Conclusion:

The Thermaltake BlacX 5G USB 3.0 hard drive docking station provides a nice upgrade for those that want a drive dock and can benefit from the added speed of USB 3.0. It provides quick and easy access to SATA hard drives and solid state drives, and is an excellent tool for troubleshooting drives from other systems. If your system currently does not support USB 3.0 there are accessories available (not included though) that can add this speedy interface to just about any system. Or if you plan to step up to USB 3.0 some time in the future, this may still be the dock to choose as it is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 (or even USB 1.1 if you're really old school).



The main negative feature to me is that it is a single drive solution. I've become spoiled as the owner of a Thermaltake BlacX Duet, which is a USB 2.0 hard drive dock with two drive slots. While USB 3.0 speed is a welcome upgrade, the lack of a second hard drive will be missed.

Shopping around for the Thermaltake BlacX 5G USB 3.0 hard drive docking station finds it for sale at several locations, such as Newegg where it is $47.98. At this price, it is in the middle of the small pack of similar products, with a few USB 3.0 drive docks costing a bit more, and a few more costing a bit less. However, it is the only one to specifically support USB 3.0, and the new 6.0 Gbps hard drives for a truly powerful combination of speed.

In the end, the performance and convenience of the Thermaltake BlacX 5G USB 3.0 hard drive docking station help it to earn the Bigbruin.com "Recommended" award.



Pros:

» Fast USB 3.0 speed
» Light on-board easily identifies a USB 3.0 connection
» Hard drive protectors included
» USB 2.0 backwards compatible
» SATA I/II/III 2.5" and 3.5" drive compatibility

Cons:

» Single drive solution - a USB 3.0 version of the BlacX Duet would be nice

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