external ide harddrive enclosure: do they make them without an external powersupply?

[chiwawa626]

external ide harddrive enclosure: do they make them without an external powersupply? It seems like a hassel to lug around a power adapter....

 

[Spikesoldier]

i dont think that USB or firewire can get enough power to a hard drive, thats why they have power bricks

 

[Yomicron]

If you want to power it off just USB or FireWire, I think that it is possible with some 2.5" enclosures. If you are asking for an enclosure that has an internal power supply ( that you still have to plug in), there are 5.25" enclosures with them (example).

I don't know of any 3.5" enclosures with an internal power supply.

 

[TechSerf]

I don't know of any 3.5" enclosures with an internal power supply.

I believe this one dosen't require a external brick-type power supply, at least the last one I ordered from here didn't. Uses a standard PC power cable as shown, though you might want to check to be sure they haven't changed models.

External 3.5"/5.25" USB 2.0 & Fireware drive enclosure

A little pricy but it works fine. Good luck!

 

[alteredNate]

I remember reading an article that explained why external enclosures require seperate power. They said that even though the USB2 bus can supply enough juice to operate a 2.5" disk, it was the spin-up that pulls a load too high and can cause HD failure! Of course this article was conviently showcasing a specially-designed 2.5" HD that could spin up with USB2 power... but MAN it was expensive!

Sorry, I don't have a link, it's been a while, but I know it exists.

Alternatively, there are several 2.5" USB2 enclosures that draw extra power from a PS2 port... those are easier to find, but have more cables attached.

I'm pretty sure that all 3.5" enclosures require seperate power. I have 2 of the 5.25" formats that just use a standard PC power cable and there's no bulky transformer on the interior to weigh things down. They are big but very light, and work fine with DVDRs / HDs.

 

[Ka0t1x]

You can't do it because a HDD requires a 12v signal, USB has only a 5v max...

 

[Arcanedeath]

Actualy 2.5" laptop drives are 5V only so it can be done if you have a low power, fairly low capasity 2.5" HDD. I've got a 4200rpm IBM/HGST HDD that works fine just being powered off the USB bus.