Before I begin reviewing I must admit to being a fan of modular systems - the concept is good endeavouring to mimick the way hamsters live in the wild - it's the execution of the concept that is the problem.
Having said that lets begin with:
What's in the box? ( A heap of plastic tat I can hear you muttering under your breath
) The clear plastic top is placed upside down in the base and the various tubes and ball, food dish,waterbottle,wheel, clips and fitments are placed inside it. All quite neat and orderly.
Dimensions : of the main unit 18 ins x 10 ins x 10 ins. It is bigger in floor area than the crittertrails,ferplast, habitrail and rotastak units. 1st problem: this is way to small for any hamster to live in but would be useful on its own as a hospital cage or a holding cage. Two of the units would give a total floor area of 36 x 10 ins which is very usable for the smaller hamsters but still not for a syrian.
Pros:
Fully enclosed so no mess all over the floor.
Tubes have a bigger diameter than other systems.
Its rectangular (oblongular!) so has those all important corners.
Comes with its own rolling balll that doubles as a nesting compartment.
When fitted together seems quite sturdy and stable.
Has paper derived safe bedding pack included.
Water bottle fitment quite cleverly incorporated into the design.
Can be extended for as many units as you want. Stuff the expense
Cons
Too small on its own.
Food dish is too big and covers about 1/3 of floor area.
Wheel only big enough for smaller hammies, a bit narrow and looks like it won't run well in use as has loose spindle fitting so the whole wheel slopes at an angle towards the sides, even moreso with a hamster in it.
The fitment of the arch tubes is not too secure (they can wobble up and down in the fitment which would get worse with use) .A really determined syrian could quite easily escape with a bit of effort.
Plastics, while not as brittle as some other modular systems apart from the clear lid, may crack, so there may be a durability issue over time.
The usual problem of ventilation issues in enclosed systems.
Conclusions
Another missed opportunity by a pet manufacturer to create a truly great modular system but with additional units could make a very nice setup bearing in mind the care needed when handling the units to extend its longevity. Having said this it seems better than most of the other systems on the market at the moment, is slightly cheaper and is made in UK. Cost on ebay is £26 + p+p. Got this one for £13 inc p+p so was £7 which was OK.
And before you start telling me I have no intention of putting any small animal into it until another one turns up cheap to create an effective system.
Picture of it is here:
http://www.hamstercentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=92&title=xtenda&cat=500