External hard disk with ISO image emulation. Zalman ZM-SHE350 Review

Zalman ZM-VE300 | Introduction

Today on the market you can find a large number of external equipment or enclosures / boxes for hard drives. Therefore, manufacturers are difficult to stand out among competitors. But Zalman it was possible: the new Boxing ZM-VE300 contains a unique function - it can independently mount images of discs, that is, it is also used as an optical drive. Of course, you will receive a traditional 2.5 "snap with USB 3.0 interface.

Zalman ZM-VE300 Specifications Table (1M1NZ21C00185909)
Corps material	Aluminum alloy, acrylic, polycarbonate
Products webpage	Official Zalman ZM-VE300 page
Retail price	About 1.8 thousand rubles
Form factor	2,5"
Interface	USB 3.0 (back compatible with USB 2.0)
Interface	SATA.
Supported OS	Windows 98, ME, XP, Vista, 7, 8, Mac OS, Linux
Coloring	Black, silver
Gabarits.	135.3 × 78.6 × 13.1 mm
Weight (without HDD)	96 g
Contents of delivery	User Manual, USB 3.0 Cable, Case, Case Cover, Screwdriver

Design and appearance

The design ZM-VE300 is very effective. The housing consists of an aluminum alloy covered with acrylic. It is thanks to him boxing is pretty easy, it has a small thickness (13 mm), and also relieves heat from the drive. On the front side there is a small LCD display, which displays the status of the disk, the text menu of the settings. Navigating the configuration menu is performed using a three-position joystick (wheel) located on the left side of the boxing and the "Backup" buttons, which is located on top. The package, in addition to the box itself, includes instructions for use and a USB 3.0 cable, a pouch case for ZM-VE300. The drive itself (hard disk or SSD) is not included in the package, it must be purchased separately.

But the main advantages of Zalman ZM-VE300 lies in the additional functions that we will consider below.

Software

The cheapest external boxes and hard drives are supplied without software. Therefore, to allocate your products, the well-known manufacturers are added to the package of useful programs. Zalman has not been an exception - the "Backup Utility (ZM-VE300)" utility that serves to redundance data enters the package. Utilities and programs significantly expand the functionality of external HDD. The Zalman ZM-VE300 reservation utility installation file was on the CD, which is included in the package, it can be immediately installed on the computer.

This program is able to create virtual disks (VHD), reserve files from the specified directories (Backup) and has the SAFE Removal safe removal function. The program interface is very simple, easy to easily. It is a pity that the utility does not support the Russian-speaking interface.

Below we look at the basic functions of the utility.

"Backup" function. If you press the Backup button on the upper end, the backup of the directories specified in the settings is started.

SAFE REMOVAL function. Used to safely extract USB drive. The activation of this function takes place on a long (more than three seconds) to hold the backup button on the upper end. If you hold the button during copying files, then the extraction will occur only after the copy operation is completed.

Function "Virtual HDD" - The most interesting feature presented in the software package. We will talk about her below.

Zalman ZM-VE300 | Capabilities

Boxing for Hard Drives Zalman ZM-VE300 is interesting to the "Virtual Drive" function, that is, the ability to independently connect disk images, after which you can work in the system.

The choice of operation mode is carried out through the text menu on the Zalman ZM-VE300 display. You can also perform some actions.

LCD Bright - adjusting the screen illumination, the ability to change in the range from 1% to 100%
Idle Bright - adjustment of the brightness of the sleep mode, also presented in the range from 1% to 100%
STANDBY TIME - Time adjustment through which Zalman ZM-VE300 goes into sleep mode, you can completely disable this function, the time range is presented from 1 minute to 180 minutes.
Load Default - Download default settings.

Section "INFORMATION" Used to obtain information about the condition of the hard disk and other parameters.

S.M.A.R.T. - Information about the temperature and condition of the hard disk
HDD MODEL - information about the hard disk that is inserted into the box.
Firmware Ver - information about the firmware installed on the Zalman ZM-VE300.
USB Speed \u200b\u200b- USB interface transmission speed information.
USB Input Volt - information about the incoming voltage in boxing via USB is represented as the lowest voltage and the voltage that is supplied at this point in time.

Section "USB Connect" Allows you to restart the hard drive (Refresh) or perform safe removal (Safe Removal).

In chapter "Advanced" You can unmount all images (UMOUNT VHDD), as well as enable recording protection (Write Protect).

With the description of the menu, we finished, we now turn to the study of the capabilities of the drive in practice.

In work

The main advantage of the Zalman ZM-VE300 is to connect disk images without the help of additional software.

To connect ISO images, it is enough to copy the file with extension.iso, translate Zalman ZM-VE300 to ODD Mode or Dual Mode mode, select the ISO file with a three-position joystick. It will be mounted on a computer as a Virtual CD / DVD / Blu-Ray drive.

You can also create virtual disks yourself using the Virtual HDD feature. It creates empty files of the specified size (the size we exhibit themselves, except for the diskette image), which then zalman ZM-VE300 will connect as external drives. You can create three types of virtual disks: a floppy disk for 1.44 MB, fixed disk (.dsk) and removable dick (.rmd). The last two types are equally the same, they differ in recognition of the type of disk under Windows.

We have created test virtual disks of all three types (1 GB, 1,44 MB), after which they connected them to the Windows 7 system.

The image of floppy.ima floppy.ima is visible in the system as a standard FAT diskette by 1.44 MB.

Then we connected the image of the remove.rmd removable disk. The Windows system immediately offers to format it. After formatting the disk is recognized as "removable carrier"

The image of a fixed fixed.dsk hard disk after connectivity is visible in the system as a hard disk.

You can disable virtual disks by the "Unmount VHDD" command

Zalman ZM-VE300 | Tests

HD Tune

Using HD TUNE, we rated the speed of the disc when serial read and write and with different data blocks. Below are screenshots on which the disc performance is visible.

SATA III.

We spent four reading and writing tests with the "native" SATA interface and when connecting through the Zalman ZM-VE300 Boxing with USB 3.0 interface.

As you can see, the 320-GB of the seagate rigid disk in the case of direct connection SATA gives an average bandwidth of 70 MB / C for reading and 46 MB / s to record. The result is not bad, although modern 2.5 "hard drives work about 100-120 MB / s. When you connect via USB 3.0, the average bandwidth is 69 MB / C for reading and 54 MB / s for recording. Thus, USB 3.0 performance rests It is a hard drive itself, and not in the USB-SATA controller Zalman ZM-VE300 box.

Zalman ZM-VE300 | Conclusion

Zalman introduced the ZM-VE300 snap-in with a USB 3.0 interface, which is distinguished by a reliable and durable aluminum case. When you connect via USB 3.0 interface, you will receive a hard disk performance close to the "native" SATA, which indicates a good SATA-USB controller in boxing. Also on the ZM-VE300 there is an LCD display and several buttons for extended functions.

But the advantages of the ZM-VE300 are additional features. Boxing itself can connect CD / DVD / Blu-Ray images on HDD or virtual disks. Such support eliminates the need to install an optical drive into the system, and will also be useful for modern ultrabooks and laptops, which usually do not have an optical drive. Virtual disks will be useful for many work scenarios, and in this regard, the ZM-VE300 can be an excellent solution for enthusiasts and experienced users.

All this justifies the price of an external box of about 1.8 thousand rubles in Russia.

For more information about the possibilities of the ZM-VE300, you can get in the iXBT conference.

Benefits of Zalman ZM-VE300

Connecting images of optical disks and virtual disks
High-quality assembly, durable aluminum case
Convenient and simple
Nice set of delivery (case, screwdriver)

Disadvantages of Zalman ZM-VE300

Short and hard cable without the possibility of additional nutrition, can experience nutrition problems with old computers
High price

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".

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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. At first, you will need to remove the protective coating on the chip, after which read a special disguised code printed by 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 theory, this additional functionality will significantly expand the capabilities of the ZM-VE200, and it may even take advantage of this HDD Case to a new level. However, this virtual optical disk is not without flaws. Simply put, I am not very pleased with the work with this new functionality.

As mentioned above, this device can operate 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: Sliding the switch down and connecting the USB cable. The device will turn 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.

The physical drive can only work with one optical drive at one 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 of DVD, gaming and music CDs, as well as disk images. There was no need to use the OS to control the device when the device itself can control the OS. A special switch type "Jog-Switch" along with the LCD display allowed quickly and with ease viewing available ISO images, the mounting of which occupied approximately 5 to 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 a cheap 2.5 "Horse for a hard disk is quite simple. In fact, there is a large selection of various HDD boxes on the market. 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 testing today is more than just an external HDD Case.

From theoretical point of view, I see a double external HDD boxing, with an 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 an 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

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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

External box for 2.5-inch drives with USB 3.0 and with virtual Optic Drive Function. Interesting and no less useful gadget from Zalman. The magnificent alternative to Chinese "killers" for 2.5 inches HDD.

Specifications

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

Form factor / drive 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 × 78.6 × 13.1 mm

Weight: 96g

Advantages and Disadvantages of Zalman ZM-VE300 V

Dignity

Aluminum Alloy Case
Compact sizes
High Speed \u200b\u200bUSB 3.0 Interface
Virtual Optic Drive Function
Rich equipment

disadvantages

High price

Design and ergonomics

As you managed to notice, the device looks very impressive. Its body is made of durable and light aluminum alloy, so that the gadget is thin (slightly thicker 1 cm) and the effective heat dissipation is observed from the drive. At the top there is a small text LCD display, which displays the status of the device and the settings menu, the three-position joystick on the left side of the device is used to navigate the pointer. From above there is a Backup button and a Micro-USB 3.0 connector for connecting to a computer.

Gadget functionality

Zalman ZM-VE300 V Differs on the rarity high functionality for devices of this kind. The most interesting thing is that to apply it in practice, you do not need to install special drivers or utilities on the computer (in addition to the branded utility for backup). You can control the device using your own menu: change the screen brightness and drive downtime to go to sleep mode, analysis of current parameters (temperature, disk status - Smart, supply voltage, etc.), and also to reconnect and safe shutdown and even Activate recording protection.

Emulation of the virtual optical drive

"Fishka" device - Emulation of the virtual optical drive. By activating this "ODD MODE" 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. As optical disks are used familiar ISO files (images), which must be placed in the folder with the name "ISO". If there are several files with images in it, then between them you can quickly switch using the screen and joystick, without turning off the external boxing from the PC. And of course, it is possible to load a computer from a virtual optical disk by selecting its image. The main thing is that the BIOS supports booting from an optical USB drive. Among other things, boxing from Zalman. It can simultaneously work as an external HDD, and as an optical drive - Dual Mode mode. Accordingly, the computer sees it as two separate devices.

Wishing to use this external boxing for SSD drive with SATA 3 will be disappointed with the performance and unjustified purchase of this type of hard disk. SATA 2 Carriers work fine.

Equipment

The device will appeal to lovers of accessories in the kit. They will find a USB 3.0 cable there, a quality cover for scratching, screws for fastening the drive inside the box and a small screwdriver. There is also a disc with a branded utility for backup and user manual in English.