In Use:
In every day usage the Thermaltake BlacX proved to be very convenient. Transferring media files to the drive was simple and as quick as could be expected with USB 2.0. Compared to a traditional enclosure, I am most pleased with the silence made possible by not needing a cooling fan, and the lower operating temperatures made possible by the drive being exposed to the open air.
Another great feature is that you can use either 3.5" or 2.5" drives. I had the 750GB Seagate drive in there for several days and was using it mainly as a backup drive. I then needed to check the contents of a 2.5" drive, and it was only a matter of a minute or so to swap the drives, check to see if what I wanted was on that 2.5" drive, and then swap the drives back. This could prove to be a great device not only for the typical user, but also for the IT professional. For lower volume operations, tasks such as trouble shooting, data recovery, and drive imaging could be greatly simplified with something like the BlacX.
Testing:
HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0 from Simpli Software was executed on a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB drive installed in the Thermaltake BlacX Hard Drive Docking System. For comparison purposes, the results were compared to those achieved with the same drive in two other enclosures. A Seagate FreeAgent Pro (that housed one 750GB drive) and an Eagle Tech Computers ET-CSIU2J-BK JBOD External Storage System (that housed two 750GB drives) were also connected via USB 2.0 for the match up.
HD Tach provides four values of interest. Higher values are better for Burst Speed and Average Read Speed, while lower values are better for CPU Usage and Access Time. The chart below shows that the performance of the BlacX is not the best, but definitely respectable. I would say the performance is above average for all of the USB 2.0 enclosures I have used, and you might only see a noticable improvement if eSATA was available.
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