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    external enclosure

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by paid2get, Sep 1, 2006.

  1. paid2get

    paid2get Notebook Consultant

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    I just bought a 300gb hd from samsung. its a 3.5" ide drive. I was wondering what kind of external enclosure should i get for it. I was wondering its neccessary to get one that has a fire wire because i heard firewire transfers data 3x faster than usb 2.0.... do you guys know of any good deals? I kinda only want to spend around 30 bucks for it
     
    paid2get, Sep 1, 2006
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  2. coriolis

    coriolis Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Firewire is faster but if you are really impatient, then get it. But I'm patient, so I just click and drag, then do something else, so speed doesn't really concern me.

    $30 is alot, if you want something nice, check out Vantec's NexStar line.
     
    coriolis, Sep 2, 2006
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  3. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    Firewire has it's own built in controller so it's far less prone to data errors than USB2.0 It's a faster than USB but not 3X faster, there are lots of benchmarks floating around the web. The problem is finding a GOOD Firewire chipset in a cheap enclosure but IMHO look for ones with the TI chipset. Some unknown chipsets give me fast "reads" but poor "writes".

    Good deals come here and there. Office Max had 120GB WD external after rebates for $35 two weeks ago ;) One per customer.
     
    hydra, Sep 2, 2006
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  4. monobeg

    monobeg Notebook Enthusiast

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    If I can ask a similar questions, without starting my own thread:

    I'm also looking for a 3.5" Firewire enclosure, and something that won't kill my HD!!!!

    I've read a lot about fan vs non-fan, and everyone seems to be all over the place, so I was looking at the AMS VENUS DS-2316CBK because it has firewire, UBS and a nice big (fairly quite) fan, but its crazy-expensive at $50!

    link

    There must be something cheeper that won't destroy my hard drive...I hope. I really don't want to lose data, as this will be a backup drive. Suggestions?

    Also, anyone aware of any well-priced ~300GB drives right now? Which brands are reliable and quiet?

    Thanks!
     
    monobeg, Sep 2, 2006
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  5. root

    root Notebook Consultant

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    Well you could use what i had used at work back in Wi.

    [​IMG]

    and for power, i just used an old 175 watt psu that was sitting around.
     
    root, Sep 2, 2006
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  6. monobeg

    monobeg Notebook Enthusiast

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    Referred to wrong enclosure above. Edited.
     
    monobeg, Sep 2, 2006
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  7. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    Do a search for enclosures or cases in this forum. These questions have been brought up many times. I bought two cheap cases at newegg from user reviews, 1 working and 1 DOA. Newegg refunded case but out $4 shipping ;)

    I perfer fans but they can be loud in some cases ;) I also have a simpletech fanless vented case that I have had no problems with.

    The adapter, shown by root, is great to quickly swap out bare drives. I just got a stack of used 80BG-3.5" drives so looking for one of the adapters, how much please?
     
    hydra, Sep 3, 2006
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