Inateck are a Germany-based company and they’ve recently launched the FD2002 USB 3.0 HDD Docking Station. The company sent one of the units for review. As well as USB 3.0 external capability, the device features SATA-III internal, enabling effective processing speeds for data transfer.
The overall package is made up of a USB 3.0 and SSD HDD SATA Docking Station, plus one USB 3.0 Cable and one 12V/3A power adapter, plus an instruction manual. The USB C-C cable is packaged with a bandwidth of 5Gbps.
The build quality is good, and the plastics used in construction are fitted together tightly, creating a robust device. Hard drives slide in and out relatively easily.
At the top of the docking station, there are a series of LED lights along the left side which indicate that power is on, which slot is occupied with a HDD, and the progression of a cloning operation.
The risk of damage is off-set by the device containing integrated safeguards which prevent over-voltage, leak currents, short circuits and peak voltage. The safeguards also protect against interference and disturbance.
The device also features offline cloning capabilities, and it supports a two-times 8TB hard drive. With the cloning, this means the device supports offline data copy between two hard drives with no computer involved (and no need for any software). It is important, however, to backup files in the target hard drive before operating the offline clone mode.
The device proved to be stable, in terms of power utilization and processing speed. With the use of power, the device goes into sleep mode after thirty minutes of inactivity. This useful feature saves energy consumption and lengthens the life of each hard drive.
The overall performance of the FD2002 Dual Bay USB 3.0 Docking Station is good and the price is affordable, retailing at around $50.
