ICY DOCK MB662USEB-2S-1 Aluminum body w/ partial plastic 3.5" Pearl White USB & 1394 & eSATA Dual bay 1394b, eSATA & USB 2.0 RAID Enclosure

Pros: Several options for storage configuration. RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD and Big. The 1394b allows me to use this with my Mac or PC and get good speeds for data transfers.

Will work with 4TB drives to give you 8TB capacity.

Quiet.

Cons: No real Cons but read the Other Thoughts.

Other Thoughts: The metal channels that the drives are inserted into feel flimsy. As do the doors when latching them shut. This does not have any effect on performance but is something a $200 unit should not have. The power switch is mounted low on the back and it is hard for me to access due to the data cable being so close to it. When using it on a Linux system I have to power the enclosure off/on to get it mounted (IE recognized) and this is a hassle (Linux is not a 'supported' OS but it works). I would suggest reading the details on the IcyDock web site to know of the features.

It works as advertised and I rate it as such. I read the Detail/Specification before purchase and feel it works well for my needs.

I have recommended it to other people.

Pros: Best 2-drive RAID enclosure available.
Took only seconds to construct.
Fast transfer speeds (though not blazing fast...see "other thoughts" section).
Multiple connection interfaces (eSATA, USB 2.0).
Excellent customer support (I had a question for them about the mail-in-rebate, and they were very responsive and courteous).

Cons: The title of this review would have been "fast and fully operational within 5 minutes" if the instruction manual would have indicated a method for creating the partition and formatting it (probably obvious to most users, but it's been several years since I built an external backup drive and simply forgot about this step).

Other Thoughts: I find it odd that there are so few 2-drive RAID-0 enclosures on the market. I'm apparently in a minority of people who want to build blazing fast external, RAID-0 backup drives. That low demand may explain why there has been little progress in that field. I built an identical system (enclosure + 2 HDs in RAID-0) four years ago capable of transferring 1TB of data in 4 hours via eSATA connection. This new Icy Dock enclosure performs the same in terms of speed. Hopefully when I do this next time in ~5 years, SSD drives will be affordable...RAID-0 SSD drives should push the speed limits up. Based on my very positive experience with this enclosure, I'll look to Icy Dock again at that time.

Pros: This device is a similar format for ICY DOCK, the maker of some of the best performing, reliable and stylish devices on the market.

The enclosure has an all aluminum body which not only looks good, but is sturdy and helps with heat dissipation. The two doors on the front are white plastic with aluminum accents and are released by latches on top of the enclosure, and while they might seem dainty, or fragile when empty, the internal spring-tension-system inside, keeps the drive firmly connected, and provides a bit of shock absorption, when moving a loaded enclosure. Led's monitor activity, and are not omnipresent.

Setting up raid is as easy as setting your toaster for light medium or dark, just rotate the dial on the back. Simple. Speeds are very good running about 146.0 MB/s reads and/or writes. Device looks and feels great, ICYDOCK support is ALWAYS responsive, (and YES, they actually pick up the phone!) Connections cover everything, SATA, USB, FW. Not a better device on NEWEG

Cons: None. Putting in drives, you need to be careful, but unless you are using this as a DOCKING STATION and constantly inserting and removing drives, I cannot imagine how anyone would be having a problem with build quality. Treat it like a 200.00 device with 400.00 dollars (or more) of drives and let it do it's business. If you need a "DOCK, then order and use a DOCK. They make some pretty cool and pretty Flexible DOCKS as well.

Other Thoughts: ICYDOCK, thinks out of the box all the time. They rarely go inot a market that is already full of clones, or knock-offs. Their external enclosures are unique, their internals are unique, and their Docks are unique. They also make adapters for drives, and mutli-use internal fitments for 2.5, 3.5 and/or any combinations of drives in various housings. They make devices you never knew you needed.

Pros: Unit is has a nice concept and form factor. The ability for eSATA, USB and Firewire give lots of options...Liked the ability to used RAID 1. I had high hopes with ICYDOCK reputation....

Cons: Don't buy this unit...as other reviewers have said, the mechanism is easily bent. The metal is flimsy. Drive speed/access is also slow. Using other external eSATA Raid drives (SANS DIGITAL) with the same drive, throughput is faster. Which I could get a refund on this P_O_S.

Other Thoughts: SLOW SLOW SLOW SLOW rebuild times. Other RAID units have much faster RAID rebuild. Unit times out on eSTATA and USB. Will RMA to see if that fixes it. From other comments on ICYDOCK systems regarding timeout issues, I am not optomistic. (reference internal hot swap drive bays). Also tried with enterprises level drives - same issues. Assuming the timeout issue is fixed, this will be relegated to painfully slow offline backup duties via eSATA connection.

System is Win7 Enterprise used as a file server...
8GB RAM, using Highpoint/RR 622 eSTATA card..

Pros: It works! The various settings make this enclosure a very good solution for using 3.5" drives that might be lingering around your work space. The best docking system I have used!

Cons: The doors do make me a little nervous as they do seem fragile. Also one thing to consider is that when putting the drives in, they will not go in all they way. The door will push the drive in as you close it. Kind of unexpected, but nothing to lose a star over.

Other Thoughts: The 800, USB and eSATA ports make this thing soar! We were able to do high file size transfers daisy chaining 2 of these docks docks together for a total of 4 workable external drives. We have tried Voyager Q and Thermaltake bays, and all have failed on us in a short amount of time. This thing is a no-brainer if you happen to find yourself with plenty of 3.5" drives lying around.

Pros: Elegant looking design, flexible choices of interface and drive configuration, generally well behaved.

Cons: Be CAREFUL when inserting drives. When I bought mine, I pushed a little too hard installing the first drive and bent the hinge deep inside the case, which allows the drive to slide out. It's not as bulletproof as it looks. It worked very well for 8 months, but the bent hinge was touching the circuitboard and due to vibration, finally wore and damaged it - so I just had to order a replacement.

Other Thoughts: I bought this almost a year ago for video editing, media playback and portable digital audio recording. It works very well, but as mentioned above, it is easy to damage the enclosure when installing drives, and if you do you will eventually pay (a lot) for that damage.