external hard drives

[gorobei]

are there any external enclosure hard drives that work like flash mem? (i.e. no additional power cable/adapter.)
I figure with ssd and laptop drives becoming more common and the tech getting cheaper, they might be able to get all the required power from the usb cable eventually.

 

[DarkRogue]

2.5" drives are able to draw enough power from the USB, but 3.5" drives can not.
No idea about SSD though.

Edit:
Well, technically I have a few cables here that claim it can power a 3.5" drive using 2 USB ports, but it doesn't seem to work for me.

 

[0roo0roo]

thumb drive
usb too slow for ssd anyways

 

[gorobei]

anybody have any experience with buffalo products

frys has a sale on this model for $170 out the door
http://www.buy.com/prod/buffal...loc/101/207652686.html

 

[TheKub]

Buffalo doesn't really make that product. They may make the enclosure but the drive will be from some other manufacturer. If you have a favored HDD maker look at their offerings. Or you can simply buy the HDD of your choice and get a relatively inexpensive enclosure ($10-$25) and put it together yourself.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

not an enclosure, but WD Passports do not need external power.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo not an enclosure, but WD Passports do not need external power.

True. But they sometime require connection to 2 USB ports - they come with that type of USB cable.

I have one and use it with my laptop. When on A/C power, only one connector is needed. When on battery, both are needed.

 

[nerp]

I have a 2.5 inch notebook drive in a small enclosure that plugs into two USB ports for power. It works fine. Slow, but works. I don't know if it would be able to handle larger capacity/faster or more power hungry drives, though.

 

[gorobei]

any particular models recommended? I've read some reviews and there seems to be equal amounts of negative DOA anecdotes for each name brand so i don't have any strong preference. My main interest is 250GB or larger, no separate power brick, no need for driver installation, and usb connection (with option of esata as bonus but not necessary).

enclosures are cheap enough but the sales on 2.5"drives don't seem particularly good right now.

 

[TheKub]

Originally posted by: gorobei
My main interest is 250GB or larger, no separate power brick, no need for driver installation, and usb connection (with option of esata as bonus but not necessary).

Any 2.5 drive will not require a brick or need a driver. I know Ive seen 3rd party enclosures that have multiple connections (USB, eSATA, Firewire) I don't know off had if any specific hard drive manufacturer does that (never really looked). As for brand I leave that for you or others to decide (undoubtedly if I were to name a few it would only be a matter of time when someone would come in flaming about how they have had nothing but trouble with XXX drives).

What I can say is only in most cases the only way to know what drive (ultimately the most important part) comes in a particular enclosure is to buy from that particular manufacturer. In some cases with generic out of the box solutions you may be able to read reviews and see what other people have received but that is not always a guarantee.