Thermaltake BlacX Duet HDD Docking Station Review

Following our review on the BlacX 5G not too long ago, I had good hopes for the BlacX Duet. Sadly this wasn’t to live through and this purely comes down to performance. When we consider that the vast majority of end users are likely to be using the USB interface over eSATA, it does make us ask questions as to why USB3.0 was not chosen over USB2.0 – especially for a device with a dual docking capability. Whilst there is a better level of performance from the eSATA port on dock over the USB2.0, what Thermaltake really need to take this item back and swap out the USB, then there should be a marked improvement in performance.

Looking more at the product itself. Lets start from the box and work in. Like I have said many times before in other reviews, its natural to see manufacturers using similar designs for their packaging and even the products inside, but one thing needs to be controlled and this is quality and more so proof reading. I would have expected to have seen better quality control and the two or three spelling mistakes that I noted would not have slipped out under the radar. For people who may have not heard of Thermaltake before, seeing such a simple mistake may give the impression that the product is inside follows a similar trail.

I totally get where Thermaltake are coming from with the concept of a twin dock design, however as I’ve highlighted, there are a few areas that could do with some care and attention to improve its value and performance. This means that whilst the dock is on the market for around the £35 mark at this current moment, I would seriously recommend in getting the cheaper & faster single dock BlacX 5G model that we looked at instead.