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2.5" laptop drives? 2.5" enclosures?

Z

ZippyDan

Platinum Member
im looking to buy a 2.5" enclosure for my old 1GB and 3GB IBM hard drives... however i am worried they wont fit

these drives are almost exactly 2.75" (68.5mm) in width

not to mention 199mm long (about 4 inches).

even more troublesome is the fact that the 1GB drives are 16mm tall (11/16 of an inch) and the 3GB drives are thinner: about 12mm (about half an inch)

have drives gotten even smaller these days (2.5" wide??)? what are the dimensions of laptop drives today? and will these 2.75" drives fit in most 2.5" enclosures?

~Zippy!
 
well now i have to worry that the interface is the same. anyone have pics of the rear of a modern laptop HD and/or pics of the ribbon cable?

i guess im going to have to get a 3.5" enclosure... but then im back to the interface... are there IDE -> minilaptopharddriveIDE converters? and where can i get them?

~Zippy!
 
Yeah, that converter does exist. Search on eBay for laptop 3.5 adapter and you'll get tons of results, usually around $6.
 
the interface is the same. the standard hasn't been changed from the 44 pin configuration. unless you happen to have an old mfm or scsi drive.

the biggest problem you will have is the height of the drive.
 
It looks like you may have to use a 3.5" enclosure, with a $5 laptop->3.5" IDE adapter.

A 2.5" enclosure will be too small. They house 2.5" wide drives (of course) at either 9.5 (like my Cutie) or 12 mm. My question is why even bother for a 1 GB drive? Hauling around a 3.5" enclosure and AC adapter for 1 GB seems a bit odd.
 
ya, im getting it cuz there is data i want to access on those drives and i no longer have the computer they were in 🙂

~Zippy!
 
Notebook drives are still 2.75 inches wide but they are thinner now (as you already know). There are some 2.5" hard drive enclosures sold but I'm not sure if they support drives as tall as yours.
 
Frankly, 1 GB and 3 GB drives are borderline not worth salvaging. However, what you might do is buy a 2.5" to 3.5" electrical adapter and then fit it into a 3.5 enclosure. But, the enclosure will cost more than the value of both drives together - about $20.
 
Originally posted by: ZippyDan
NOTEBOOK DRIVES ARE STILL 2.75??? so 2.5" is a lie?

~Zippy!
Click to expand...
Yeah, drives are still 2.75" (~70 mm). I don't understand why they're called 2.5".

The problem though is your 16 mm high drive. I don't think I've ever seen a Firewire enclosure that would handle that. There is no such thing as a 199 mm long laptop drive though. I assume you meant 100 mm, because that would be fine. 12 mm height would be fine too, at least for some enclosures.
 
er yea i meant 99mm 🙂

yea, im just going to get a $10 2.5" (liars 2.75") miniIDE -> IDE + 4pin power converter + 3.5" mounting brackets for $10 at microcenter 🙂

~Zippy!
 
The 2.5" drive refers to the platter size. The cases is 2.75" wide. Similarly, the case width of a 3.5" drive is 4". Drives are measure by platter size and thickness.
 
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