Fitted drive to external case, started copying data on to it, went OK for ~20 mins, started making awful noises, then couldn't read from drive any more. Had mounted drive in ext case and laid it horizontal - had 4 little feet to raise it off the surface it was laid on to aid in cooling so did not use vertical mount stand it came with. Ext case was extremely hot to touch - maybe 40-45 degrees C. I let it cool down, thinking I had cooked it. A day later I fitted vertical mount, and tried copying data off it. Using smartctrl? I got the drives ambient temp, was around 33 degrees C after about 30 mins of mainly idle time. Set it to read ~20GB data off again, it finished, then started making horrible noise again. At this stage I read the smartctl drive temp again and it read 53 degrees!!! This was AFTER it had been idle for 10+ mins!!! Max operating temp for drive is 55 degrees C - I'm guessing it was above this during the copy operation. I had a closer look at ext. case. Has an aluminium plate for one side - due to bad location of drive mounting holes the drive sits off of this plate - so no direct contact cooling. Also there are NO ventilation slots in case - it looks like there is, but are not vented. ========================================================================= DO NOT BUY THIS UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR DRIVE FRIED!!!!!!!!!! ========================================================================= keywords: review SATA 3.0 USB external drive case enclosure Digitus SATA 3.5" HDD HW235