Dynex™ - 2-Port eSATA II PCI Express Adapter - Multi

Early 2008 Mac Pro running 10.6.6. Didn't plug in the extra power into the card cuz I don't need the power ports that are on the card. (I assume that's what the power plug on the card is for.) Snow Leopard folks, do some research, then go to http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=32&cat=3 to get the driver. Pay attention to whether you're downloading the RAID or the NON-RAID version of the driver -- DL the one based on how you are going to use this card. For me, I DL'd the SiI 3132 Mac OS X 10.6.x BASE (non-RAID) version cuz I don't work with RAIDs. Install the driver first, then install the card. Worked flawlessly for me.

This controller -- when combined with the Thermaltake Black Widow -- is an absolute must have, compared to external USB hard drive setups. The speed is at least 3 x's faster with eSATA, and you have the option to insert any eSATA hard drive you want into the Black Widow. I got sick and tired of the slow speeds and/or lack of quality in every brand of USB external drive I tried. With the Dynex controller card and the Thermaltake Black Widow, I've got the easiest, fastest external hard drive system available. However, as noted above in the "cons", if you rely on a software hard drive monitoring program, like Crystal Disk Info, for example, you can only monitor one of the two drives if your've got two drives attached to the Dynex controller. At least that was my experience on my system, which is running XP Pro SP3. The system itself recognizes both drives, and that's the most important thing, but for some reason, the sofware monitoring program only recognizes the first drive I installed. Western Digital Data Lifeguard recognized both drives, and provided S.M.A.R.T. data for both, but would only display the serial number for the first drive installed, not both. So I unplugged one Black Widow from the Dynex and plugged it into the on-board eSATA port, and was able to achieve full monitoring for both drives that way. At some point down the road, if I need to use the other Dynex port, I'll just have to forego the ability to monitor that drive with Crystal Disk Info.

I like the extra power feature, if I ever had to use them. I had a little problem with the product, but turns out I had a faulty eSata cable supplied by my external HDD enclosure. It was not the product. It installed in Windows 7 fine. I had tried it in my Mac clone as well. It will work if you go to chipset maker,Silcon Image's web site, and download the newest BASE (non-RAID) driver, version 1.2.5 (as of this writing). It worked in Snow Leopard Mac OS X v10.6.8. Supplied drivers (v1.1.9) does not work for the Mac. I've been around long enough to know that often you need to go to the chipset maker to get the best and most recent driver. I felt the price was a little high for what it was for I've seen it for less, but you pay for convenience.

Typically I've seen Dynex products have less than stellar quality. However, with this unit, I'd say it's a good deal to be sure. This is just a re-branded Silicon Image SiL 3132 (pretty good product) and uses the same drivers. Vista 64-bit Home Premium recognized it instalntly; didn't need to install drivers from the disc. It's a great imrpovement over USB speeds, though this is more noticeable on larger files transfers (3GB+). Very much worth it if you need some eSATA connectors for the newer external hard drives (i.e., SeaGate 750GB FreeAgent Pro). This will fit PCIe x1 though, not standard PCI.

The drivers on the CD and the manufacturer's site are out of date - As a previous reviewer noted, if you're using Mac OS X Snow Leopard (32 or 64 bit) you'll want the 1.2.5 drivers or later from the chipset manufacturer. You can find them here: http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=32&cat=3&os=3 Look for "SiI 3132 Mac OS X 10.6.x BASE (non-RAID)" Installed those and the card performs very well.

I am a professional video producer specializing in corporate and PBS documentaries. I own four Avid editing systems for which I built the computers myself, all running either 32-bit XP or 64-bit WIn 7. The Dynex card is installed in all four computers. Using it for the RAID 0 Avid likes best the cards work flawlessly. They are incredibly easy to install and provide 3Gb SATA and port multiplying with any hard drive configuration I throw at them including the Thermaltake Black Widow drive docks. I could not find these features on any other card near the price. The reviewer who complained about it not working with Snow Leopard needs to learn how to read compatibility info. The fact he doesn't know enough to do that isn't the fault of the card. Just because a product doesn't work with every possible OS version, it doesn't mean the product is defective.

I've had this adapter card installed for 6 months and it performs precisely as it is supposed to. It provides two ports for connecting external hard disk drives via the eSATA protocol. It installed without incident and I was immediately able to connect and access an external drive through its eSATA terminal. Transfer speeds from internal drives to the external drives that are attached to this card are extremely fast. In summary, this is a solid piece of equipment in a Mac environment. Windows users seem to have encountered issues, but on the Apple platform it performs as it is supposed to.

Software eSata Controller. My system, dell xps 420. Windows 7 Ultimate. Tried a hardware controller eSata card, and it caused conflicts with the onboard Raid Contoller. NO bells software controller card. Windows 7 detected, installed, and worked. Automaticlly saw hard drives in the eSata ports, and started those up. (Did not use included CD) Works with an AComData external eSata enclosue.w/ 3tb Hitachi HDD Works with NexStar Dual Bay Docking Station. (Dual Bay stations require port multiplier) with 1tb Hitachi HDD and a 500gb Maxtor HDD