Thermaltake BlacX Duet Black Dual Hard Drives Docking Station

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Good idea, but... It's incredibly slow more than USB 2., like 1 MB/s. Ouch. Also it died after 37 days of extremely light use. It had been utilized perhaps 4 or 5 times. Manufacturer Response:Dear Consumer,We at Thermaltake apologize for the inconvenience this may have triggered you. Please get in touch with ttsupport@thermaltakeusa.com for warranty information.Greatest regards,

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hot swap bare drives none for me I use this for full drive backups. It's like having 1TB floppies. Pop one out - pop another in. Working with a PCI-e eSata card - functions like a champ.

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Excellent idea The unit failed inside 20 minutes of usage when I attempted backing up my drive working with the USB port. The lower mechanical stability of the hard drive in the course of active usage although docked in, may well result in shorter difficult disk life.

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I use it since 1 year.This is a very usefull pieceI'm running Linux OS with this master piece without slowdown (impossible to do with windows OS)Should be have a On/Off interruptor.I recommend it definitively.

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1. Holds two drives - that's why I purchased it.two. Nice to have eSATA accessible (I assume I will use this more in the future - most of my PCs don't have this but). USB two. is quickly enough, and I can't discover a dock with these capabilities and USB three. (at least not in or even near this price range).3. Solid design/build. The plastic is plastic, so don't expect it to be a tank, but it's great and sturdy.four. Reads all my old bare drives appropriate out of the box. So it appears to be performing what it's created for fairly well. 1. No power switch. Other reviews mention a power switch -- you guys hated it so considerably they removed it. Now my stupid self is left plugging and unplugging it when I want to cut the power :ƒ. Major CON: This is my greatest, and primary, complaint. I use this in USB mode, so I have no idea if this will occur in eSATA mode. But in USB mode, if you plug in a drive, your old drive WILL UNMOUNT. If you are moving files, the copy will fail. If you are playing video, it will get stuck. If you are ____, then ____ will quit and probably fail.So be incredibly cautious when deciding "I'm going to sit down and do XYZ with drives foo and bar." Make sure you have accounted for this. I lost an (unimportant) file because of this stupid bug/artifact/whatever.three. Price -- these devices in general appear to carry costs they don't merit, and this one is no exception. Nonetheless, the cost distinction for a second slot isn't too poor. Better than acquiring two single-slot docks. 1. Indicator lights are bright, blinky, and annoying. Not positive if this is a pro or con.2. This rating does not speak to the longevity of the device - I have not owned it quite lengthy.3. I wonder - but do not know - if this would perform with larger drives. The 2TB threshold may well be artificial, or it may be tough. I have not investigated it further.four. USB 2. is not incredibly quick. Throwing a 2TB drive in here and filling it up over USB will be slow. Do not anticipate miracles.

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Uh. The port multiplier works with my computers.The power brick is a common 12 volt unit which could be helpful for an additional device as soon as you throw this in the trash where it belongs. The eSATA connector is loose and flimsy. Plugged in cables detach extremely simply.The power button is FLAKY. You have to push it all the way to power the unit on. Even so, any touching - the lightest pressure - if your finger brushes the switch though it's on it will shut off. This is horrible.The cables included are too brief. They are each shorter than three feet. Further, the eSATA cable included is quite poor high quality - it's very stiff. Any movement of the cable will send the device sliding around on the desk, IF the cable manages to stay attached!The 3 issues above perform in collusion to trigger a incredibly poor experience. Due to the fact the cables are too brief, you can't place the device out of the way, so you have to be on guard to make sure that a piece of paper, a feather, a dime, etc. will not fall on the power switch, mainly because then your drives would shut off and you'd lose data. I purchased a incredibly Nice, flexible, round eSATA cable, in a six foot length, for 4 dollars, from a mono cable website. The laws of supply chain and retail mean that this cable cost that vendor, and would expense Thermaltake, much less than two dollars. Immediately after employing and evaluating this item, I cannot in good conscience advocate that anyone obtain any Thermaltake goods.

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Just plug it in and insert drives works like a charm. None to report

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I used this for 1 year via eSATA on my main PC and would dock different drives a few times/week. I gave up on hot swap as my Asus P5Qpro didn't like it. I never used the dual feature (I thought this would have 2 eSATA connections when I bought it - I obviously didn't do enough research) the speed always seemed to match that of a direct SATA connection to the mobo. For the past year, it has been attached to my PVR via USB for archiving and has preformed flawlessly. I would buy again if I had a need for another eSATA dock but I would more than likely buy a USB 3.0 unit.

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If you have average tech expertise and have NOT loaded the AHCI drivers at F6 when you originally formated your drive/s you'll come across this item to be a dilemma! I had to locate the right strategy to hack the registry and a couple of other tricks.ASUS M4A75TD-V EVO (not recommended for average-low tech information) Again if you didn't load up your AHCI drivers when you formated your drive/s with your operating systems than i would shy away or you IMPLORE a person with the knowledge to handle the fixin! Its genuinely i piece of cake but for those that know how to fool around in BIOS, with reg. hacks , can recognize how to google and even apply some guess work to other people that have so called fixed it... HINT it as straightforward as a download and or to modify the value in the folder msahci value to in (( Commence )) in all ControlSet msahci folders (START) value to . BUT DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! or have a drive copied A CLONED DRIVE total precise copy of your beloved major drive offered ought to u ska-roo up NONE it works excellent!! With Windows 7 and most likely Vista. BOIS requirements to be set in AHCI not IDE !! Your Sata in bios requirements to be AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) setting. If you have no clue than get support!! Its being applied with my ASUS M4A75TD-V EVO with all the trimmings! I adore it!! I bought a WD 1.0TB WD1002FAEX drive Really like THAT AS Nicely!! WD by no means had 1 bad drive shipped or die but becoming working with WD for 9 years now! several WD Black drives!. BUT??? I need to admit i am waiting on a shell shocker item a USB 3. like this one but distinct business to arrive Monday that will be utilised for extreme transfer speeds. Go YOU TUBE the USB three. dockers FORGET the enclosed ones they are a pain you have to open them to change drives! THIS Thing IS Perfect!! pop in pop it out!! MAN you have you enjoy that! So far i utilized and formated my 1TB WD just minutes ago tranferred at least 20 movies to see how it would function! and used a few 500GB WD drives that are full to access info/folders AVI's etc and a 720GB WD that is close to full as nicely as yet another WD 6??GB drive! nicely WOW WOW its incredibly cool this Thermaltake BLACX duet or dual dock is something incredibly cool. right after i got the AHCI fixed it is now completely Superb!

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This is great product for quick hard drive access. I use it to backup data for computer repairs. Eliminates the need to open my computer case. Does what it says and haven't had any issues using it.

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External ESATA is Quick. Used solely with late 2009 Macbook Pro 17 unibody connected through ESATA express 34 card created by APIOTEK. Speeds with a single drive connected via the APIOTEK esata card connected to yet another ESATA (vantec white bare enclosure unit) yields transfer speeds of about four.6GB ྾ files) in about 1 minute, 25 seconds. Transferring from 2nd drive to 1st driving making use of the BlacX duet yields roughly 59MB/s. It's a really very good dual drive for the macbook pro if you are searching for an ESATA enclosure that uses bare drives (for swapping).Comes with 3A power adapter that utilizes a typical NON-proprietary jack (not a DIN connector!). Comes with ESATA and USB 2. cable. ESATA cable is around Ӱft. High good quality plastic and drive connected does not wiggle like my VANTEC esata bare enclosure unit. Ejection button is push down style. Comes with a three year warranty and that's great enough for me!Utilized Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA without 1 single problem. There's no protection to the exposed challenging drives but that's the nature of working with these units. Except for maybe the high cost ฼.19 at the time of my obtain, there doesn't seem to be any cons for my setup. Folks who put up reviews about this not working in ESATA mode (when two drives are connected) possibly does not have a port-multiplier ESATA controller. Inside the box comes with a label that states specifically if you don't have a port multiplier compliant controller when employing the ESATA port, you will NOT see TWO drives. Using USB 2. port will enable for both drives to be seen.On the macbook pro 17 unibody, I am using the APIOTEK ESATA expresscard 34 which makes use of the SIL3132 chipset. This chipset DOES SUPPORT PORT MULTIPLIER FUNCTIONALITY. It is completely compatible with this Thermaltake BlacX Duet unit if any else seeking this setup for your macbook pro 17. It works 100% if you own an SIL3132 chipset expresscard 34. I did not have any kernel panics or issues. Hot swapping works but of course it's not hot swapping when you have to drag your drive to the trash first (to dismount). 2nd drive connected is Hitachi 7200rpm 32MBC 1TB drive.

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*Supports 2 SATA drives (see Other Thoughts)*Includes an eSata Cable (Retails ฤ at nearby store)*Includes a USB cable (Retails บ+ at nearby store) *None that I've located, and I've purchased 5 of these for a variety of projects more than the last couple of years. The unit has two drive bays, but only 1 eSata connection. If your SATA controller will not support 2 drives more than 1 cable, you will not be able to access the drive in the 2nd bay. It's up to your controller, not this unit. Not a deal breaker, just FYI prior to you purchase it.

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1) Quite convenient small box. I use it with my WDTV Live + 1TB and 2TB WD green drives. I also use it to transfer data to other drives. It's all extremely straightforward and really useful if you hate taking your pc apart.2)Decent size, doesn't take up a lot of space. 1) When connecting to pc by way of eSATA cable sometimes it would crash my pc. Not positive if it's a Win7 driver problem or what. It happened about three times. If you do a lot of information transfers, this is the ideal toy to have. If you only need it for just one drive and to plug it into a PS3 or media player, I suggest receiving the single dock rather. Manufacturer Response:Dear Customer,Thank you for your feedback. In order to take benefit of the eSATA connection, your eSATA card has to support "hot swap" capability. Please check with your eSATA chipset manufacture to see if it supports this functionality.Thermaltake Consumer Service

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Had it for three months with a WD20EARS drive. Been working quite well this whole time over USB2.0. My only complaint would be the flimsy build; perhaps Thermaltake can improve the fit and finish for future revisions.Overall, good product.

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Picked this up when I ran out of HDD mounts in my PC. The eSATA connection is fast and has no problem keeping up as a backup drive device. The build quality feels pretty cheap, so I won't be moving it around a lot, but it does get the job done.

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Function like it suppose. Have no sign of issue so far. None Working fantastic for cloning challenging drive.

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Dependable and works properly Took a lot of months to get each drives working by way of eSata at the same time (USB2. in no way a challenge)Not producers fault; Port Multiplication is a actual art to get going on eSata (not a given like USB) Finally figured it out. Requirements far more than "Port Multiplier"; it has to be FIS based and not command based port multiplication.Had a Marvell based 88SE9128 ECS eSata Card that does support FIS based port multiplication and still did not work. Figured it need to have been XP64 that was holding points back...... time passesNew Windows 7ኜ machine and still the exact same issue!Lastly discovered a later firmware off the internet to update the ECS card (last resort). Not from ECS but a generic MV91xx firmware and the flash did the trick.Seems like you require an FIS based controller card (Intel Sata will not function or JMB363) an O/S that supports ACHI and then you have to make positive you have the latest firmware and drivers.Doesn't seem like the controller card manufacturers are excellent at delivering the most recent drivers or any firmware upgrade possibilities so you want to be willing to experiment!For those in the same circumstance, with the above, I managed to get an ECS S6m2 controller card to work.

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Like my title, Reads & rights really fast. Either slot or both at a time. A lot quicker than my USB 2. external drive! Had to install an esata pci card with the multiplyer function so that each slots would function together. I knew that when I bought the unit. My new sata3, 6BGB/s drive does not function with in the docking station. I guess only sata1 and sata2 will function. Didn't buy from Newegg.

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Worked good for about a month. Now All I get is diconnects on the USB and I don't have a Port muliplier card available to try for the eSATA. Other wise it only detects one HDD.

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This factor is awesome. I bought a SIIG SC-SAE412-S3 PCI Express SATA II Controller Card on assistance of Thermaltake and I couldn't be happier with the results Occasionally when booting Win 7 x64 each drives do not seem. Nevertheless this is simply remedied by merely disabling/enabling the SIIG controller card in device manager. Obviously people complaining about not becoming able to hot swap have no idea what they are doing. Basically disable your eSata controller in device manager, swap drives, then allow. Viola!

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It does what it says, It was valuable when my external tough drive stopped connecting to my personal computer. When I connected this to my laptop to wipe the tricky drive it usually disconnected the energy. It was incredibly touchy and really should not be moved when in use. The drives do tend to get really hot! It is a noble concept! It seamed to work nicely for me unless I move it. Ought to have bought this from Newegg simply because I paid ำ a lot more at very best buy.

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This product does just what it advertises. It is a quite handy way to take advantage of the low price of high-capacity (e.g. 2TB) difficult disk drives. The low cost feel of the plastic enclosure, as noted in other critiques. I don't anticipate to be putting this device by way of any trauma that will cause it to break, but would have appreciated a sturdier feel.Also, please NOTE: eSATA compatibility is an issue; see "Other Thoughts." Thermaltake does indicate that eSATA demands "port multiplier" function to see both drives. This is an vital consideration, as most motherboards don't appear to support that function. I have the ASUS P6X58D Premium with the newest BIOS and drivers from their support website. The mobo consists of the latest intel chipsets that can support port multiplier function, but ASUS does not support it. I have two selections: use USB, or buy an additional eSATA card that basically does support port multiplier. I will take the latter alternative, but that will add forty-five bucks to the powerful cost of my mobo.Final thought: newegg is a fantastic vendor. Kudos!

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eSata only detects one drive so I was forced to use slower USB2; worked fine but somewhat slower for a year, now just past the warranty expiry the USB2 has started disconnecting randomly, multiple times a day. Switched USB2 cable and used different port on PC, still the same problem. Doesn't happen when connected to eSata with one drive, pointing at the USB2 interface in the Blacx Duet. Not robust, wouldn't purchase again.

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Well lets see, the first dock I received didn't work at all, no life what so ever from the unit; and after paying as much as the unit cost, to send the dead one back, the replacement dock I received, after plugging it in fried both my hard drive and the USB controller on my motherboard. So you can listen to all the positive remarks about the docking station and decide to get one; but be warned this product can destroy a hard drive and the USB controller on your motherboard; this warning is not coming from a novice, I am A+ certified and have worked on thousands of machines in the past 25 years; & I will never buy a docking station, or possibly product from thermaltake again; considering thermaltake's RMA department refused to do anything about my dead docking station or hard drive.

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This dock work really great. It help me to prepare our new system really quick.