Review: MacPower's Cold Chisel


MacPower's latest slim-type external optical enclosure, Cold Chisel is a study in elegance. This FireWire 400 enclosure (USB 2.0 available) is not only smaller than competing enclosures, it's also much more stylish because the designers didn't try to over reach; they didn't "over style" it is perhaps a better way of putting it.

The unit lent to IGM for this review includes a LiteOn Combo (DVD/CD-RW) LSC-24081 Slim-Type 24 x 12 x 24 drive. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be specific information about his device on Lite On's website, but CDR Info does offer specifics vis-à-vis features and specifications.

The US for the Cold Chisel with the listed LiteOn drive is $259.

By the numbers

The comparison drive used for this review is the CD-RW built into my G4/733 (12x8x32 CDRW, Sony), which has provided me a year of reliable service and hasn't been too particular about the blanks I use. In this instance, the blank media used was 48X Imation disks.

MP3 ripping (iTunes):
o Settings - 80Kpbs (mono)/192Kbps (stereo) VBR (Highest quality), stereo, normal stereo, using Velocity;
o Disk ripped - Stevie Ray Vaughn, Couldn't Stand the Weather, 385.2MB;

o Cold Chisel - 6 minutes, 30 seconds.
The fastest speed I observed was 8X. Importing and playing back at the same time resulted in reduced speeds in the 4X to 7X, with the average in the 5.5 to 6.5 X range.

o Internal drive - 5 minutes, 30 seconds.
Here the fastest speed I observed was 8.3X and the sustained rate averaged 6.5 to 7 X.

Disk burning (Toast 5.2): Mandrake Linux PPC 9.1 (Disk 1, 2061 items; 675.6MB image)
o Cold Chisel - 6 minutes, 40 seconds
o Internal - 7 minutes, 15 seconds

MacPower has made an internal testing report available here (.pdf).

DVD, VCD playback

The Cold Chisel provided flawless DVD and VCD playback. I tried both commercial disks (ie store bought, Blockbuster) and disks of questionable of provenance as well - all played without a hitch.

For those looking for "free" DVD player, MPlayer fits the bill.

Closing remarks

In addition to the tests above, the MacPower Cold Chisel got carried in my backpack for two weeks and was used at the office and various consulting jobs. It performed admirably and best of all didn't occupy a lot space or weigh me down.

The only two criticisms I have regarding the Cold Chisel is how the external power cable connects: at a 90-degree angle to the body of the enclosure. A better solution would be an "L" type connector that wouldn't protrude as much; also a small stand (perhaps even built-in) would be a convenient addition to this unit to make inserting and removing disks more convenient.

All-in-all this is an excellent product. It's compact size and stylish design set the Cold Chisel apart from a broad field of clunky competitors.