CalDigitAV Pro 2 Storage Hub USB C 5Gb/s External Drive Enclosure Kit - Charge up to 30W, 2016 MacBook, MacBook Pro, Thunderbolt 3 PC Compatible (0TB - Enclosure Kit)

I bought two of these from Amazon to insert 2.5" SSDs into, for use with a 2018 MacBook Pro. The product advertisement mentions it's USB C, for "blazing transfer speeds." However, what it does not mention and you don't find out till you read the box it comes in, is that it's the older generation USB C Gen 1, which caps at 5gbps, not the 10gbps of current USB C and definitely not the 40gbps of Thunderbolt 3. Had it mentioned the actual maximum transfer rate of 5gbps, or that it was Gen 1 USB C, I would not have ordered them. For this reason I don't recommend this if you are concerned about having the full USB C transfer rate of 10gbps.

Videographers and Photos use massive amounts of storage. The best way to deal with them on a budget is to setup network file shares with a JBOD setup. We were using G Drive Thunderbolt 3 10TB Enclosures connected to mac pros running server OS. The G Drive Thunderbolt 3 10TB Enclosure is quite expensive, $500. They have a 5 year warranty and they're good for it. What I've noticed is these enclosures tend to fail, but the 3.5" hard drive inside is still fully functional. Pulling the drive voids the warranty, however sending the whole unit in on a warranty replacement takes up to 2 weeks and they will replace it with a new drive, and it's burdensome to copy over 8-9+ TBs of data, 18 hours in a perfect scenario.These enclosures will work on a straight swap with the G Drive Thunderbolt 3 10TB Enclosure's hard drive. The only way the drive was recognized in my case was to use the enclosed USB 3 cable, not the usb c/ thunderbolt 3 even though those are supposed to be interchangeable. However this may be the lack of the 2013 Mac Pro thunderbolt 3 support without using the Apple dongle to convert thunderbolt 2 to 3.In any case, $55 was well worth the cost! I have not found a way to purchase a G Drive empty Enclosure that's fully compatible that makes financial sense.

When I first bought this, I was chagrined, and I thought about returning it. I had thought this would be a great thunderbolt 2 hub for my 2014 iMac. Alas, it is no such thing, and installing the software from the manufacturer site (at least on 10.13 High Sierra) results in the hard drive being unrecognizable by the computer. Much angst followed, as I reformatted and reinstalled the OS on the hard drive, a Crucial SSD.Sitting in my sackcloth and ashes, I figured I'd just use it for what it could do -- as an external 3.1 external drive enclosure/hub. Much to my surprise, the speeds were more than adequate. Then I plugged in two other USB 3.1. devices into the hub -- a Blu-ray drive, and my storage hard drive, and they've worked without a problem so far. (I've been running this setup several months). Since then I've had one or two occasions where the hard drive enclosure shut off, but these have been rare in the extreme.So while it's not what it's advertised, it is a solid USB 3.1 external drive enclosure/hub.Other plusses: It looks great, and it has a locking mechanism to secure the drive.Other minuses: It is a little tricky to get the drive caddy fully inserted. You do have to use some force and it can close before it is fully inserted. If the drive doesn't boot, check this first.

I was specifically looking for external HD enclosure with built-in fan. There aren’t many choices and this one was great looking with excellent features. Upon arrival, it didn’t disappoint, it feels quality all over, top-notch built as far as housing goes. Even caddy for HD uses heavy gauge steel and chrome plated! Plus screw holes on caddy are bevelled !. Not so great but not a deal breaker is locking mechanism which requires 2 different keys to access the drive bay is unnecessary and offer very little security. More chance that user will misplaced those keys when you need them. The cam lever appears to be made of plastic and the cam itself could possibly break one day ?. This fancy mechanism to shove in HD add extra cost and potential for failure when simple design is more reliable, fool proof and cheaper. It did not come with instructions manual. Now, the real deal breaker is it doesn’t work, although the unit appears to be new, It does not run and refused to turn on, gives only red light. Tried it several times with a brand new HD and a used working HD with the same result. It is a shame for such a nice product with poor quality control. Doesn’t give you the confidence a replacement, even if it works but for how long if the issue is electronics. Item is being returned.

The biggest annoyance with recent MacBooks is the limited ports...two Thunderbolt 3, one of which must be used for charging, leaving only one for connecting anything else, like an external disk drive. Then nothing else can be connected, leaving users searching out various hubs and docks.What AV Pro 2 offers is unique. It's the only 3.5'/2.5" SATA enclosure I know of that can also power a MacBook over a USB-C connection (only 30W, though). If the unit is plugged into a wall outlet, as soon as the USB-C cable is plugged into the MacBook, it begins charging and immediately powers up the drive in the enclosure. When the drive is ejected from the desktop, the drive is powered down but charging of the laptop continues. There is also a 2-way hub built in, with USB 3.2 gen 1 type A jacks. These are also powered at all times, so charging phones or powering multiple portable drives is possible. To top it off, the same removable drive caddies used in CalDigit's RAID boxes (they cost $30 each, including a rugged storage case) are used here. If you need to swap various drives in and out, it's a doddle. The caddy can be locked to the enclosure to prevent theft.In my own usage model, I have a 3TB HDD inside the enclosure and can attach two more drives using the hub. It leaves one Thunderbolt port om the MacBook open to connect a card reader, CD/DVD burner or even a fourth drive when I need to. Mounting external drives is so quick that by the time I've plugged the drive in and look at the desktop, it's already mounted.If you need to use external drives with your MacBook and don't need (or can't afford) a full blown docking station, for $50 this is a fantastic deal. For the price of many cheap USB 3.2 gen 1 hubs, you get a well built enclosure along with laptop charging and a USB hub.This enclosure also supports USB 3.2 gen1 connections with a provided type A cable. This will not provide power, of course, but you still get the other benefits...removable caddy, USB hub, and Time Machine users who need to backup Thunderbolt 3 MacBooks as well as older USB MacBooks can share the same drive.Cons:-- It would be nice to have the USB-A jacks on the front of the enclosure to more easily plug devices in and out, but that would require a larger enclosure. Buying a USB extension cable or two takes care of that.-- It's been on the market a few years now and some users will be upset that it doesn't support USB 3.2 gen2. This is really only an issue if you are mounting an SSD rather than a HDD in the enclosure.-- 3.5" and 2.5" SATA only, users of NvMe SSDs need to look elsewhere.