CONCLUSION

   Docking stations are not currently very popular amongst consumers and the reason i say this is because although we use 3 different models in our workplace none of our close friends and relatives has one. Regardless all of us think that such devices are extremely useful especially when they perform like the ICY BOX IB-CL121-U3 and can be used to make exact copies of drives. Of course on one hand the r/w speeds of the IB-121CL-U3 are quite impressive (although it did fall back behind its predecessor in some tests) but unfortunately the same can't be said when it comes to cloning drives. Certainly the ability to mount two drives, turn the device on and have it copy one onto the other without the need for a computer is extremely convenient (not to mention that it hardly uses 15W) and I’ve used it quite a few times myself but i can only hope that one day the same r/w speeds between the docking station and the system can apply for when cloning a drive (that should cut in half the time needed to clone a drive).

   Another thing we like about docking stations is that they don't really cost much and with a price tag of just 60Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) you really can't go wrong with the ICY BOX IB-121CL-U3 by RaidSonic. Unfortunately RaidSonic products are still only available inside the so if you live anywhere else the only options are either to find something similar or import it from the EU (that's pretty much the only drawback we could find). Long story short if you use internal drives a lot and/or if you would like to have the ability to make exact copies of drives then the ICY BOX IB-121CL-U3 HDD Docking & Clone Station by RaidSonic is the right device for the task and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Aluminum Exterior)
- Size
- Performance (Read/Write Speeds)
- USB 3.0
- Dual Docking Station
- Standalone Drive Cloner
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Cloning Procedure Takes Long To Complete (Faster Than Its Predecessor However)