We will talk about the external pocket (box) of the Zalman-VE500 (Fig. 1), we will see the unpacking, the main functions, characteristics, pros and cons, and also tell you how to solve the problems that, unfortunately it does. In the future, we will often refer to this gadget,because this is some kind of colossal saving of time and nerves. Forward!

Fig. 1 Box for HDD Zalman ZM-VE500

The declared parameters.

Model - Zalman ZM-VE500. The device is presented in black and silver colors (Fig. 1). The back cover is made of metal, and the main part is made of plastic. Connected HDD interfaces - SATA-I / SATA-II, SATA III. PC connection interface USB 3.0 / USB 2.0 Powered from USB. For other parameters, see Table 1.

Specification	ZM-VE500
Body material	Aluminum alloy, acrylic, polycarbonates
The weight	91 grams (Without HDD)
Dimensions (edit)	146 x 80.8 x 14 mm
Maximum transfer rate	5Gbps
Nutrition	DC5V (USB Power)
OS support	Win XP / 2000 / VISTA / Win7 / Win8 / Win8.1 / Win10 / Linux / MAC

Table 1 Zalman ZM-VE500 Specification

Equipment.

Fig. 2 Zalman ZM-VE500 complete set

Package contents (Fig. 2): NS nur USB 3.0, guide, sidewith Zalman-VE500, a case for it (the material is not leather, but it's good that it still exists, it serves as a good shockproof protection), a small screwdriver and two screws to tighten back cover after insert into the HDD box.

Everything is very simple here and the instruction is not needed, although it is available at the place where you need to install the HDD.And so at an angle, insert the 2.5 "HDD into the SATA connector and lower it into the box, close everything with a lid and screw in the small screws with a small screwdriver out of the box (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 HDD installation into boxing.

Preparation for use.

When you turn it on for the first time, at best, you will be greeted by the phrase "NO ISO FILES" or an error file system... To avoid the file system error, let's partition and format the disk right away. We will do it for free the EaseUS program Partition Master 12.5.

Step 1.

Find the Zalmana disk, in our case it is "Disk 2 (MBR)" at the bottom of the window there is a graphical display of partitions, right-click on our disk. and select the item "Delete all partitions" (Fig. 4). EaseUS Partition Master 12.5 does nothing right away, we first assign it a list of tasks, and at the end we confirm their completion.

Fig.4 Partitioning a disk in EaseUS Partition Master 12.5
Fig.5 Partitioning a disk in EaseUS Partition Master 12.5

A window with formatting settings will open, from standard settings the only difference is that you have to switch from "Logical" to "Primary". Click "Ok" (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6 Partitioning a disk in EaseUS Partition Master 12.5

All tasks are set, now we confirm their completion - click "Apply" (Apply changes) in the left upper corner windows (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7 Partitioning a disk in EaseUS Partition Master 12.5

We confirm our consent and wait until all operations are completed (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8 Partitioning a disk in EaseUS Partition Master 12.5

Step 2.

On the Zalmana disk, create a folder "_iso" (without quotes), and upload our images there, this is the only way Zalman will see them. In addition, in the "_iso" folder, you can create more folders, for order, so to speak. For example, we will create "BackUp" "Linux" and "Windows", transfer our iso images to "_iso" and all folders (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9 Copying iso-images to Zalman ZM-VE500

Menu overview.

In the main menu, we can see 5 items:

1. Mode Select
2. Encryption
3. Set W-protection
4. Information
5. Exit

We'll take a closer look at each of them.

1.Mode Select- Choice of the mode of operation of the pocket.

• HDD MODE- Work only in the mode external storage... (Displayed as local disk)
• VCD MODE- Work in mode virtual drive... (Will appear as a CD-ROM that you will mount your ISO image to)
• DUAL MODE- Work in two modes at the same time. (Will show up as local drive + virtual CD-ROM where you will mount your ISO)

2.Encription - AES 256 bit real-time hardware encryption. (Simply put, access to files is granted only after entering a password)

• Enable Encription- Enabling encryption.

Enabling and disabling encryption leads to the disappearance of all information from the HDD, make sure you have a copy of the information stored on the HDD, because you will have to re-create the "_ISO" folder and copy the ISO images there.

When you press " Enable Encription " there will be a warning "Data will be lost!" 1. Yes / 2. No confirm your consent / disagreement to continue enabling encryption.

2. No.- will take you back to "Enable Encription"

Click 1. Yes ->"Input Password"- enter a password from 4 to 8 characters. "Confirm Password"- Confirm the password. Then the device will reboot itself and require a password.

Now on the menu Encripton three points:

• "Change Password "- Change password.
• "Hide Password "- Remove power-on password. (The device will not require a password, but if you remove the disk and insert it into another pocket, the data will remain encrypted and will not be available to the user.) If the password is disabled, the option "Hide Password" replaces "Set Password" - Set password.
• "Disable Encription "- Disable encryption.

Personally, I am satisfied with the passwordless access to the device, so I will disable encryption.

Push "Disable Encription" device uswarns "Data will be lost!"(Data will be lost), press 1. Yes / 2. No

2.No- will take you back to "Disable Encription".

By clicking 1. Yes, we will be asked to confirm our consent again "Confirm Again", apparently for complete confidence. 1. Yes / 2.No confirm your consent / disagreement to continue disabling encryption.

2.No- will take you back to "Disable Encription".

We press 1. Yes- and without entering a password, the device goes into reboot, after which we can use Zalmana without a password. It is interesting that those images that remained before the encryption were turned on became available to us. Why did it happen when wewarned about their loss, I don't know.

Set W-protection

• Disable W-P - Disable read-only mode - Enable write mode.
• Enable W-P - Enable read-only mode (Protect device from changes).

Information

• HDD Temp: 26 - Hard drive temperature in degrees Celsius.
• HDD Health: Good / Bad - HDD status ( S.M.A.R.T.). If the state Bad do backup disk and check it for errors, Good- everything is fine.
• 100505**** - Full serial number HDD.
• Firmware: v1.10 - Firmware version.
• Exit - Output.

Interface and control.

In the upper part of the front side of the gadget there is an LCD display, under it there is a touchscreen numeric keypad, and buttons Menu and Enter.

In addition to the numbers on the keypad intended for entering a password, the buttons also have control functions. (Fig. 10)

Fig. 10 Front side of Zalman ZM-VE500

2 - Up,

4 - Left,

6 - Right,

8 - Way down,

3 - Updating iso file (Update the list of iso-images),

5 - Mount (Mount iso-image).

Zalman sees only the "_ISO" folder, the folders in it and the iso images that are in them. Using the arrows, you can easily navigate through the folders, select the desired image, and mount it by clicking on the button 5 ... Also, if you have thrown a new iso-image, then in order for it to be displayed on you, you can reconnect the device or press a number 3 .

Above the display is a LED indicator HDD operation... It glows in two colors, depending on which interface it is connected to, USB3.0 - glows blue, USB2.0 - glows white. In the upper right corner of the display, you can also see which interface the device is connected to (Fig. 11).

In the upper left corner there is a lock icon that tells us the status of the function Set W-protection.(Simply put, if the lock is open, then the disk is not write-protected, if it is closed, then only read information is available).

The second icon from the left, this is the disk icon, appears only if an iso image is mounted in the CD-ROM.

The third icon from the left indicates the operating mode of Zalmana.

• HDD MODE- letter "H",
• VCD MODE- letter "O" or a disk symbol,
• DUAL MODE- letter "D".

Fig. 11 Zalman ZM-VE500 interface

Firmware.

If you are a "fan of updates" or are suddenly dissatisfied with the current firmware version of your device and are sure that it will work better with another firmware, then we will consider the question "How to flash a Zalman ZM-VE500?"

First of all, let's see what version of the firmware, in this moment, installed on the device, click Menu -> Information.

We see Firmware: v1.10.

Fortunately, there is support on the website of the Zalman brand, there we will download the firmware we need.

• Link / Link:http://www.zalman.com/contents/support/downloads.html?find_object=all&find_text=ve500

They have a little confusion with the version descriptions, so I'll attach direct links to the files with the correct descriptions.

• Link / Link: Firmware: v1.10.
• Link / Link:Firmware: v1.11.
• Link / Link:Firmware: v2.00.

Since I want to update the device, therefore I download the archive for the firmware - Firmware: v2.00.

And then I ran into a problem when unpacking the archive I needed ZM-VE500 Firmware Ver_2.00.rar, pops up a message - "The archive is empty". I'll leave a link to this archive for now, maybe Zalmana technical support will fix the problem in the near future, but we seem to have to flash to the version v1.11.

To avoid the problems described in the "Problems" section, I disable encryption and make a backup copy of the disk, which I highly recommend to you too !!!

Unpack the downloaded archive ZALMAN_VE500_3637E_FWUpdater_V1.11.rar

Run the executable file ZALMAN_VE500_3637E_FWUpdater_V1.11.exe

Fig. 12 Zalman-VE500 firmware

We press "Install". (Fig. 12)

Fig. 13 Zalman-VE500 firmware

Scan bus for "Initio External Storage Devices" - Scanning external storage devices (Fig. 13). Simply put - the computer is looking for Zalman, we connect it, and then everything goes on without user intervention.

Fig. 14 Progress of Zalman-VE500 firmware download

Progress of downloading the firmware to the device. (Fig. 14)

Fig. 15 The update is complete!

The update is complete! (Fig. 15)

Go in Menu -> Information and see Firmware: v1.11... That's all, everything turned out to be very simple.

Problems.

Consider the common problems encountered by users of our gadget.

1 - The disk is not initializing. Personally, I ran into this problem, my Zalman ZM-VE500 did not want to see the disk, everything turned out to be very simple, I inserted the disk that I used for Windows OS, and did not notice that the first partition of the disk is systemic, 100 Mb in size. The gadget sees the "_ISO" folder only in the first partition of the disk, so divide your HDD correctly, but what is the correct way? written in section "Preparing for use".

2 - Zalman ZM-VE500 password does not match after flashing. You need to flash the device to the firmware version in which encryption and password were enabled, disable these functions and reflash the device.

3 - Zalman ZM-VE500 does not see all iso images. Personally, I again ran into this and thought that this was normal, until I saw that all the images were displayed on exactly the same gadget. In short, the problem is solved with the usual Windows formatting, do not forget to uncheck the box with "Quick (clearing tables of contents)". (Fig.16)

Fig. 16 Full formatting disk

Results. Advantages and disadvantages.

As a result, I will say as in my diploma - "We considered everything that we wanted to consider." : D, but in general the gadget turned out to be very good. Unfortunately, Zalmana has no competitors on the market in this area, so we can only compare with previous models. Zalman ZM-VE200, 300, 350, 400... Of course, we will not do this, because they are all +/- the same in their main functionality. The differences are insignificant, for example, up to the 400th model, main element control is a joystick and they are sold a little cheaper, etc. I better give you pros and Minuses which I found in reviews on popular online stores.

pros

• Saving time. If we compare it with a USB flash drive, which needs to be prepared to install something from it (format, download a program for recording images, write an image, etc.), then with Zalman ZM-VE500 most likely it will turn out 2-3 times faster.
• Data encryption. You can change up to 50 HDDs and they will remain encrypted.
• Temperature monitoring, and "S.M.A.R.T." HDD.

Minuses

• No safe eject of its own.
• Safely Remove Windows detects a device as Zalman ZM-VE350.
• When updating again, all information disappears. (This is taken from people's feedback, personally, as a result of the update, the files did not disappear)
• When formatting and creating a partition, the MBR may display messages that the disk is not initialized at the next boot of the pocket.
• Price. In stores it is sold at a price of 3500-4000 r. very big money, judging by the salaries of system administrators, and even without HDD, and this is still at least 500r. if you buy used small capacity.

12 October 2015, Odnokrylov Vladimir 8

Our next review is devoted to the external case for hard drives Zalman ZM-VE350. The box is designed for 2.5-inch SATA drives and supports a high-speed USB 3.0 interface. The device is equipped with a virtual optical drive function, allowing you to connect ISO images on the fly. The write-protect function prevents damage to important files.

Video review Zalman ZM-VE350

Complete set and Zalman characteristics ZM-VE350

An external box that came to us for testing hard drives Zalman ZM-VE350 Supplied in a black box made of thick cardboard.

Zalman packaging ZM-VE350

Package Included:

• Boxing itself.
• Case.
• USB 3.0 cable.
• Set of screwdriver and four screws.
• Quick Start Guide.

Zalman ZM-VE350 complete set

The complete cable is 50 cm long including connectors.

USB 3.0 cable

The case is very tight and it is easy to take the device out of it. You can, of course, use the box right in the case, but we do not recommend doing this, otherwise the inserted drive may overheat.

Zalman ZM-VE350 in a case

We have summarized the technical characteristics of the device in a single table.

HDD interface	SATA, form factor 2.5 "
Device interface	USB 3.0 (backward compatible with USB 2.0)
Device interface baud rate	USB 2.0: up to 480 Mbps; USB 3.0: up to 5 Gbps
Working with ISO images	Virtual optical drive
Indicator	Lights up when power on, blinks when communicating
Nutrition	USB powered
Dimensions (edit)	131x79x13mm (L x W x H)
The weight	96g (without drive)

Design by Zalman ZM-VE350

Frame Zalman ZM-VE350 mostly made of painted aluminum with soft polymer inserts on the sides. The front side houses an LCD display and an LED activity indicator.

External hard drive box Zalman ZM-VE350

At the top there is a Backup button and a USB 3.0 connector (Micro-B type, which also transfers power to the HDD) for connecting the supplied cable.

Top end Zalman ZM-VE350

On the opposite end is glued Technical information about the model.

Bottom end on Zalman ZM-VE350

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

Left sidewall Zalman ZM-VE350

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

Right sidewall Zalman ZM-VE350

The build quality is decent - the buttons and body elements do not dangle. In general, the construction gives the impression of being monolithic.

Zalman ZM-VE350 testing

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

Base unit Zalman ZM-VE350

For testing, we took an SSD and plugged it into the internal SATA port.

SSD connected to Zalman ZM-VE350 board

For reliability, it is worth clamping the module with the complete screws - the holes for them are hidden under the bendable edges of the soft inserts.

Screw holes for Zalman ZM-VE350

To do this, we used a complete screwdriver - fortunately, little effort is required, so the miniature size of the screwdriver is not a hindrance. It is worth noting that there are twice as many screws in the kit as needed - four versus the required two.

Zalman ZM-VE350 base unit, screwed

After connecting to a PC, the display of our device turned blue and gave out a simple menu.

Display Zalman ZM-VE350

At the same time, the operating system recognized two devices at once: the USB drive itself and an additional optical drive - completely virtual, as indicated in its name.

Zalman ZM-VE350 in Task Manager

This is precisely the main feature of this case - you can mount any ISO-images by placing them in the folder "_ISO" on the disc inserted in the case. For example, the Windows 7 image downloaded from MSDN read without problems.

Windows image 7 in Zalman ZM-VE350 virtual drive

However, our copy was originally with the wrong firmware, and for the virtual drive function to work correctly, we had to update software devices to more current version... We attach the archive with the firmware and the update instructions below. REMEMBER: This operation is carried out at your own peril and risk, and if you are not sure exactly what you are doing, it is better to contact technical support or a service center.

• (122.7 KB).
• (579.78 KB).

However, the drive function can be completely disabled - for this you just need to select the appropriate mode, of which there are as many as three:

• HDD Mode - driveless storage mode.
• VCD Mode - "virtual drive only" mode.
• DUAL Mode - simultaneous operation.

Zalman ZM-VE350 Modes

Another great feature Zalman ZM-VE350- the ability to set write protection. This allows you to work even in a potentially or actually infected system with no danger of catching an infection. All you need to do is select "Enable WP" from the menu. The lock icon is locked to start screen- and that's it, no problem.

Setting write protection in Zalman ZM-VE350

Additionally, in the "Information" section, you can see the temperature of the media (let's just say that it is determined incorrectly for an SSD, do not be alarmed), the state of S.M.A.R.T., the serial number and firmware version of the controller.

Information about the drive in the Zalman ZM-VE350

Now let's check the performance using the USB interface. 3.0. V HD Tune 5 the speed graph has an average read speed of 161.9 MB / s with a random access time of 0.169 ms. The CPU load was 9.8%.

2.5 "External box Zalman ZM-VE350 is an affordable and multifunctional solution. The manufacturer took into account all the nuances and created the ideal device. The case is black, it is made of metal and has a pleasant texture, a solid construction. There is an LCD display, it will be especially useful when using the model as a virtual drive.
The Zalman ZM-VE350 comes with an extended package. Together with the device, the owner receives a screwdriver to install the disc into the box. A comfortable and high-quality case is provided, USB cable, screws.
An important feature will be the availability of compatibility with operating Windows systems and Mac OS. There will be no connection problems, the model is suitable for all users. The USB 3.0 interface allows you to copy large amounts of information in a short time.
The box has compact dimensions, it fits easily into any bag and is easy to carry. The user will be able to independently create an external HDD, it is enough to select a suitable module and install it in the dedicated compartment.

Pockets ZALMAN VE300. For those who do not know - this pocket is not just a SATA-> USB 3.0 adapter, this pocket can also hardware emulate an optical drive with any disk, the images of which can be thrown onto the HDD. Well, FINALLY I myself got this pocket at my disposal! True, this is not quite ZALMAN, and not at all at the price that was two years ago. But I think it's worth it)
(Price - $ 59 as of August 2018.)

Why didn't I buy the actual zalman? But because the VE300 is no longer in stores, it may have stopped producing. More a new version VE350, but judging by the reviews, it works much worse than the 300th, and even fresh firmware did not solve all the problems.
There are not many differences between IODD and zalman - a slightly different firmware, logos on the box and another cover. By the way, you can upload firmware from Zalman to IODD and vice versa.

Let's move on specifically to my purchase.
The seller offers pockets only in black (and also sells pockets 2541 (similar to Zalman VE400)).
Tracking number provided, working.

Goods ordered on March 29th, received on May 3rd.

Packaging - a cardboard box, which already contains the original box with the product.

Photos of parcels and boxes

Inside - two layers of cardboard ... pallets or what? One contains a case and a USB 3.0 cable (with SAMSUNG logos, 1 meter), in the case there is a bag with a screwdriver (the screws cannot be magnetized to it, it is very difficult to tighten anything) and 4 screws (only 2 are needed) and a warranty card.
The second "pallet" contains the actual pocket in the package.




There is no paper instruction in the kit, the seller offers to download its electronic version.

Also, the set does not include a disk with the Backup Utility iodd 2531, you can download it.

The pocket itself is aluminum, the upper part with electronics is plastic (acrylic and polycarbonate).




From the controls we have a lever that you can move up / down and press it, and a "backup" button. There is also a two-line monochrome display and an activity indicator (blinking white when connected via USB 2.0, and blue when connected via USB 3.0).
Comparison of sizes with external HDD and 2.5 HDD. Dimensions 136x78x13.



The pocket is large enough and, unfortunately, does not fit into.
The case from the kit is completely different from the chic one that comes with the zalman. Soft, rag and too small (the lever is constantly pressed).


Soldering quality:





The screw holes are hidden behind rubber bands on the sides. The screws connect the top and bottom of the pocket together. I do not recommend using the pocket without tightening the screws - the upper part together with the hard drive can be pulled out simply by pulling the cable in the connector or shaking the pocket - the hard drive will push the upper part out.


Without a carrier, the pocket shows the inscription "iodd 2531". With the media, access to the menu appears. Current firmware: R1288N. The letter N means that the pocket is stitched with the NTFS version of the firmware. New ones are available on the manufacturer's website, 1555 and 1558. I'm not going to reflash yet.


The menu is called up by long pressing the lever. Moving the lever up / down, pressing the lever - select a menu item, "backup" - back.
On the menu Mode pocket mode can be selected (HDD, ODD, Dual).
V Settings- adjust the brightness of the screen backlight, the time after which the screen will darken and set the factory settings.
Information- to know HDD status, its model, serial number, temperature, pocket firmware version, USB mode and supply voltage (shows current and lowest).
V USB Connect you can reboot the pocket (new images will be loaded, if you added them) and start safe extraction (the pocket will disconnect the hard drive and the screen will say "Plug Out").
On the menu Advanced you can "unmount" the hard drive, enable write protection on the hard drive. There is also a checkmark "Force USB 3.0", but what it does I can only guess.

Some tricks that you don't know about from the instructions

1. If you hold down the Reserve copy(BackUp) when connected - then write protection will be automatically enabled.
2. If you hold left button when connected - then the automatic protection will be removed
3. If during operation the wheel is turned down and held - preparation for the safe disconnection of the device will be made. Pressing and holding the BackUp button will have the same effect.
4. If the wheel is turned up and held during operation, the _ISO directory will be scanned. Conveniently, after recording new images to the HDD.
5. If the BackUp button is pressed in the Menu, it moves 1 level up.
6. Besides the Menu, the backup button is used for its initial
data backup functions (if a backup program is installed and running).

As a carrier, I will use a Hitachi hard drive removed from the tortured service centers netbook.

Preparing the disk for work: delete the first hidden partition from the manufacturer and create a primary NTFS partition.


If you are going to partition the disk, keep in mind that IODD only looks for the _iso folder on the first partition.
After formatting on the disk, create the "_iso" folder and fill it with images. Declared support for ISO / VHD / VMDK / DSK / RMD / IMA.

I downloaded images using utorrent directly to disk.
After the update, the images were not mounted and a pocket labeled "Defrag" hinted to me that it would be nice to start defragmentation.
After defragmentation, everything worked.
The image is selected with a lever up / down, mounted by pressing the lever.
Any images can be used. OS, boot disks, utilities, but at least games.

Despite the fact that the cable is long and soft, the disc pocket works fine when connected via USB 2.0 through the front panel. The maximum consumption that I saw is 600mA (of course, this will still depend on the consumption of the drive itself).

Disk speed measurements in your pocket and without it.


As you can see, IODD pulled everything out of this disk.

Let's compare the speed of the disk in the drive (the recorded image installation disk Win7 HP x64) and the speed of the IODD virtual disk (the image is the same).
The maximum read speed of my drive is 16x, and a Verbatim DVD-R 4.7Gb 16x blank.



Let me remind you that if you install a faster hard or SSD in your pocket, and not the old Hitachi, the speeds will be even more pleasant. And with such a hard disk, the read speed is on par with CDs (48-52x). Well, the access speed is much better than any optical disc.

UPD Feb 2020
Because I got an extra SSD for experiments and tried to install it. Naturally, the speed was limited by the SATA2-USB3.0 converter.
CrystalDiskMark

And once again comparing the speed of a blank DVD and IODD with an installed hard and solid-state drive.

Well, what can I say, this pocket will be a great assistant for those who work with computers, especially those that do not have an optical drive.
Personally, I'm already tired of lugging my drive here and there and preparing an installation flash drive every time I need to install something.
The price, of course, bites a little, but only the dollar exchange rate is to blame - at the old exchange rate, this pocket (like the zalman) cost 1800-2500r.

Thank you for your attention, I hope the review was useful, happy shopping, bye everyone!
And congratulations on radio day to all radio amateurs and radio professionals)))

External box for 2.5 '' drives with USB 3.0 interface and with virtual optical drive function... Interesting and no less useful gadget from the Zalman company. An excellent alternative to the Chinese "boxes" for 2.5 inch HDD.

Specifications

Interface: USB 3.0 (compatible with USB 2.0 / 1.11)

Drive Form Factor / Interface: 2.5 ″ / SATA 1.2

Supported OS: Windows 98. ME, 2000, XP, Vista. 7 / Mac OS / Linux

Additionally: text display, Backup button, virtual optical drive function

Dimensions: 135.3 x 78.6 x 13.1 mm

The weight: 96g

Advantages and disadvantages of Zalman ZM-VE300 V

Advantages

• Aluminum alloy body
• Compact dimensions
• High speed USB 3.0 interface
• Virtual optical drive function
• Rich equipment

disadvantages

• High price

Design and ergonomics

As you can see, the device looks very impressive. Its body is made of durable and lightweight aluminum alloy, so the gadget is thin (slightly thicker than 1 cm) and efficient heat dissipation from the drive is observed. At the top is a small text LCD display that shows device status and settings menus, navigated by a three-way joystick on the left side of the device. Above there is a Backup button and a micro-USB 3.0 connector for connecting to a computer.

Functionality of the gadget

Zalman ZM-VE300 V it is distinguished by extremely high functionality for devices of this kind. The most interesting thing is that in order to use its capabilities in practice, you do not need to install special drivers or utilities (in addition to the proprietary backup utility). You can control the device using your own menu: change the screen brightness and idle time of the drive to go to sleep mode, analyze the current parameters (temperature, disk status - SMART, supply voltage, etc.), as well as reconnect and safely disconnect, and even activate write protection.

Virtual optical drive emulation

The "chip" of the device - virtual optical drive emulation... By activating this mode "ODD Mode" in the corresponding section of the "Mode Select" menu, the device is defined by the computer not as an external hard disk (HDD Mode), but as an optical drive. The usual ISO files (images) are used as optical discs, which must be placed in a folder named "iso". If you place several files with images in it, then you can quickly switch between them using the screen and the joystick, without disconnecting the external box from the PC. And of course, it is possible to boot a computer from a virtual optical disk by selecting its image. The main thing is that the BIOS supports booting from a USB optical drive. Among other things, boxing by Zalman can simultaneously work and how external HDD, and as an optical drive - Dual Mode. Accordingly, the computer sees it as two separate devices.

Those wishing to use this external box for SSD storage with SATA 3 will be disappointed with performance and unjustified purchase of this type hard disk... SATA 2 media works great.

Equipment

The device will also appeal to fans of accompanying accessories in the kit. They will find there a USB 3.0 cable, a quality case to protect it from scratches, screws to secure the drive inside the box, and a small screwdriver. There is also a disc with a proprietary backup utility and a user manual in English.