The hardest part about reviewing a product that serves multiple functions is coming up with a concise title -- particularly when the product category is only describable in the longest possible terms. Even relatively simple units can warrant a long product description, such as "hot-swappable drive bay" or "external SATA plus USB 2.0 drive enclosure," or even "dockable storage device."

Despite the complexity in trying to concisely describe such devices for you, we welcome simple products that can support a number of these category-defining functions. Even if its multiple devices from the same vendor. As it turns out today, we'll be reviewing two versions of Vantec's EZ-Swap EX dockable external drive enclosure:

Both of these 2.5-inch "dockable" hard drive enclosures (by "dockable," we mean that they're capable of being inserted into a desktop PC drive bay in addition to working externally) feature an SATA docking port and USB 2.0 interface. The upper device pictured above adds ATA-to-SATA conversion (for Ultra ATA hard disks) while the unit below it uses a drive's native SATA interface.

By now your mind is probably flooded with potential uses, but do Vantec's EZ-Swap EX devices offer the performance and low prices needed to make them an acceptable value?