Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0

Pros: Works well, solid device, very fast transfer speeds, both USB and eSATA. If you can get eSATA to work correctly, you should definitely use that because it's noticeably faster than USB. Docking station is very effective compared to an external enclosure if you never plan on moving it around like a portable drive.

Cons: This isn't a con on the product, just didn't have enough space in other thoughts. This was definitely a learning curve for me. I assumed that eSATA worked the same way as USB in the sense that you plug it in, the OS recognizes it, and you're good to go. It's a LOT more complicated than that. Firstly, your motherboard must be able to support hot swapping (AHCI), which mine doesn't. I still used it anyway, and of course the OS didn't recognize it automatically. I went to Device Manager to detect new hardware. That worked, but if I tried to access the drive for any length of time, it lost its connection and I got write errors all over the place. So bad idea. I had another mobo that had AHCI, and since my OS was loaded BEFORE I changed to AHCI mode, I had to reinstall the OS (I couldn't find a good way around it). I plugged the eSATA cable in and voila, my OS recognized new hardware and installed it automatically! (continued in other thoughts)

Overall Review: I didn't get the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon though. The OS thinks I installed new hardware inside the case so it's not going to allow me to unplug it like a thumb drive. I did research on this also, and from what I understand, in order for hot swapping to truly work on eSATA, your mobo must have eSATA ports. Mine doesn't, so I'm using the standard SATA port. Not having the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon made me uneasy but I was able to get around this and remove the drive safely before unplugging by going to Device Manager, right clicking on the drive, and selecting "Uninstall". Worked like a charm. I have no write errors anymore, no disconnects, and the super fast transfer speeds was well worth the trouble, since using eSATA was the main reason I purchased this product in the first place.

Pros: Great feature set, when it works.

Cons: ...which is almost never. Any serious use of this dock will cause the drives to overheat, and even with a gigantic boxfan keeping the drives cool, this unit itself is totally unstable. I've had this thing for over a year, been through multiple OS changes, upgrades, etc. and this never worked on any platform reliable for large backups, transfers, etc.

Pros: Decent speed, USB & ESata capability. Just wanted to share, I have had this since 2010 and is still functional.

Cons: I did have to RMA it within the first year as it stopped functioning. I did an RMA and received a replacement, It has worked great since with no issues.

Overall Review: I use this thing frequently and is nice to have if you do a lot of data backup, transfers, or recovery from other drives.

Pros: Great features, theoretically.

Cons: This is not an upgrade from the previous Duet model. That one was bad, and this one is EXACTLY THE SAME with a USB 3.0 connection. Nobody over there at Thermaltake is concerned with QC or stability, these things are still junk.

Overall Review: Why do I always try to think that I can get a newer model and all the bugs will be fixed? They never are. If you own Thermaltake stock, sell it.

Pros: Love being able to pop in a drive to take a quick peek! I used to pop the side panel off a PC every time I wanted check a drive, then attach some cables, etc. This is a much cleaner solution! Eject button works. Base feels stable when pushing in a drive.

Cons: None, solid product at reasonable price.

Overall Review: I wish I would have bought one with a faster interface like USB3.0 or eSATA. This unit works great! I just lament my frugality every time I need to transfer a TB of data over USB2.0.

Pros: Thermaltake Brand 2.5 / 3.5 SATA HDD Connectivity. Seems to be built well, solid construction, and "heavy". More so than you would expect. The rubber feet grip my desktop quite well. Instantly recognized and operational under Windows 7 Ultimate 64. Has flawlessly worked with every drive I have used in the unit so far and is serving its purpose. Allowing me to easily access HDD's for service and storage.

Cons: None that I can find as of yet. Note: Not sure why anyone would say "Quality is a concern", "Cheap plastic"... This unit does not appear to be cheaply manufactured at all. The unit I received is quite heavy and robust, the material seems to be far from "cheap". "Seems like it would break if I drop it" ... Seriously? That applies to almost ALL computer hardware. Simple solution, don't drop it. This unit is a docking station, it should be sitting safely and securely on your desk or work area.

Overall Review: All hardware fails at some point. In most cases, how you treat your hardware can have a direct effect on it's operational lifespan. Tips: Don't "drop" or "thrust" drives into the station. Insert the drive slowly and then press down to make the connection. The same way you would attach any SATA cable to any HDD. You don't do it violently. You put it in place, and push. Hot swappable, maybe. However a good practice is to power off the unit, then insert or remove a drive. Then power it back up. The unit has an eject button to "pop" the drive out of the contacts, use it. You treat the hardware good, and in most cases, it will last.

Pros: eSata and USB 2.0 work perfectly in Windows Vista 64. eSata speeds are between 85MB/sec and 115MB/sec on my Seagate 5900RPM 1.5 TB drive. No drivers needed.

Cons: eSata connection drops constantly on my Mac Pro 3,1 2008. Transfers up to 30GB or so, then the drive goes offline. Using the Rosewill RC-219 eSata PCI card with port multiplier. All of my other eSata devices work perfectly except for this one. Not happy about this, but the USB 2.0 does work well on the Mac.

Pros: Very Portable and Fast transfer speeds Long Lasting performance Easy to use with both Mechanical and SSD

Cons: Only as fast as the connection speed.

Overall Review: I have been using this product and the others like this for years and they stay next to my system constantly and are very useful for Formatting new drives and accessing files, archiving, and virus corrections.