USB 3.0 BlacX docking stations due in March

[MilesAhead]

Saw a CES demo of BlacX USB 3.0 docking station. The hooked one up to a PC with USB 2.0 and a PC with USB 3.0 to show the difference with a large file copy.

According to the guy doing the demo, the BlacX models should be out for sale in March for @$59 (I don't know if that's for a single or a 2 drive dock.)

I'm starting to see a few other brands now too. There's one for sale on Egg for @$42 plus shipping.

Next PC I buy should have W7 64 bit SP1 and USB 3.0 off the shelf.

edit: here's the link to the CES video:

http://www.usbuniverse.info/thermaltake-demo-usb-3-0-vs-usb-2-0-with-blacx-caddy.html

[doctorhardware]

The docking stations will be for the 3.5 and the 2.5 inch drives.

[MilesAhead]

The docking stations will be for the 3.5 and the 2.5 inch drives.

Yeah, what I didn't remember until I watched the video again, is the one-drive model is supposed to come it at about $59. The 2-drive model(openings for 2 drives like a toaster) is $10 more. Since USB 3.0 is supposed to be bi-directional it might be a good time to get the 2 drive model. Copies between the 2 drives in the dock should be close to USB 2.0 speeds I would think, even if you had a few going each way. I'm sure the benchmarks will start coming out soon.

[doctorhardware]

I always need a hard drive docking bay that has the capability for a desktop drive and a laptop drive. I alway have a drive that has a current image that is filed away. That way if I trash the OS and can't do system restore, I have a drive that I can use to get the computer back up.

[MilesAhead]

Good plan. afaict these are equivalent to the USB 2.0 models except have USB 3.0. You can use them with USB 2.0 ports as they show in the video. To me that's a big advantage over Esata. Just about every machine has USB 2.0 whereas practically none of the off the shelf units come with Esata. You can stick them on just about any PC to read/write data. The USB 3.0 enabled machines will just do it faster and in both directions.

The weird thing is every now and then I look on Best Buy and anything AMD seems $800 and under. It's like all the off the shelf HP pavilion desktops over $1000(for just the tower)have Intel i7 or other quad processor. I wonder what's going on with AMD now?

[MilesAhead]

It's March so where's my BlacX USB 3.0?

It's March so where are the Thermaltake BlacX USB 3.0 docks? Seems like everyone but them has released one already!

[MilesAhead]

Took the plunge

I couldn't resist any longer. I took the plunge and ordered a USB 3.0 card(SIIG) and a 3.0 docking station(Sharkoon single slot... couldn't find the dual in any of the usual places .. I went with buy.com .. $57 with free shipping... I would prefer the dual drive model but there just weren't any.. in this case at least I'll have one USB 3.0 open for later use.)

From what I've seen on benchmarks at review sites I'm expecting sequential read/write around 80 MB/sec or so. I should know in a few days or early next week.

It will be nice to source video off one drive and output to another drive that can take it almost as fast. My Macrium backups should go much faster too.

[MilesAhead]

Hmmmm I still don't see any of these for sale. The Sharkoon USB 3.0 is so close I'm thinking Thermaltake licensed it to Sharkoon and are selling 'em that way.