APH Networks Reviews: Thermaltake BlacX Duet HDD Docking Station

When we reviewed the original Thermaltake BlacX back in April 2008, we commended Thermaltake for marketing such an innovative and convenient product, but we complained about its lack of essential features such as eSATA. The idea of allowing users to quickly swap internal hard drives on an external interface on-the-fly is undoubtedly excellent, but execution could definitely use some improvement. A few different variations of Thermaltake's BlacX were made since then -- a nearly identical station with added eSATA support, as well as the SE version that provides four USB ports in front. Sounds great, right? Well, how the heck do you make it better? Fear not. As far as Thermaltake is concerned, there is only one way to make the BlacX product line twice as good as it is already: Combine two of them, and make them into one unit, and then call it the 'BlacX Duet'. The end product? Thermaltake's latest hard drive docking station! As its name suggest, it is designed to combine elements of its excellent prior 2.5" and 3.5 serial ATA hard drive compatibility, added eSATA support from the second iteration, as well as the tried and true USB support for maximum compatibility since the first edition -- the Duet now features bays for accommodation of up to two desktop and/or laptop hard disk drives too! How's that for a change? We cracked one open for you to see how it works out in real life.

View: Thermaltake BlacX Duet review