Photographers and videographers alike usually have a need for a large amount of data storage. Depending on your workflow, you might be like me and have numerous SSD drives for several projects that you access quite frequently, and therefore they are always within reach. You may also have some legacy 5 ¼ drives. While the 5 ¼ drives may not be a daily part of your workflow, or drives that you walk around with, I am sure that they have content on them that you may need to access them from time to time.
This scenario describes a part of my workflow quite well, and I use multiple USB hard drive docks to provide ease and quick access. Despite the number of docks I already own, I have been looking to add one more. The Thermaltake BlacX Duet 2.5″/3.5″ SATA I/II/III USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure Docking Station seems like it would be a nice addition for me. It has a USB 3.0 interface, and is capable of data transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps which is much better that some of my existing docks that are USB 2.0. It also supports both 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch drives, and for those that use the MAC OS, this dock will work as well. I really like the hot swap capability that these docks offer, and the 2 year warranty is a plus.
If you want to add this dock to your workflow, you can purchase one at Amazon for $59.97.
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Half the Amazon reviews of this are frighteningly bad: destroys backups, doesn’t recognize higher than 1.4 TB on big drives, etc. If you get it, please review for us!
Hi Jeff,
I am always very wary of Amazon reviews. Many of them are driven by specific motives.
However, some are also very true.
I will certainly review this device if I get my hands on one.
One thing that you can do w Amazon is look for reviews from verified purchasers only. In the case of this product, only 2 of the 6 reviews were from verified purchasers. Only 2 reviews does not tell me if the product is good or bad but it is sort of fishy that 4 of the 6 reviews or 2/3 were bogus.
A review for a product you haven’t used is just a free advertisement for the supplier. I did not realize that the Gadgeteer did this.
What seemed to be a glaring oversight is that you specifically mention 5-1/4″ drives in your preface but the description of the docking station seems to exclude 5-1/4″ drive compatability.
Hi Jim,
This is not a review, but rather just a news story that brings awareness to gadgets that are available for purchase. I do not own this particular device, but I do own something like it, and based on the visible design of the port covers on the top, and the picture on the Amazon sales page, it likely takes 5-1/4″ drives as well.