External drive enclosures have typically been bulky and unattractive, even ones for 2.5mm drives. They’ve also been complicated and a bit expensive. The VisionTek Wallet Drive changes that. It’s slim, attractive, simple to use and install, and most of all, it’s ultra affordable at a price under $20. Let me tell you all about it.
Hard Drive Enclosures Made Simple
I have a “portable” hard drive that I usually store my media on. However, it’s a USB 2.0 enclosure that is bus powered, but it’s bulky, old, and slow. When VisionTek told me about about their new Wallet Drive enclosure, I knew I had to try it. It’s USB 3.0, works with 7.0 or 9.5mm 2.5″ laptop drives, and is fully compatible with SATA I, II, or III. The USB 3.0 cable is built-in and flat. That’s one of many things with this drive you don’t have to worry about. You also don’t have to worry about it taking up a lot of room in your bag. It can even fit in your jeans or coat pocket if you need it to. This drive will go anywhere you do.
The enclosure is very simple, it looked almost exactly like my black leather wallet. In fact, I’ve accidentally tried to grab my drive instead of my wallet a couple time. Drive installation is the easiest I’ve ever seen. It’s completely tool free. You simply snap the drive into the SATA controller and shut the case, you’re done. Integrated nubs go into the screw holes keep the drive secure. Removing the your drive for a faster and newer hard drive or SSD is just as simple.
As for speed, the drive I am using is an older SATA II Hitachi, so it’s not going to tax the limits of USB 3.0. That said, switching from the old USB 2.0 enclosure gave quite a speed boost. Speeds ended about 2/3rds faster. So even if you’re using an older drive and wondering if moving to the wallet drive is going to be worth the money, the low price of the enclosure makes that a resounding yes.
Pricing and Availability
The Wallet Drive is currently $19.99 on VisionTek’s Website and $24.23 on Amazon. It’s insanely cheap and worth every penny of it so far.
Final Thoughts
The VisionTek Wallet drive gave me high hopes and has exceeded my every expectation. It’s portable, stylish, fast, ultra-affordable, and makes use and installation easy. If you’re looking for a portable enclosure for a 2.5″ hard drive or SSD, you should give the Wallet Drive a shot. I highly recommend this product.
