The Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station is a very handy product. As someone who always has a lot of extra hardware laying around, I can tell you that this would be a great alternative for anyone who has a spare SATA drive or two in their spare box of parts. This is perfect for getting a few files transferred off an old drive onto a new installation, or for light backups. The BlacX is easy to use, simple to operate and the performance was good for a USB 2.0 device.

The only two drawbacks for the BlacX are the lack of support for IDE drives and the stationary nature of the device. Although I can understand that SATA drives are becoming commonplace and IDE drives are on their way out, there are a lot of other HDD enclosures out there that offer support for both formats. Since the drives are not truly protected inside the BlacX like other enclosures, I do not think this product would satisfy the needs of users who need to constantly transport large amounts of data. It is more suited for use on a desk or test bench where hardware is often coming and going. As for the USB 2.0 interface only, I did not hold that against the BlacX because I know an eSATA version is being planned for release around May. I do think that a USB version has its own market, as I'm sure the eSATA version will, too.

In all I think the Thermaltake BlacX is a great product and extremely handy. If you have a spare SATA drive or two laying around, why not put them to use in a Thermaltake BlacX? And, if you need a USB 2.0 hub, the new BlacX SE has all the same features plus a four-port USB hub in front.