Specifications, Availability and Pricing

Aside from the two places that mention eSATA and the eSATA cable, the specs for the ST0005U are the same as the N0028USU variant. To be honest, the two are identical in appearance from the front and sides; you have to take a look at the back to see the eSATA connector to tell which is which.

Surprisingly, the ST0005U is not the most expensive BlacX of the three currently available. Looking at the MSRP, the BlacX SE with its four USB ports holds the crown at 69.99. The version we are testing today with eSATA comes in second at 64.99 and the standard BlacX is 59.99. After a quick scan on TweakTown's Shopping Channel I was able to find the BlacX with eSATA for less than 50 U.S. Dollars shipped from Newegg. In a way, I am shocked that the price has already fallen so fast on these since they are fairly unique with little competition.

Thermaltake has several global partners and is a large computer accessory manufacturer. That being said, you should not have a problem finding the BlacX for sale in your area.

It should also be noted that the BlacX's are all rated for drives up to 1TB. At this point I can't say with certainty if this spec will change when we start to see 1.5TB drives in January, or if any of the controller chips will limit the functionality.