Packaging

The Spire Slide Pro ships in a compact full color box. The front has an image of the device, while the rear goes into some detail. Spire has chosen to use a very fragile carboard cutout to hold the device in place. While this type of protective packaging is generally strong enough for something like that, the way it was folded for the Spire Pro eliminated that attribute entirely. I would have liked to see either foam or a bit more thought into the folding process of the cardboard.

Contents

Spire includes several manuals, a warranty card and a compatibility list of tested hard drives. This is the first time that we have seen such a list for an external hard drive enclosure. Odds are every SATA drive will work, especially since the controller IC can be found in many other devices from all kinds of manufacturers. You will also receive a very high quality eSATA cable, a USB cable, screws to secure the hard drive, a CD with the backup software and a small screw driver to gain access to the Slide Pro itself.


The power supply is quite compact and is localized for the German/Austrian market. Spire will include the appropriate PSU for your region, so you will not have to use any adapter to plug it into the power socket. The unit supplies 2A to the external hard drive enclosure.