is very simple, open rear cover, Install, close and connect to PC.

By connecting the device for the first time, you will need to go a few simple steps. The whole charm is that above the panels with numbers are small information panelwhere certain actions are prescribed, you just have to do that, next to which the light indicator will turn around.

The first step is to come up with a password. Next you need to confirm it, after which, using this password You can open access to this hard disk. Do not forget to conduct the process of initialization, markup and format your hard hDD disk For normal use and write through your operating system. How to do this processYou can find out with the help of a book for use, everything is described in detail there. If you speak brief, you need to do the following steps:

Connect Zalman ZM-SHE350 with inserted HDD to your PC
Next Open "Control Panel / Administration / Computer Management / Disk Management
In the window that opens, you will see that your PC cannot recognize the HDD, as it is initialized only through a fusion program.
Next, you just need to right-click on this external disk And select "Initialize Disk" item, after which go through a small procedure.
After completing the initialization, you can start the markup process and formatting.

Consider additional teamswhich are available on Zalman ZM-SHE350. If you do not count the password input, in Zalman ZM-SHE350 there are 3 additional features Working with buttons panel:

If you click on the LOCK - 0 - ENTER queue, then you can change the current password to the new one.
Combination of the LOCK - 9 keys - ENTER starts the HDD hard disk initialization process
If you press and hold lock button For more than 2 seconds, the HDD hard disk / disconnection will occur, in other words - safe extraction of the device.

Dananh transmission rate

I was pleased with the fact that Zalman ZM-SHE350 uses uSB connection 3.0, which allows you to get very fast speed data transmission. During the review of the review, the transfer rate and recording on the hard disk ranged from 40 from 100 Mbps.

Plus, it should be added that the Zalman ZM-SHE350 can be connected to any device that has a USB host and play their media files through it. What happens if you somehow stole Zalman ZM-SHE350 with important information? If the attacker does not know the password, then it will not be able to get your information. Yes, you can pull the hard disk and connect it directly, but there is a small nuance, it will not give anything, your PC will simply see the hard disk, respectively and will not be able to show the information that is inside. PC will determine that the device connected to it and installs the necessary drivers to it, but will not give the opportunity to use this disc. Agree, very convenient and practical.

Where does this security come from? The answer is simple, Zalman ZM-SHE350 uses AES 256 encryption, which allows you to fully secure your hard disk data. But there is another side of this chip, if for some incomprehensible reason forgot the password, which was installed on the device, then restore the password without losing all data on the hard disk it will not work. Yes, you can contact the company's service center, however, even if you can help, then you still have the data that you recorded on HDD will erase.

RESULTS

By summing up, it should be said that the Zalman ZM-SHE350 is not just a boxing through which you can connect your HDD to PC or other devices and watch your saved files, and a real, reliable information protector stored on the hard disk. Not knowing the password, in the hands of the Zalman ZM-SHE350 intruders will be the usual storage box for HDD, since another way to get information from it will not succeed. Of course, in your pocket you do not imagine it, but in the backpack or bag Zalman ZM-SHE350 does not take much space. Everything comes down to the fact that this solution It cannot but attract the attention of buyers, of course, such a security is necessary not to all users, so some Zalman ZM-SHE350 will seem to a meaningless "toy". The choice is always yours, we can only show and tell.

In the modern world there is a mass of stereotypes ... For example, that Japanese cars are better than South Korean, or that money is best kept in Swiss banks. Sometimes it is interesting to see how the current stereotypes actually justify themselves. Electronics produced by South Korean companies, such as LG or Samsung, has always been considered a good compromise between product quality, and its value. The hero of our current testing is an external 2.5 "Boxing for hard drives, Zalman ZM-VE200 is also made by the South Korean manufacturer. Zalman actually has a good reputation among the cooling system manufacturers for computers. But the HDD body is not a cooling system. Let's see how much It is good to go from Zalman on the market "HDD Pockets".

Let's start briefly review the main features and technical characteristics of the outer pocket for Zalman ZM-VE200 hard drives, which can be found both on the back of the packaging and on the official website of the manufacturer.

Key features of Zalman ZM-VE200:

Aluminium case

Preset software for mounting CD / DVD images from ISO files: No additional software is required to mount any ISO image.

Built-in screen on which the hard disk status information is displayed.

Protective cover included

The ability to mount ISO images, the built-in screen, to which the information is displayed - yes, here it seems that the case with its own operating system, not otherwise!

Specifications Zalman ZM-VE200:

Dimensions (DHSHV): 135.3x78.6x13.1 mm

Weight: 98.5

Material: aluminum, acrylic, polycarbonate

A type: 2.5 "SATA HDD

Interfaces: USB 2.0 (compatible with USB 1.1), ESATA Direct HDD Access

Data transfer accpair: USB up to 480 Mbps, ESATA up to 3 Gbit / s

Spindle rotation speed: 5400 or 7200 rpm

Food: USB

Color: black, silver

The factory package opens from above, after which you can pull another additional cardboard packaging (gray, already without beautiful pictures), in which, in addition to the HDD pocket itself, a protective cover, a short manual of the user, as well as twig with bolts, is neatly packed. It is nice to note that the standard package also includes USB and ESATA cables. Obviously, the device is supplied without a hard disk. The protective cover is a very pleasant bonus that protects the appearance of the HDD housing, especially if you consider that the ZM-VE200 may be in it and at the time when it is connected to a computer without fearing overheating.

Connection and use of Zalman ZM-VE200 will not deliver any trouble even the most ordinary PC user. On the right, on the top side of the HDD housing is posted a USB port, the write protection function switch, the rigid disk activity LED, the recovery button of the factory firmware, and the ESATA port. Unlike other 2.5 "and 3.5" devices, this HDD box is powered only from a USB or ESATA cable, which explains the absence of a special power connector. This fact is both a plus and a minus at the same time. The fact is that not all today's ESATA ports support the power supply function of the devices connected to them, so it would still be not bad to leave a special connector for powering a hard disk in case of such a need, well, or at least emphasize the fact of incompatibility with the ESATA standard.

LCD display can also be attributed to the undoubted advantages of this device. Few modern housings for HDDs can boast its presence; In fact, I did not have to face similar devices before. And although the external hard drives usually do not need a built-in screen (probably, they are not equipped with them), the presence of a display for the ZM-VE200 is a truly important option. Of course, using the LCD, the user will be able to control such secondary indicators as the temperature of the hard disk (pocket in any case should provide the necessary ventilation for HDD, otherwise there may be serious problems), but using LCD you can quickly receive information about the state of more Important details.

In addition to its main functionality, the transformation of the inner hard drive in the external, ZM-VE200 also boasts one very interesting feature - a virtual CD / DVD drive. And this is really a very nice bonus. Zalman ZM-VE200 is the first HDD box that offers a virtual CD / DVD drive option. Even his predecessor, the ZM-HE100 model did not have such a function that offers a sea of \u200b\u200bnew features for the end user.

By the way, you want to know why the LCD display is so important for this device? It allows the ZM-VE200 user not only to switch the mode of using the device between HDD, ODD or and the other at the same time - with its help, the user can easily mount the files available from him that in itself is an alternative for CD-, DVD- and Yes, you guess, BD-ROM drives. The user can mount any ISO image, if only it was posted in the "_iso" folder on the HDD. If necessary, you can create additional subfolders in this folder, each of which can accommodate up to 32 optical disks images.

The USB 2.0 HDD port of the ZM-VE200 pocket has some specific work with the SATA port of the hard disk. First you need to remove the protective coating on the chip, after which you read a special disguised code, printed very small font. The thing is that the interface converter board is based on the OXU931SF controller from OXFORD SEMICONDUCTOR, now the PLX Technology unit (http://www.plxtech.com/products/consumer/oxu931sf), which will attract some features of its use.

Three modes of work Zalman ZM-VE200

The idea of \u200b\u200bthe South Korean manufacturer is Zalman - integrate the virtual CD / DVD drive in HDD Boxing is actually very good. In the theory of this additional feature To a large extent, the possibilities of the ZM-VE200 will expand, and it may even take advantage of this HDD Case to a new level. However, this virtual optical disk Not without flaws. Simply put, I am not very pleased with the work with this new functionality.

As mentioned above, this device can work in three different modes: HDD, ODD and Dual Mode. HDD mode is a hard disk mode in which the ZM-VE200 can be used as the most common HDD pocket. ODD mode is an optical drive mode in which only the ISO file mount option is available to the virtual drive using it as a regular CD / DVD device. In the HDD mode, the user is not available for the direct mounting of ISO images into a virtual drive, and vice versa. In fact, the ZM-VE200 will be recognized by your operating system as two different devices, two discs: the first for storing information, that is, for normal hard disk (HDD mode), and the second is to work a virtual drive (ODD mode). Despite the creation of two virtual devices, the data is stored on a single inner rigid disk. That is why ZM-VE200 can still be considered a "normal" external HDD pocket. Well, the last mode is Dual Mode - a combination of the first two modes.

Technically, another mode remains - ESATA, however, this mode holds "aside" from the first three, and that is why. Use the first three modes is very simple. On the left side of the HDD pocket there is a special switch, with which you can activate the mode you want: to slide the switch down and connecting USB cable The device turns on in HDD mode, switch up + USB cable - ODD mode, switch inside + USB cable - Combined mode. All three modes create virtual devices in your computer, while ESATA is activated when connecting the cable of the same name, and is used only for normal information transmission between the computer and the HDD pocket.

Physical drive can only work with one optical drive At one point in time. The same applies to the virtual CD / DVD disk drive in the ZM-VE200; Only one ISO image can be loaded at one time. I easily manage to mount the images dVD disks, gaming and music CDs, as well as disk images with software. There was no need to use the OS to control the device when the device itself can control the OS. Special "JOG-SWITCH" type switch along with the LCD display allowed quickly and with ease viewing available ISO imagesMounting which occupied approximately 5 - 10 seconds, depending on the size of the ISO file itself.

Among other things, Zalman ZM-VE200 can not only emulate a virtual CD / DVD drive - it allows you to create up to 4 floppy drives, while they know how to work simultaneously. Interestingly, Zalman did not provide any information about this functionality. Of course, today, floppy disks are used extremely rare, but this function will allow the product to be aimed at a very specific market, where technical experts sometimes still use floppy disks to run the system diagnostics tools.

Testing

A samsung HM160HI hard disk was used for testing, the external box was connected via the USB interface to the computer. The results are as follows: Read - 27.8 MB / s, recording - 21.6 MB / s.

We sometimes have a built-in hard drive in working as empty, and the operating system offered to format it. It is also known about some "floating" glitches in this model, in nature, software.

conclusions

Today to buy cheap 2.5 "Horse for a hard disk is very simple. In fact, it is now on the market. big choice Different HDD boxes. However, a reasonable choice will be purchased a device not only with USB 2.0 support, but also consider options with ESATA interface support and, possibly, even USB 3.0. The good news is that the Zalman ZM-VE200 does not suit the usual criteria for selecting external HDD pockets. The fact is that the Zalman ZM-VE200 today is more than just an external HDD Case.

From theoretical point of view, I see a double external HDD boxing, with optional virtual optical drive As an excellent addition to the main device. Why didn't you use this idea earlier? Who knows.

A pleasant and thin case allows the user to effectively use an inner hard disk as external drive. And such "trifles" as the LCD display and the "JOG-SWITCH" type switch allow you to mount the desired images of optical disks with ease, or switch the mode of using HDD housing. Although Zalman ZM-VE200 has pronounced benefits, he has disadvantages. By minuses include using the USB 2.0 aging interface, which makes this purchase less promising. We still remember the incompatibility of this HDD case with the ESATAP interface; The manufacturer should foresee the possibility of using an external power supply.

With all this, the Zalman ZM-VE200 is a kind of unique product that will have to taste, first of all, enthusiasts and fans of technical innovations, which are important than the novelty of the product and which value the quality of materials in the product.

We thank the company OST-COM, the official distributor of Zalman in Russia for the equipment provided.

V.Golub.
04/08.2011