Dual 3.5" bay Firewire enclosure + Firewire Card + 6' 6-pin to 6-pin Cable - $57.95

[ActuaryTm]

Found here.

Features/Specifications :

[*]External Firewire 1394 Drive Casing[*]Oxford Semiconductor OXFW911-TQ-A / Realtek RTL8801 Chipset[*]Two 3.5-inch Drive Bays[*] Two IDE/ATA Connectors[*]Works with Any 3.5-inch IDE Device (Hard Drive, Zip Drive, Etc...)[*]Two External IEEE 1394 Firewire Ports[*]Power Switch / LEDs on Front[*]Power is autoswitching 90-264 AC A 50/60Hz[*]8 x 8 cm Fan mounted on back.[*]Supports: Windows 98SE, Me, 2000[*]Successfully tested in Windows XP.[*]Also supports Mac OS 8.6 and up, including Mac OS X 10.1.2, w/built-in drivers[*]Includes: Case, Driver CD, Power Cord, Mounting Screws

Manufacturer is Mapower.

Above price does not include shipping. Appears to be between an additional $6.00 to $8.00 via FedEx Ground, which, considering their weight, is reasonable.

These are really well built, sturdy enclosures. Have personally had one running nearly 24/7 for last 18 months or so without fail. Works flawlessly under Xp. The price reduction (these were $56.95 a few weeks) is most likely a preemptive attempt by Computer Geeks to reduce their stock, as they will be offering the 5.25" dual bay version of these enclosures later this month or next.

Update - 6/27

Previously $47.95, Computer Geeks is now currently promoting one of their subscriber exclusives containing the following :[*]The above described dual 3.5" bay firewire enclosure[*]VIA VT6306 3+1 Port PCI FireWire Controller Card. Specifications are found here.[*]Firewire Cable 6-pin to 6-pin Cable - 6-Foot. Specifications found here.

Quoting from the email :

"Add the Firewire Case to your shopping cart and enter the Secret Savings Code in the red "promotional code" field during checkout (Firewire Card and Cable will automatically be added with code) to SAVE Over $20.00 and get this External Firewire solution for just $57.95!"

Code is readily available elsewhere, and thus not included in the above.

 

[Devistater]

Not bad. This would be usefull to keep a couple of external hard drives. Especially if you have filled up the internal bays heh.

 

[mra]

I wonder if it's upgradeable, it looks like it has slots on the back

 

[Guybrush]

Sweet thanks.

 

[sblake]

"as they will be offering the 5.25" dual bay version of these enclosures later this month or next."

I thought this what it was. Is the new one different?

 

[bchalker]

This one only holds 3.5 hard drives - not DVD/CDRW drives. Still nice, though

 

[ActuaryTm]

To respond to the two posts above -

The title of this thread clearly states 3.5". The features posted, both here in this thread and on the URL provided, clearly state this enclosure "works with any 3.5-inch IDE Device (Hard Drive, Zip Drive, Etc...)". Hence, it does not hold 5.25" devices of any kind.

As mentioned earlier, Computer Geeks has plans to offer the dual 5.25" version of this enclosure. For lack of a better example, a photograph and description can be seen here. (no, I am in no way affiliated with preceeding link - just offering for informational purposes). Believe one can clearly see the similarities and differences.

Do hope this clears up any confusion.

 

[vladgur]

This is definitely hot. I bought them when they were $79 and I used them with a couple of 120gb SE drives. Firewire offloads the I/O from your IDE bus and is generally more efficient. You can even chain other devices through this enclosure, such as Ipod for example

 

[MadDog5145]

I highly recommend these enclosures.

 

[SimMike2]

Since this isn't really a portable unit, I think the 5 1/4 would be a better deal. Lots more flexibility in what can go inside the enclosure and more room for air flow around the drives. I bet a 5 1/4 model isn't really that much bigger than this unit.

Right now I have a 5 1/4 portable firewire case and use some of the $7 removable drive cages that Geeks sells. This gives me quite a bit of flexibilty in moving drives from one computer to the next.

 

[SharkyTM]

very nice cases and price!! GO GEEKS

 

[weepul]

great deal! my neighbor has one of these. think he paid ~$80 for it.

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[MrMet]

I have two 40 gig Seagates sitting in a drawer that this would be perfect for. Thanks alot!!!!

 

[leonowski]

For those with an old 5.25 SCSI enclosures, you can take out the Firewire to IDE bridge and mount it in a standard SCSI enclosure. Now Im running a burner and a removable hard drive rack through it.

 

[bchalker]

Can I format my un-formatted Maxtor 120GB drive with this? I have a laptop, so formatting is a bit difficult.

 

[jbwhite99]

To leonowski, where could I get the bridge you are talking about? I have a 4-port one of these SCSI boxes, but no drives in it.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: bchalker
Can I format my un-formatted Maxtor 120GB drive with this? I have a laptop, so formatting is a bit difficult.

yes

 

[vietofmars]

I think leonowski meant that you buy this 3.5 enclosure, take out the firewire to ide bridge and put it in your own 5.25 enclosure.

Originally posted by: jbwhite99
To leonowski, where could I get the bridge you are talking about? I have a 4-port one of these SCSI boxes, but no drives in it.

 

[TTM77]

Since this is not portable, you might consider getting a PCI card that will add more IDE ports.

I bought a 180G hard drive, it came with a PCI card. It look like you can put 2 hard drive on each of this IDE the same as if it were onyour mother board. My PCI card have 2 IDE port, if this theory is correct then I can add 4 more hard drive into my PC. I'll never have to delete anything again. Yahooooo.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Price now lowered to $47.95.

 

[weepul]

nice!!

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[aperry]

I have one of these, and had some problems getting it to work with 2 drives. I had a WD 120GB and a WD 60GB. The 120GB was recognized just fine, but try as I might, I cannot get the system to recognize the 60GB drive. Fortunately, I had another 120GB lying around (love these cheap prices lately), so I dropped it in there, and it works great!!!

One thing to note for all. You should choose the Cable Select (CS) mode for both drives. That is the best way to get it to recognize both drives. Compgeeks recommends that configuration.

 

[MontyBurns]

Just a warning: A friend bought this, and couldn't get his computer to recognize it no matter what he tried. I bought one, and my computer with an A7N8X-Deluxe mobo couldn't correctly recognize it. (I had 2 maxtor 80 giggers in it). I plugged it into another computer with a Gigabyte GA-7VRXP mobo, and it recognized it fine.

I searched on usenet and found similar comments, and people having to try different drive combinations to get it to work. It's a great unit if you can get it working, just be ready to address some quirks.

 

[cloudchief]

I have had one of these since CompGeeks first offered them at ~$80, I bought a second when they came down to $50. My computers bays get filled quickly so they really come in handy. The first one I got has pretty much worked flawlessly until recently when one of the firewire ports stopped working, not a huge deal but hopfully the other doesn't go.
To MontyBurns:
The second one I got was wired all wrong and wouldn't be recognized at all. It would power on so I thought it should be ok, I spent hours trying everything I could think of (must of rebooted a hundred times) to get it to work. Finally I took both apart and compared them and found the wiring harness was plugged into the wrong pins, I swithed them and now that one works great also.

 

[dumpav]

any one know good price for Firewire dual or more 5.25" bay?, i would like to put a mobile rack instead.

the only one i find is here, http://www.sunshinestor.com/4bayfiren.html
any vendor have better deal?

thanks