Last September I raved about a Plug-and-Play external hard drive enclosure made by Taiwanese company Bafo. Make no mistake, I still use two for a rotating backup scheme at the office; but a combination of design flaws and stock shortages have turned me to the Alpha Digital PM-350U2-PCS, pictured above. Refer to the Bafo link for an explanation of what an external enclosure is. The ADI serves its purpose but exceeds the Bafo's performance on four counts. First, connection is problem-free (just make sure you have drivers and the enclosed hard drive jumper is set for Cable Select). Second, the unit is fanless; USB is not the medium for high-usage drives, and so storage operations are better served by the absence of an afterthought component to go on the fritz. Third, because the ADI sports an on/off switch, you can actually control usage of the drive without yanking cables (on that note, one complaint is that the DC input plug fit isn't as snug as I'd like). Fourth, ADI is to be commended for blending utility with style: the enclosure is paneled by plastic-embedded metal. Prime Space Odyssey material. I was disappointed to neither be on a mission to Jupiter nor able to jog around a centrifugal crew cabin.