Sometimes, those little details about computers are overlooked. Even among most enthusiasts, the interest is on the beef of a system - who you went with for a graphics card, what processor is there installed, which hard drives are you using, but when was the last time somebody asked you where those Serial ATA Cables came from, or inquired about who made that extra long DVI cord traveling to your screen - or in the scope of this review, who makes that USB device sitting on your desk that all your drives drop into.

It's this unfortunate niche that companies like iStarUSA fall into - they tend to be relied on when a certain cable has to be found on your local computer store's wall of them, but when it comes to flagship products, there's often so very little to be found. In that respect, today's review simply re-enforces the notion of companies such as this as merely logistics support to a burgeoning industry, yet, without them, certain things might not be possible. Things like what, you may ask? Years ago, I toyed with the idea of dual booting, on different hard drives in order to preserve my precious data in the event that I'd have to format, and partition the drive. Though concerns like this have largely passed on in the modern day, and dual booting is a thing of the past, the market for hot swappable hard drives, as well as easy to use, external data recovery devices has not.

In today's market, the "big idea" behind having multiple hard drive comes with a certain niche attached - convenience, security, or cost. Naturally, the convenience of being able to quickly replace a dead drive and return the array to working order, the security of being able to take the data with you, or the cost of effectively having multiple computer systems, with only the hard drive being changed. Call this last notion bygone if you will, but some of the people  I spent my past college days with followed these ideas to a T. Take for example, one of my classmates - outside of the classroom, he designed and maintained databases. In that respect, having two hard drives, with the interest of always having a working machine, and avoiding the inevitable debacle, when a classroom coding experiment goes horribly wrong. In that spirit, these two products received today - the T5-SS Hard Drive Reader and xAGE-N99-SAU/US HDD Docking Station will be viewed as a complete solution - or what you can utilize to have the freedom of two systems, but maintain the data portability of having a partitioned drive. Let's start simple, with the T5-SS.

The T5F-SS Hard Drive Reader:

Okay,  before the actual unboxing and dissection of this product begins, it's time for everyone's favorite formality, the features and specifications!

Features:

• Screwless and Trayless Design for fast HDD mounting

• Anti-vibration Design

• Support SAS and SATA I/II Hard Drive

• Key Lock Prevents Theft or Removal During Operation

• Fit for Standard 5.25" Drive Bay

• Best Air Ventilation with 1 x 40mm Fan

Specifications:

Okay, with that finally out of the way, it's time for the second part of the first part of today's show; a series of classifications which I promise to not drag out again due to it's lovely complexity. Coming in a very nondescript box, the T5F-SS says all that it needs to without splashing out, and relying on cool graphics, or elaborate designs to sell the product; since in reality, this is an item which more serious consumers would be looking for, something that has a very specific purpose. Packaged securely inside this slightly sleeved cardboard box is the external rack that's come to be the first star of the show.

The rather serious and conservative design of this unit is likely due thanks to two factors - one is the fact that it's intended for business and industrial environments, and two, that technology has evolved enough to simplify the process. Due in part to the similarity of the SATA and SAS connectors, as well as the (relative) durability of them, and the hot-swappable nature of the drives, the need for an HDD tray, sporting a bulky centrios plug at the back - as was in past - has now passed; as consumers are no longer beset with the worry of bending the pins of their precious drives.

Combine this with a bit of clever engineering - which partially ejects the drive when the "door" is swung all the way open, as well as pushing it into place when it is closed, and a disk swap can probably be done in the span of 10 seconds - meaning that if the IT personnel are kept strung on enough caffeine, the deaths of hard drives may past unnoticed. That said, there are a few concerns with it all. First is the hinge of the door, which though cast in metal, may eventually work free of the plastic housing surrounding it. Secondly, is the questionable effectiveness of a whiny 40mm fan to cool the drive; while most disks puttering along at 7200 RPM will be fine, I can't help but wonder how hot 15,000 RPM SAS drives will get. Finally, the incompatibility of this unit with thinner drives puts a bit of a stop in the ideal of universally replaceable parts - though those thinner drives are a minority in market, to say the least.

The xAGE-N99-SAU/US HDD Docking Station:

Before taking a look at the package for this unit, I feel it would be appropriate to preface this unit with a general look at the types of user who would be taking advantage of it. First and foremost, this isn't the sort of product for everyone - even with the optional HDD covers installed, your drives are easily removeable by friend or foe, and largely exposed to the elements. Should the unit be victim to the flick of a wrist with a drive installed, it may simply turn into a projectile launcher. After saying that, I can safely say that this is a wonderful evolution on those 3-in-1 cables that came out a few years back, featuring IDE, 44-pin-Laptop-IDE-with-Power, and SATA. While the flexibility for a certain, ancient pin based interface may be gone, the ability to slot in (almost) any SATA hard drive is impossible to ignore. For users who frequently swap hard drives, need to load files to or from drives - or even need a way to quickly make copies of drives without having to crack open their case (via eSATA, mind you), a unit such as this is absolutely perfect. That said, let's take a look at the packaging.

Unlike the previous unit in this review, the xAGE does have a wider consumer appeal, and may just strike into the heart of your average geek - with that potential in mind, it appears the marketing team over at iStarUSA has gone and created a quite tasteful little package - wrapped in a black box with a picture of the drive's "installation" on the front, and a number of applications on the side, this unit would hold it's own admirably on a retail shelf, and considering the durability of the packaging, there's little reason why it shouldn't. Let's take a look at what comes in this box.

Performance and Conclusion: