which external enclosure to get?

[DaRock42]

i am in need of an external enclosure for a desktop hard drive, anyone know of good external enclosures??

 

[Jeff7]

I'd advise against getting the cheapest things out there. I had one - a $30 thing from SVC.
Junk. It worked a few times, though it had trouble powering up the drive a few times. Then finally, the power supply in it just plain quit.
It felt cheap too - most of it was plastic, and it wasn't very rigid.

I wound up buying a more expensive Coolmax enclosure. Much better construction. My only problems with it are: External power brick, and special flat-screws for securing hard drives or CD/DVD drives in place - possible that you can lose these over time. Otherwise, it's solid, well made, and it just plain works.
That's the combo Firewire/USB model, and it's a 5.25" case. They do have a more basic enclosure - 3.5", USB 2.0.

 

[ylim11]

I am planning to buy an external hard drive enclosure for my WD120GB. There is an on/off button on the case. I wonder if turning on and off the external hard drive few times a day will damage the hard drive. Please advice? thanks a lot?

 

[FullRoast]

I got a Bytecc ME-350 enclosure to with a 160 GB Samsung drive to use for external storage, USB 2.0 attached. It works very well.

Two points:

The enclosure has an on/off switch that I use when I am moving the drive from one system to another. I found that if I just did a Safe Removal from on system, then plugged the USB connector into an other system, the system would not always detect the drive. If I powered the drive/enclosure off, then turned it back on (after waiting a few seconds), the drive would be detected. I haven't noticed any ill effects from using the power switch, but I have only had the enclosure for a few weeks.

The Bytecc ME-350 has an external power adapter. On the plus side, the enclosure is nice and small (well made, by the way). Having the external power adapter may be seen by some as a negative. If you move the enclosure around a lot, it's one more thing to keep up with. One of the guys at work has an enclosure that has the power adapter built it. He only needs a standard power cord to power the enclosure, but the enclosure is bigger. It comes down to a matter of preference.

 

[alexruiz]

Firewire is a MUST if you want high performance from your drive.

Get a combo enclosure USB 2.0 / firewire. Oxford 911 IDE - firewire bridge preferred


Alex

 

[FullRoast]

Originally posted by: alexruiz
Firewire is a MUST if you want high performance from your drive.

Get a combo enclosure USB 2.0 / firewire. Oxford 911 IDE - firewire bridge preferred


Alex

Depends on what you are planning to to use the drive/enclosure for. Having a dual USB/Firewire combo is a good choice, but in my case, the drive is used mostly for backup and moving files between machines. Most of the machines don't have a firewire port and the USB 2.0 enclosure was cheaper. Firewire is faster though. Not a MUST, but not a bad option.

 

[eelw]

I have a Lava Firewire enclosure. For the past 2 years, I only turn on the drive whenever I need it during the day. It can be power cycled 5/6 times a day. I have yet to experience any problems with it.

 

[Cheetah8799]

They Bytec enclosers are good. newegg sells for a decent price.

As for the USB2.0 / Firewire debate, some say Firewire is better for hard drives. Other people say USB. I had mine on USB, and it worked fine.

 

[DaRock42]

so coolmax or bytec??? n which of their products are good? also, should the enclosure have a fan built in? does it make a difference??