KINGWIN KF-1000-BK 3.5" Internal hot swap rack

Pros: Does the trick, nothing fancy

Cons: Drives get HOT if you're use to any remotely modern case with fans near the drives. Most cases won't have cooling in the area this will be mounted.

Pros: - Very easy to swap
- Uses bare drives, no tray or brackets needed for the HDD
- No "ejecting" of drive seems to be necessary
- Has worked with all my drives (<2TB)

Cons: - NEEDS rigid screw-in mounting (not compatible with a lot of cases).
- SATA port on back is relatively loose (may be my cable)
- Spring inside mars drives, especially spec labels

Other Thoughts: This seems to be the same rack used on expensive video equipment (i.e. Tricaster brand); I was happy to find it to use in my video editing computers at this price.
However -- I have a case with a cheap bracket-style drive mounting and no option to screw mount, which is incompatible with this rack's flexible mounting tabs. I could work around this by installing my solid-bodied (DVD) drives on either side, but when instructing someone else over the phone how to swap the drives, they invariably pull this rack out so far (2") that it disconnects the loose SATA port in back, and I'm not prepared to tell them how to open up the case and plug it back in. If you only want one of these, you might can hammer out the 3.5" drive adapter bay that comes with your case and drill some holes to provide a solid mount that is more compatible with the slide-in brackets. I would give five stars for this product if it was clear that there was another bracket-compatible version available.

Pros: Worked with every drive I put in it except a 3tb so I am guessing the limit is 2tb. It split the 3tb into 2 partitions to make it work.

Other than that issue it seems solid and works just like it should.

Cons: Haven't found any yet. I am guessing some people would not like the way you have to "push" the door closed to seat the drive but that doesn't bother me. Just remember that when using any type of blackplane such as this you have to be careful when seating the drive.

Other Thoughts: Would purchase another one without thinking.

Pros: It works as well as it advertises itself.
Very cost effective

Cons: None that I've seen

Other Thoughts: I bought one and was so impressed that I bought another.

Pros: able to test many OS,s on same pc , I clone HDD from a "master" so I don,t have to reformat anymore.

Cons: I have had 5 different MAkes of this same thing, none last more then a year!

Other Thoughts: if your a heavy tester ; as I am. they are still worth having to replace every year.

but 50,000 times YEA RIGHT! to swap out my HDD 50,000 times I would have to change it near 4,000 times a month I swap no more then 20 times a month if that!

Pros: Simple and barebones, no unnecessary frills
Does what it is designed for and does it well

Cons: Constant insertion and removal of drives could possibly wear out some parts. Some parts seemed a bit cheap but nothing glaring.

Other Thoughts: I was worried about drive fitment when I saw the flex in the body but I guess it's designed this way for better case fitment. My drives slid in and out without issue.

Pros: - brackets already mounted on elastic amortized legs to absorb vibration.
- simple, non plastic case to hide the drive, so its cooling depend on the system airflow - the way it is supposed to be.
- drive snap in with precision.
- metallic lever that push the drive out when door is open.
- LED if you like to connect the activity led (that I don't care about)
- no company logo, but

Cons: that "serial ata" logo on the door is an annoying plus. good they are not writing "driver door" or "push the side button to open the door" or ... just imagine if they produce cars, they will label the car doors with "driver door" and "passenger door"

Other Thoughts: would be nice to have an on/off button in case the swap in used in a multi-swap linux machine, so one can selectively turn off the power without taking off the drive. However the lever is metallic and this is as good as having such a button.
For my use on shuttle, I have only one drive that I clone and this work perfectly.
without that on/off button make this simple swap in the categories of IBM professionally designed swap. 7 eggs

Pros: - Purchased because it was one of the few single-bay devices to support the shorter 0.5" height HDDs, it seems to receive both half & three-quarter inch drives very well.
- Rubber grommets isolate HDD rack from the case, (supposedly) reducing vibration noise.
- Read several other reviews before writing, was surprised to see others complain of construction quality. Other than a slightly flimsy hot-swap door latch, this device seems very sturdy to me.
- Before installing into system, plugged a drive into the device to check the connections. This device is a simple pass-thru, allowing you connect standard cables on the other side (see "cons" on power cable). The connection between the HDD and the hot-swap rack seems a tad loose to the eye, but I've never had any connectivity issues.
- Purchased two, placed in same system. Have cycled drives no less than twelve times without problems. In other words, it works exactly as advertised.

Cons: - The device will "flex" because of the rubber grommets, so if the device is not perfectly centered and securely fastened, there will be distortion and I suspect the SATA ports wouldn't line up properly. The device can ONLY be mounted using the typical 4 SIDE screw holes on each side of the drive. Take note of this if you have a screw-less case: it WILL NOT fit into a sliding rack design!
- In order to support both slim and tall 3.5" drives, this devices has a single thin bar that presses down on the top of the HDD acting as a spring. This bar can mar (destroy?) the label on the drive over time.
- If you want the power & activity lights to function, you'll need to use the included adapter cable to convert the SATA power into a 4-pin molex connector. I almost ran out of molex ports.
- The blinking activity lights and the clicking noise the latch makes when the drive tray is locked seems to attract small children. :\

Other Thoughts: - Purchased for an isolated, specific task, this device has so impressed me with it's quality & ease of use that I intend to install one on every PC I construct from now on.
- I hope Kingwin makes hot-swap racks for other port types...

Pros: Had it for well over a year now and it works well without much issue.

Cons: you will need to put in your hard drives before you start up your computer for it to read it correctly sometimes especially if it's a high rpm.

Other Thoughts: with it was metal construction but it would of cost more.

Pros: Easy to use

Cons: Top guide wire/spring may mar top of drive

Other Thoughts: Not perfect but works for my needs. If you have a tool-less case you may have some install trouble as the rubber dampers don't make the mounting rails rigid enough to stay in place for a screw-less install (at least in my case). Once I installed with screws its solid and secure. Drive slides and gives nice positive feed back that its locked in once door is fully snapped shut. Upon opening the door drive is pushed forward enough to retrieve.

Other notes: there is a wire like hold down/guide across the top of the drive that will likely mar the drive label over time. In horizontal installs its not really needed and can be bent back. For vertical installs probably needs to be left in place.

LED - I didn't bother hooking it up, some complain about it, activity is still picked up by main HD indicator light on case.