Introduction:

Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station

Features:

	Patented Design
	RoHS Compliance
	Supports All 2.5” & 3.5” SATA HDDs up to 1TB !
	Hot-Swap Capability for Rapid Multi HDDs Access & Exchange
	Supports USB 2.0 Transfer Speed up to 480Mbps
	Windows & Mac OS Compatible
	Compact Docking Station Design maximizes Heat Dissipation & Exhaust
	Windows Vista Ready !

A Closer Look:

Retail Box

Specs & Features

Protect content

Ready to work

    The BlacX Docking Station comes packaged in, what else, a black box - with only the X having some color in the name. The front side has a picture of the product, and the back of the box has the features and specifications. On the interior, the docking station is protected in some bubble wrap. The power supply and cable sit below a cardboard divider at the bottom of the box. Time to remove the hardware from the box, and I will start with the power pack. The power supply is a simple AC to DC convertor with a 44" cable; the USB cable looks like the ones supplied with most printers. Now time for the docking station itself.

Docking station

Aerial view

SATA Connection

Rear view

    The BlacX Docking Station is nothing real fancy - just a simple cube made up of black plastic. But when you hold the docking station in your hand, you will notice it has some weight to it. In addition to the weight, everything is kept stable by four heavy-duty rubber feet. These keep things from sliding around on the desk by firmly planting the BlacX, and help reduce vibrations from the hard drive by counteracting the rotational mass of the platters in the hard drive.

Cables installed	Power LED	3.5" Installed
Another view	2.5" installed	Another view

    The next thing you will notice is the simplicity of the BlacX Docking Station: it's not bogged down with all kinds of buttons, switches, or fancy LED's. All you'll find on the front/top in the middle is the eject button for the hard drive, on the top is the status LED, and there is a spring-loaded hinged door. The door is cut out to accept a 2.5" drive, and for larger 3.5" drives the door is pushed out of the way with the drive. On the back side are the ports for the power and USB connections along with a simple push button On/Off switch.

Install and Testing:

    That's just it... there isn't really anything to install. Actually, it's just a matter of plugging items in. Plug in the power adapter, plug in the supplied USB cable, plug in the hard drive you want to use (up to 1TB). That's it - all done - painless and easy.

Conclusion:

    Personally, I feel this product would make a great addition for those who need to store and back-up vital data quickly and easily. Just pop the drive in, back up that important data, and then toss the hard drive in the safe. Honestly, in this day and age of cheap hard drives, a simple 1TB drive can store all those important digital pictures and documents and even software. And now there's no good excuse to keep putting off that task.

    The Thermaltake BlacX 3.5"/2.5" SATA HDD USB Docking Station, by all means, is one of the easiest products I have used to get data on and off a hard drive. No need to install the drive in some sort of enclosure, nor messing with those tiny screws used in those 2.5" enclosures to secure lids. This is truly plug and play. I would like to thank Thermaltake for sending this unit out for VH to review and giving me another one of their products to add to my personal collection. You can pick up a BlacX for yourself for just $29.99 over at Directron.

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