💾 Thermaltake BlacX Duet 2.5"/3.5" SATA USB 3.0 External HDD Docking Station ST0014U-C: High-Speed Storage Enclosure Review

Hit or miss. It works about half the time and just doesn't work the other half. At first I couldn't get it to work at all. When you try to initialize your hard drive, you keep getting the "Hardware problem" message. Then, a few days later, it suddenly works out of the blue. Then again, when you need it most, you've decided to solve the hardware problem again. At first I thought they were bad disks so I tried several good disks and the same with reports of a hardware problem. Bought as a cheap…

Replaced an outdated Thermaltake Max 4 external drive enclosure with USB 2/eSata ports and cooling fan inside. I've used it with a 2GB 3.5" hard drive in an eSata configuration and had trouble connecting the eSata hard drive when I needed it and fan noise. Wanted to try something different, give up eSata and switch to USB 3 instead. It looked basic with no fan needed so I got it. Couldn't be happier with this purchase. Connected easily. It has a raw look with an open disk, which is exactly my…

This version of the product confirms the manufacturer's quality promise. I've used 3 or 4 different versions over the years. They have all met or exceeded my expectations and have never let me down. Inexpensive hard drives have saved me a fortune over the years, and hard drive portability is excellent. As technology advances, transmission speeds increase, which is reflected in the different versions of this product line.

After reading about how to perform an ATA Secure Erase on SATA drives and seeing many warnings about using USB enclosures/docking stations for this (what about causes your hard drives to get buried ), I found an article listing the USB 2.0 version of this dock with a controller that can do the job. Realizing what the heck, I took a chance and ordered a version with two USB 3.0 bays (actually 2 of them). Over 250 drives later I have to say they've nailed it, both with SSDs and spinning grates…

3 year warranty doesn't matter if the device doesn't work straight away! What a shame that a new product doesn't work at all straight out of the box! I usually use Voyager from NewerTech, the NewerTech brand was the first to make and sell this type of hard drive dock and I currently use four of them. I think I bought one of their first models about 12 years ago. When it comes to hard drive cases, I spend money and do technical comparisons to make sure I'm buying a quality and safe box for my…