Well, its hard to tell from the pics but I can tell you that the BlacX peripheral I bought for $40 was well worth it and then some. I use it constantly with all the pc's of my friends and family and the maintenance I perform. Hate the USB 2.0 speed though.
For formatting and such, I will typically just install the disc into my tower. USB is too slow.
Can't tell from the article, I would hope they are using a SATA connection for the drives.