Inateck FD1101 Aluminum HDD Dock Review

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For the cost conscious consumer, there are a plethora of storage options that enable you to put your old spinning disk to work. In the past, we have reviewed many of this nature, some from Inateck. Today, we take a look at a higher quality spin on the traditional HDD dock, the FD1101.

The FD1101 carries your standard HDD dock form factor coming in around 4.5" x 2.5". It houses a single slot design that accepts both 2.5" and 3.5" drives backed by a SATA connection. On the outside, Inateck has redesigned this solution to take on an aluminum shell with subtle branding and on the backside a USB 3.0 connection. In their very own press materials, Inateck shows this solution capable of 410 MB/s read and 400 MB/s write using CDM.

Compatibility looks to accept both Windows, MacOS, and Linux platforms. The MSRP for the Inateck FD1101 comes in at $32.99 with a one-year warranty.

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Packaging is really simple for this solution. Seen above, we have the box with a simple image of the device and branding above.

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Inside, we find a USB 3.0 B to A cable and power adapter.

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Looking at the dock itself, we have a dark aluminum exterior with ABS plastic frame. The top houses the slot for accepting your drive.

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On the back is where you will find the power button, power input, and USB 3.0 connection.

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Throwing in my Intel 730 SSD, I was able to grab 459 MB/s read and 428 MB/s write from the FD1101.

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Similar performance was found using FBM - 440 MB/s read and write from 16M to 512K then a drop off slowly as file sizes were smaller.

I'd say Inateck has done quite a solid job with this latest dock solution. Having the undertones of ABS gives the dock a durable frame on which they have applied aluminum to give this solution more of an aesthetic appeal. Functionally, this solution has no issues with any of the connections including USB, power, and the internal SATA connection.

On the performance side, I was able to exceed Inateck marketing specifications by a fair margin. With CDM, I reached 459 MB/s read and 428 MB/s write, while FBM showed a steady 440 MB/s read and write.

Overall, Inateck has designed a good unit that offers top-level performance for USB 3.0. They have also done a solid job pricing this unit offering it at a MSRP of $32.99 with a one year warranty.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IX Hero (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: Intel Core i7 7700K (buy from Amazon) / (Read our Review)
• Memory: G.SKILL TridentZ DDR4 3200 (buy from Amazon)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Hybrid (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Intel 730 480GB SSD (buy from Amazon) / (Read our Review)
• Secondary Storage: MyDigitalSSD BP5 512GB SSD (buy from Amazon)
• Case: EVGA DG-86 (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 P2 (buy from Amazon)
• Networking: ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 (buy from Amazon)
• Networking: ASUS ROG 10G Express
• Networking: ASUS Thunderbolt EX3 (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)