Athena Power BP-SATA1842B RAID 0 / 1 / 5 / 10 1 x 5.25" Bay to 4 x 2.5" SATA Hot Swap RAID Subsystem

Pros: Cheap and it works.

Cons: trays very poor quality I only had to remove the drives a few times and two of them broke. The plastic appears to be fragile and it just snaps. Warranty sais one year but is worthless unless you recieve it busted when you buy it, if your trays break under normal use they wont replace them.

Manufacturer Response:

We at Athena Power would like to apologize for the inconvenience you have encountered. We would be happy to replace the broken trays for you if the product is still under the one year warranty. At your convenience please contact us at (626) 810-5008 or e-mail us at service@athenapower.us so we can assist you. Thank you.

Pros: - Cheap

- fits 15mm drives

- heat-conductive shell

- locks prevent accidental/careless drive removal

- Cheap

Cons: - No fans. You can mount one or two 40mm fans yourself, though.

-Keys are flimsy. Not a big deal since you can unlock it with fingernails.

- Strange busy lights. So far I've observed four different behaviors:
- always on (old ssd);
- never on (new ssd);
- dim/bright (momentus 5400.3);
- correct behavior (momentus 7200.4).

Other Thoughts: If you need SATA, this is about the cheapest thing that can take 4 WD raptors. There are some flaws, but it has working electronics and an aluminum body. It's the minimum, and nothing more.

Pros: It holds 4 2.5" drives in an easy-to-access manner. It also makes cable management easier as all four drives are powered by one molex connector and not four SATA connectors.

Cons: The spring loaded levers used to remove the drive are nifty to start but will eventually break weak plastic parts of the drive holders. In fact, on all of my drive holders the same thin piece of plastic gave out on the side. This break does not make the holders useless but it certainly detracts from the whole experience. I super glued the breaks and they have been holding for a while now.

Other Thoughts: The drive holders probably won't break if you never remove them, but that kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? This thing should really be all-steel construction. It's not like weight should be a factor, it isn't in a laptop after all. If it were more durable I would have given it five eggs.

Pros: I can hotswap TBs of data with this nifty little invention.

Cons: Kinda flimsy, when I attach the screw in too much, I cant pull out the drive.... a design flaw.

Other Thoughts: Kinda pricey for what it is, the "optional fans" ought to be standard.... but it wasnt worth paying ten dollars more to get the unit with them already installed.

Pros: None really.

Cons: So cheaply constructed, that one of the drive bay door broke simply pressing the button. Never even installed any drives nor put it in operation. It is past the 30-day return policy, so I'm stuck with junk.

A complete waste of money. I am now thinking that the only use I may have for this broken junk is to clone 2.5" SATA drives on occasion.

Other Thoughts: Wouldn't recommend this product to anyone unless you are using nothing but cheap parts and products and your goal is to just use the cheapest parts around with quality not a concern.

Pros: Half the price of other units. Holds 4 SSD drives. No fan (quiet!)

Cons: Tray system doesn't work so well. The drives don't just slide in and snap it place, you really have to fuss with it way more than you should have to. Cheap plastic parts feel like they'll snap at any minute, metal parts are warped. You have to be really gentle. You get what you pay for.

Other Thoughts: It does what it needs to. If you don't plan on taking the drives in and out all the time, this unit is okay.

Pros: I also have one of the Startech SATABAY425BK units as well that I paid $25 more for. Unlike the Startech, these seem to be more solid, more steel to the frame. I'd recommend these over the Startech for that reason.

Cons: Unfortunately, compared to the Startech, they lack fans/power, as well as an 4x SAS connector (a nice additive in the Startech package). Both the Athena Power and Startech sleds have a crucial plastic connector that opposes the spring tension. On the original Startech unit, the slightly bent frame caused me to "force" one sled and resulted in that plastic breaking. Superglue didn't hold. I haven't had any problems with the newer Athena Power, although it's still the same, stupid plastic design on the sled where a small little metal/steel option would have been better.

Other Thoughts: I went completely 2.5" at home for desktops, servers, etc... almost a year ago, in addition to notebooks (and have been using 2.5" for backups for a couple of years now). Don't pay more than $50 for these things, and hopefully commodity will bring them down under $40 (and the sleds under $10). There really could be a better design, but I guess I'm used to "enterprise quality" 2.5" SAS bays/backplanes for my 10-15Krpm 2.5" SAS drives (and not for 5400-7200rpm commodity 2.5" SATA drives). Another option to look at for a 3.5" bay is the "trayless" 2x2.5" Startech HSB220SAT25B option. Didn't see them here at NewEgg yet, but that's a nice option for 2-drive RAID-1 setups.

Pros: Well, it sortof allows 4 2.5" drives in a single 5.25" bay.

Cons: Description on here says it has two 40mm fans. Of the 3 units we got, no fans were installed and the circuit board is missing the power plug where fans could be installed - there is a silkscreened location for it on the circuit cards inside. There is also a jumper wire that apparently corrects some design defect, but the wire is not staked per standard electronics assembly practice.

Included screws are a wee bit too short to work in all instances.

Other Thoughts: Well, at least the mechanicals are less messed up than the Startech BRACKET25, which has too long screws and holes that don't match standard drive hole standards.