Trios II Multi Drive Selector

The solution for your dual boot hassles?

($70)

   The desire to have multiple operating systems on one machine has been around for ages. In the past this desire was confined to the geekiest of geeks. Today, mostly due to Linux, even the non-geek wishes to dual or multi boot.

Enter the Trios II

   The Trios II allows you to have up to 3 operating systems on one machine and switch between them with the push of a button. I had heard about the original Trios some time ago and thought, "Sounds cool. Probably doesn't work." Then the Trios II came out and I began hearing good things about it from people I knew and trusted. Since my foray into the Linux world, the first and most popular question I get is, "How do I dual boot with Windows?" My answer was always, if you have to ask, don't do it. Why? Because I've seen even alpha-geeks hose their machine dual booting. Yes, even yours truly has done it. With the exception of my single drive laptop, my solution (and recommendation) to this problem has been swappable drive bays (pictured below).

(click on the pictures throughout this review for a larger image)

   Those of you who have used these know they can be a pain for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is convenience. I never liked giving people who asked me about dual booting a less than satisfactory answer and thought if this thing actually works it will allow me to recommend a safe and easy alternative to dual booting and swappable drive bays. I explained my predicament to the folks at Romtec and they were more than happy to provide the kit for this review.

What's Included

The Trios II comes with every thing you need to get up and running:

Trios II PCI Card

Control Panel (w/double sided tape)

4 Data Cables

Extended Power Cable

Power Splitter

User Guide

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