Addional Laptop Hard Drive

[Kevin]

Is there another way to connect an 3.5" IDE Hard Drive to a Laptop besides using external USB/Firewire enclosure?

I've got a spare hard drive and an old IBM Thinkpad 380 that I want to set up as a file server but I really don't want to spend the money on an external enclosure if I don't have to...

 

[corkyg]

Not easily. There are also PCMCIA interfaces for external HDDs for Laptops. Another option would be to access the drive through a network and have it on a desktop machine.

 

[Kevin]

Originally posted by: corky-g
Not easily. There are also PCMCIA interfaces for external HDDs for Laptops. Another option would be to access the drive through a network and have it on a desktop machine.

I want the Laptop to basically run the network since its pretty quiet and takes up minimal space. I'll probably go with a USB 2.0 Enclosure, but I just want to know all my options...

 

[pilgrim2u]

kevin
I do not know if your IBM laptop has USB 1.1 or none. You must factor the pcmcia cardbus 2.0 into your budget along with the enclosure.
I bought a toshiba closeout USB 1.1 laptop, data transfer is slow to enclosure, USB 2.0 is a must.
Also consider if your OS is USB friendly.

I have XP

hey....I am new to XP and usb enclosures, just my 2 cents worth

 

[Kevin]

Originally posted by: pilgrim2u
kevin
I do not know if your IBM laptop has USB 1.1 or none. You must factor the pcmcia cardbus 2.0 into your budget along with the enclosure.
I bought a toshiba closeout USB 1.1 laptop, data transfer is slow to enclosure, USB 2.0 is a must.
Also consider if your OS is USB friendly.

I have XP

hey....I am new to XP and usb enclosures, just my 2 cents worth

Yeah, I know I'll have to buy a card. I'm surprised this laptop still works. Its like a 166 Pentium with 32MB RAM. Takes about 5 minutes to star up. It doesn't even have a USB port. The dock for it does, but it makes it too bulky...