I seen these before but never used one or reviewed one. 'Oh Well' I thought. 'What the Heck'.

So, where do I start. Oh yes, let me tell you what the MobileDock is, then explain some of it's advantages, then fit it, use it and tell you what I thought about it.

The MobileDock consists of a chassis that fits into a 5 1/4 " bay. The MobileDock is made of two constituent parts, a tray which slides into the fixed chassis. The tray houses the IDE hard disk of your choice. The tray has a sliding top to protect the hard drive form little prying fingers when the tray is removed and being transported from place to place.

The main chassis houses a cooling fan, power and hard disk drive access LED's and a key to lock the hard drive in place for added security and safety. On removal of the tray from the chassis a flap falls across the opening to prevent dust penetration to the PC. This is something I have not seen on this type of device before, a good idea! Also in the chassis is a 96 pin docking socket and an external IDE socket and 4 pin power socket. The chassis is made of plastic and is strengthened with two cross members. The chassis, like most 5 1/4" bay fittings, is fitted using four screws (Supplied).

The tray, which holds the hard disk, is also plastic but very sturdy and has very little lateral flexing. Internally is a power plug for the hard disk and the familiar IDE ribbon cable. Externally is the 96 Pin docking plug. At the front is handle that fits neatly into a recess and a removable face plate should you wish to fit an IDE tape device or ZIP drive that requires the front loading of magnetic media. Another good idea, well done!

The tray slides into the fixed chassis fairly smoothly and requires a final firm push to seat the 96 pin docking plug and socket. The key must then be used to lock the tray before power is supplied to the hard drive. All this, of course, must take place prior to powering up the PC. Don't make the mistake of using it as a Raid Device, you are likely to blow the PC or hard drive or both.

To remove the drive tray, power off the PC, unlock the tray and lift the handle upwards which uses a cantilever effect to gently release the docking plug and socket. The tray will then come smoothly out of the chassis.

Uses for the mobile dock are numerous, such as transporting data from one PC to another either in the office or at home, backup of one fixed hard disk to the removable disk for removal to the office fire proof safe, storage of your libraries of different applications or data (eg. One disk with the accounts package on it and another with the sales/marketing data), One disk for Mum and Dad and another for the Kids etc. etc. In-Close say on the box that additional trays are available.

Evaluation software supplied with the MobileDock, which was not tested, allows one to create a complete image of a fixed hard drive to the removable drive in just a few minutes. Take time to investigate the software but remember it is only a 30 day evaluation copy.

The availability of additional trays is a bonus as you will be able to build a library of hard disks for different jobs, data sources and applications.

In operation there was no discernible noise increase which I expected from the cooling fan and rattling of the tray against the chassis, so I was very impressed indeed.

Fitting screws are also supplied and the MobileDock was in situe within 10 minutes and ready to use.