Dyconn Dubbler Dock (DUBDB) Aluminum Dual 2.5/3.5" USB3.0 SATA Dock and Standalone Hard Drive/ SSD Duplicator Dyconn Dubbler Dock (DUBDB) Aluminum Dual 2.5/3.5" USB3.0 SATA Dock and Standalone Hard Drive/ SSD Duplicator

Pros: This is my second purchase of this item, the first attached to an older medium-sized backup (Dell 2850) server to provide considerable (4-TB) external backup-to-disk storage, connected by way of an added USB 3.0 contoller. Likewise, the second was attached to a high-end desktop with built-in USB 3.0 connectivity so that bare drives may be mounted/unmounted at will. This unit was chosen for its superior specifications--specifically for its internal SATA III drive interface to take advantage of its throughput potential since the use of its USB 3.0 interface to the system provides considerably more throughput than USB 2.0, etc. I expect the data transfer bottleneck to be that of the drives inserted in the dock rather than the dock--the succession of interfaces to the system. As newer and faster drives are used, their inherent speeds will be preserved through the interfaces to the system.

Cons: I was disappointed with the absence of separate disconnect switches for each drive. This forces one to physically remove a running drive while power (and data) lines are still active when a second drive in the dock must remain connected and active for other reasons. Such (external) drives are generally attached under the "Quick removal" Removal policy (which is the default setting for such drives) rather than the "Better performance" policy which requires that the user use the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon to disconnect the drive safely. But, this (default) setting (write caching disabled) can prevent the best drive I/O performance--the bottleneck of the dock when optimally connected. With separate "power-down" switches on the dock, a drive's write cache could be cleared for safe drive removal when a user has selected better performance settings (write caching). As such, removing drives without first powering down the system can be risky--or, at least scary.

Other Thoughts: One can chose to disconnect drives with the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon to remove a drive safely even when this does not apply (because of the default setting for external drives), but too often we get the dreaded "this device is in use" message, when we know it is not in use--at least not on the user's account. Separate power-down switches would eliminate all that guess-work by safely clearing any cache and powering down the drive for safe removal.
Just the same, this product has superior specifications to those of others offered for use in such roles. Actual I/O throughput performance is highly dependent on the drives used and the system attached to it, but comparisons on drives that were previously attached internally on SATA III interfaces would be interesting to see.

Pros: USB 3.0 with cable included, build quality.

Cons: Can't think of any so far. A lower price would have been nice.

Other Thoughts: I wanted a way to use some spare drives I had and all the internal bays were occupied. This met my needs and also functions as a duplicator if I ever need one.

Pros: Nice solid construction, easy to operate and has indicator lights showing drive status, cloning progress and completion. I've already cloned a couple of hard drives and they, and all the programs within, work perfectly!

Cons: None, so far

Other Thoughts: Very happy with this purchase!

Pros: Worked as described. Solidly built. USB 3.0

Cons: I tried to duplicate a windows 8 drive to decrease the time it takes to load the OS and do updates. (currently loading OS on 31 new PCs for a school) Once I installed the source drive back into the PC, MS Office would not start. I think this is a windows8/software issue and not a result of this piece of hardware.

Other Thoughts: all out of other thoughts.

Pros: I bought this to replace a 60 gig hard drive in a laptop with a 750 gig. it worked perfect. Operating system and all programs worked perfected ont eh duplicated drive then just increased alotted drive space under drive management in windows.

Cons: none at this time

Other Thoughts: This si all I have used it for so far