Favorite External Enclosure?

[BarkingGhostar]

Ok, so I am in the market for a couple of external enclosures. They need to house a 3.5" SATA2 1.5-2.0TB Western Digital Green drive. I need the solutions to be transparent in that if setup in external enclosure I can un-mount the drives (in the future, if desired) and connect them to a regular internal SATA.

I guess there are USB2.0, eSATA, and Ethernet as the common connectivity types, but with the exception of Antec's MX-1 connected to some DirecTV DVR equipment (via eSATA), all other previously owned solutions never seemed to impress me.

Anyone had success with current products they'd like to recommend? Of course, recommending avoiding certain other products is just as appreciated.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Ok, so I will presume no one has a favorite external enclosure for hard drives. How about any feedback on external docking stations used with internal 3.5" hard drives?

 

[C1]

Ya, Im in the process of trying to come up with a scheme too. Look at NewEgg. The Rosewill R2-JBOD 3.5" USB 2.0 DUAL-BAY External Enclosure - Retail for $39.99 consistently reviews at 5 stars. Read the reviewers submittals (183 of them) & you'll see the pros & cons. It appears to be a great enclosure, but the one incompatibility with your requirements is that swapping out HDDs is not convenient & there is an issue about frequent access to delicate case screws.

 

[Emulex]

startech dual bay (no longer made) has two hot swap sleds, fan, usb 2.0. you could even stuff a user manual in there with an X25-m and use it to acronis copy if you didn't feel like mounting.

duo pro

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I picked up the Kingwing (aka Kwi) EZ-Dock2 at Fry's for $40. NewEgg wanted $50. I'll give it a try later today.

 

[Zstream]

Ok, so I am in the market for a couple of external enclosures. They need to house a 3.5" SATA2 1.5-2.0TB Western Digital Green drive. I need the solutions to be transparent in that if setup in external enclosure I can un-mount the drives (in the future, if desired) and connect them to a regular internal SATA.

I guess there are USB2.0, eSATA, and Ethernet as the common connectivity types, but with the exception of Antec's MX-1 connected to some DirecTV DVR equipment (via eSATA), all other previously owned solutions never seemed to impress me.

Anyone had success with current products they'd like to recommend? Of course, recommending avoiding certain other products is just as appreciated.

http://thermaltakestore.com/n0000006.html

On sale for 69.99.

 

[jjmIII]

My Rosewill has been on 24/7 for over a year...and going strong. Great product IMO.

 

[speedlever]

My Rosewill has been on 24/7 for over a year...and going strong. Great product IMO.

Is the fan user replaceable?

 

[Emulex]

a good stable power supply and usb cable are key really.

 

[speedlever]

a good stable power supply and usb cable are key really.

Sorry. If that was a reply to me, I don't follow. The power supply of the enclosure is integral to the unit, isn't it?

I'm about ready to pop for the Vantec NexStar 3 USB/esata for a 1.5 TB WD green drive that I have coming. I prefer active cooling (and saw that Rosewill,) but not if I can't replace the fan should it become noisy or fail. I plan to connect it via esata.

 

[jjmIII]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jjmIII
My Rosewill has been on 24/7 for over a year...and going strong. Great product IMO.

Is the fan user replaceable?

Good question. YES it is. That was an important factor for me too.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I realize this doesn't help your situation at all, but I thought I'd throw this out there:

For anyone looking for a 2.5" HDD enclosure (I carry one with my laptop to save space on the SSD), the Acomodata Tango is great. The housing is aluminum, adding to the durability, and it comes with a USB Y cable (no external power source needed). I haven't tried eSATA yet, but I'm assuming I can connect the SATA cable for data and one USB cable for power. What makes it great? $20-25 at most. I got mine on sale for ~$16-17ish.

 

[alexruiz]

I have a Vantec Nexstar 360-UFS and I absolutely love it.

The black glossy is a pain to keep clean, but that is why you get a decent microfiber towel and a good automotive quick detailer

The power supply connector is proprietary, but the PSU is very strong (12 V / 2 A and 5V / 2 A for a total of 34 W). It is completely aluminum, and dissipates heat very effectively. Hardd rives inside stay very cool. It has triple interface (USb 2.0, firewire 400 and eSATA) and the best part: Oxford 934 DSA bridge chipset

With eSATA it allows the spinpoint F3 to unleash its 140 MB/s sustained rates
Has no trouble doing 44 MB/s read and 38 MB/s write with firewire, and it will reach 30 MB/s using USB 2.0

It is more expensive than just an eSATA/usb enclosure, but the triple interface has been a savior so many times, it has paid by itself in headaches saved

 

[jjmIII]

I have a Vantec Nexstar 360-UFS...

Whats this Firewire thing you speak of? Never heard of it.. :sneaky:

24/7 with no fan?

 

[speedlever]

Good question. YES it is. That was an important factor for me too.

Thanks. I'm debating getting this one over the NexStar. But I see a fair amount of user reports with issues on both of them.

Toss-up.

 

[JasonCoder]

I picked up what looked like a totally generic aluminum enclosure at micro center for twenty-some bucks. Here's the link (this board's reply editor sucks monkey shit):

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817180016

It's very functional and has both eSATA and USB. Wow, eSATA screams. I threw a WD Black drive in it and run many VMs off it.

 

[RebateMonger]

Ok, so I will presume no one has a favorite external enclosure for hard drives. How about any feedback on external docking stations used with internal 3.5" hard drives?

I have a couple of 3.5-inch SATA docks (eSATA and USB). I'm VERY happy with them. No failing fans, no overheating concerns, and super-fast disk swaps.

One of my docks is generic (Geeks.com) and one is a Blac-X. The power light quit working on the generic one the second day, but the dock itself still works fine.

 

[speedlever]

I bought the Vantec NexStar and put a WD 15EARS green drive in it. It idles around 34-35*C and under load goes to 41*C. I expect those temps to go up when summer time comes.

I wonder if the Rosewill case with the fan would enable it to run much cooler.

I leave it on 24/7 and connect it via esata.