NewerTech Voyager Q Users

[prof]

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20T...WU2ES2HDK/

Anyone use one of these??
I'm considering one even though the price is twice that of
one of the other standard USB/eSata docks.

TIA,
Prof

[Robert M]

Prof,

I have one. I will not buy another. I've had three issues with the NewerTech Voyager:

1. I had it connected to my Mac Pro via Firewire 800 and was using it when all of the sudden the drive vanished from the desktop. I had to power down the drive dock and the tower, pull the connections from the drive dock and reconnect it and power up again before I could get the drive to show up.

2. The issue that hit with the Mac Pro occurred when I had the dock connected to an Intel Imac via USB 2.0. I followed the same steps in order to resolve it. Nothing else worked.

3. The drive when placed into the Voyager doesn't seem quite as solidly connected as when placed into the ThermalTake BlacX.

My assessment: An expensive piece of equipment that lacks the overall quality of its competitors such as the ThermalTake BlacX. Considering the Voyager Quad dock is nearly $100.00, it should have any of these kinds of issues at all. It should have rock solid quality on all levels. Unfortunately, that's not the case at all.

Given the choice, I'd take a ThermalTake model over the NewerTech version without hesitation. the only reason I got the NewerTech model is because I wanted a dock that would work with two older machines that had Firewire 400 and USB 2.0. I wouldn't buy the NewerTech model again due to its flakiness and slightly looser internal connection for the drive.

Love the ThermalTake model. I have one and will buy another now that all of the machines at my office have USB 2.0. I'm just waiting for a good deal on a USB 2.0/Esata model. I wish ThermalTake made a model with Firewire because the NewerTech Drive Dock isn't worth the money.

Hope that helps.

Robert

[laarree]

I use one at home and we recently acquired 3 of them here at work.
I use it connected via FW800--I don't have an eSATA card in my
Macs at either location, and since I am typically copying many gigabytes
to the bare drives I insert into my Voyager, being limited to USB2 was
unacceptable.

The Voyager Q works just fine. As long as you are good about basic
Mac habits like dismounting drives from your Desktop before physically
removing them, it's a painlessless experience. Terry White of Adobe
has a good video review of this device from late June on his blog: http://terrywhite.com/techblog/archives/2673

[prof]

Many thanks for the replies.
Robert, could your problems be related to a faulty unit??
I've considered the ThermalTake dock but the firewire connections
on the Voyager are what's making me considering paying twice as much
for it. So far we have one yay and one nay. Any other experiences??

[Robert M]

Prof,

Possibly. The firewire 800 and USB 2.0 issues along are enough to make me leery of the unit. They haven't reoccurred but that they happened once troubles me. It could've been just a loose connection on one end or the other or just cruddy cables. If the issue happens again, I'll contact NewerTech technical support and complain about it. I

The issue with the drive not feeling like it has a solid connection within the "socket" is due to the design of the drive dock. In the Voyager, the drive doesn't feel as secure as when I place the same drive in the ThermalTake unit. The drive feels like it can wiggle a tad more in the Voyager. The same drive in the ThermalTake unit feels like it has a rock solid connection.

The only reason I went with the Voyager for my second drive dock is firewire 800 for my tower and firewire 400 for backwards compatibility with an emac G4. The emac is no longer in service and has since been replaced by Mac Minis. So, I use firewire 800 when the dock is connected to my tower and USB 2.0 when it's connected to the office minis.

Robert

[laarree]

Robert M wrote:
The issue with the drive not feeling like it has a solid connection within the "socket" is due to the design of the drive dock. In the Voyager, the drive doesn't feel as secure...

I agree that the connection is slightly worrisome--I've learned that as
long as I press a drive firmly down into the Voyager's drive slot, I've
had no problems. Still, as an inserted drive is sitting there with little
other than your initial force and gravity holding it in place, it does take
some getting used to. This is in contrast to the much more expensive
Wiebetech RTX-100 HQ trayless drive enclosure that I also own, which
holds 3.5" SATA drives firmly in place behind the closeable and lockable
door to its all-metal, rock-solid "body".

[Robert M]

Larree,

Very true. The Wiebetech enclosure is a _very_ nice piece of equipment. I have a Wiebetech BayDock which has proven itself awesome. I'd use it more often if I could get SATA trays for it. Wiebetech doesn't offer them and neither does SOHOtank.

At this point, I'm less concerned about the connection of the drive to the dock than I am why the vanishing drive issue. Hopefully, it won't reoccur. I'll let you know if it happens again.

Robert

[OWC Larry]

Quick note - we have both a USB2/eSATA version as well as the 'Quad' Q model. The model with only USB2 and eSATA is a little under half the price of the Quad. Where FireWire 800/400 isn't needed, we do have an option where you are not paying for that:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech...Drive_Dock

----

Robert - did you purchase your unit in 2008 or 2009? The two look very different - if the one you have looks as pictured in the links - then it's the current 2009 model.

When it comes to the fit and the lock of the hard drives, the 2009 model improved on the design to reduce 'wiggle room'. Drives fit very solidly into these units and are not subject to issues of looseness, etc. MacInTouch reviewed a unit and compared it very positively vs. thermalblack:
http://www.macintouch.com/reviews/voyagerq/
there's also a ton more reviews in the reviews section here:
http://www.newertech.com/products/voyagerq.php

What you experienced with FireWire 800 and USB2 are highly irregular. Both that they occurred at all and then hasn't recurred are pretty odd. Hardware problems tend to recur vs. be once offs. All FireWire 800/400 models have always been built with a first rate Oxford934 based bridge solution, the problem described is never to be expected in normal use. As they are backed by a 1yr warranty, if you feel it was an issue caused by the unit - drop us a line. OWC directly fulfills NewerTech warranty and happy to put your unit through the paces.

Thanks.

[Robert M]

Larry,

Many thanks for the post! I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you and the rest of the OWC staff take the time to even look in the forum, let alone discuss product issues in it.

I bought the Voyager less than two or three months ago. So, I'm pretty sure it's an '09 model. It's at my parent's house at the moment and I'll confirm this when I visit them later today. At this point, it's hard to narrow down the source of the issue. It could be the cable or it could be the dock. I'm 99% sure it's not the drive itself.

Grant was kind enough to drop me a line about the issues and I'll contact him about them directly.

Thanks again,

Robert

[BobC]

Not that this is useful to the thread, but I learned something here. I had thought that you (Robert M) were the same person as Robert Mohns who posts at Macintouch. That was based on the very well-written and technically astute style you both have. Glad to find out I'm wrong, only because that doubles the number of Mac mavens out there named Robert M!

BobC (also a Robert M, actually)