Vantec NexStar Dual Bay 2.5"/3.5" SATA to USB 2.0 & eSATA Hard Drive Dock - Model NST-D200SU

Pros: Dual bay convenience on one eSATA connection

Cons: The second slot stopped working one day, so it's been demoted to a single-bay hard drive dock. Not cool.

Pros: Ease of use

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: I already own the single bay model from Vantec and have issues with the power cord coming loose, but it is still better than the other external hard drive cases I have bought, so I decided to buy the dual dock.

I just bought two of these Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives to backup my files being held on 2 OTHER external hard drives. A co-worker lost all of their files with a dead drive and it spooked me into getting a backup done.

I plugged in the Vantec NexStar Dual Bay 2.5"/3.5" SATA to USB 2.0 & eSATA Hard Drive Dock, inserted one of the 2TB hard drives and right out of the box it was recognized and Windows 7 stepped in and led me through the process. The next 2TB hard drive was not recognized, but with a right click computer > manage > disk management > assign a drive letter and they were both done and ready to go. Backing up 3TB of data now.

All in all, the Vantec NexStar bays are easy to use with the large button on the front and the dual bay docking station does not have any issues with the ill-fitting power cord.

Pros: Dual drive bays
USB 3.0 and eSata support

Cons: eSATA only works for the front bay (undocumented or a bug?)

My OCZ Vertex 3 won't go in the bay due to it being off by about one millimeter? Odd since my Vantech single bay has no problem with it (NST-D100). Hitatchi 2.5 and WD 3.5 had no issues though.

Dropped off two eggs due to the OCZ fit and the eSATA only working on one bay.

Other Thoughts: Looked at the support and their FAQ does not have this model listed. Perhaps too new.

Pros: none

Cons: Junk never recognized 2 drives at the same time would screw up from cold boot. Finally just stopped working lights up but no activity popped the side off my case dropped it in works fine. Used this for maybe 25 mins a month other than that it was off. Total uptime maybe 4 hrs total.

Other Thoughts: As mentioned the "guides" for the hdd's are non existant very easy to snap internals.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer,
We value your input about our product and will strive hard to provide our customer with good quality products. If you have questions about our products, or anything that are not functioning the way it is advertised, please feel free to write to us for assistance at support@vantecusa.com. We will try our best to support and answer your questions. Thank you for looking into our products.
Best Regards, Vantec

Pros: Works out of the box, paired this item w/ a Koutech IO-PESA111controller card purchased here @ NewEgg. I can now wipe/image/access two drives at the same time....

Cons: Took 5 days to delvier this item =(

Other Thoughts: Wished this unit had a built-in power supply instead....

Pros: Cool looking. Worked fine while it was working

Cons: Power Supplies Die.

Other Thoughts: I had this unit fro a year or more but went through 2 power supplies for it in that time. Support messed up and sent out wrong power supply first time but sent correct one on second attempt so not bad support just some shipping/warehouse guy's screw up. Anyhow after the 2nd power supply died it was out of warranty and I didn't want to hassle with getting another one so I just tossed it.

Pros: It looked cool but I was trying to buy a hd not a dock

Cons: none that i know of returned NRFB.

Other Thoughts: RMA was decent; wish newegg would opt for an in-store credit.

Pros: Fast Transfer speed, super easy to swap out drives.
My experience has been limited to only SeaGate drives, but I've used the device to fill 3 500Gig and 1 1TB drive over the last 1.5 years with photos with no problems whatsover. Running on Vista64, just plugged it in and it goes

Cons: Clunky external power supply, a built in would be nicer. Wish there'd been a black colored option.

Other Thoughts: Super easy to use. If you like the idea of saving hardrives for archives and storage, it's as simple as you can make it with this dock.

Pros: Great storage option for Macbook Pro's that can handle eSATA connectivity through expresscard34.

Cons: Ejecting a drive from the dock is a little rough

Pros: Horrible garbage. Will not run two drives at once – screws up computer boot completely when trying to use the USB bay. What a junk timewaster.

Should I list the cons? LOL

Cons: See above.