Hard drive enclosures? External HD.

Okay i was looking around on local forum for an external hard drive, and someone suggested to buy a 3.5" hard drive + an enclosure for it as it would be cheaper than buying an external itself.

SO basically im confused as to how this works. I know you get a hard drive, put it in the enclosure and voila. But how does it connect to my laptop via usb? Would it need a power supply? And how fast are the speeds compared to external usb 2.0's?

 

3.5" hard drive enclosures generally include two cables; one for USB and one to plug into a wall outlet for power. If you don't want to have to use a power outlet, I recommend a 2.5" hard drive and enclosure instead, since many of those support power via USB. For instance, I bought an enclosure for my 2.5" SATA drive, and it included a USB Y-cable (connects to the enclosure at one end, has two USB male ends at the other), so it takes up 2 USB ports at a time, but does not require external power.

The one I use is a Vantec NexStar CX:

http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0280366

 

Just check eBay for external HD's. They're cheap and PnP. I got 2 externals and both are USB. ONe is esata also which is faste if you have that capability. If you don't know what it is, you prolly don't have it. Just bough tme a 160Gb from Walmart for $30. On sale and got lucky. Just look around and you'll find one. The 3.5" externals usually require external power so they are not very practicle for on the go people.
If you plan on leaving it in one place, the 3.5" external would be OK. Just my 2 cents....

 

The external hard drive enclosure will connect to your laptop via a USB 2.0 cable. Unless, of course, your laptop is capable of supporting the eSATA interface specification along with your hard drive enclosure, for example, Silverstone's new MS03 external 3.5" hard drive enclosure (which I will be reviewing for PCGamingCorner.com in the coming weeks).

Anyway, the maximum theoretical data transfer speed you can expect to receive using the USB 2.0 interface will be 480Mb/s, and for eSATA, 3.0Gbp/s. You can read more information on why hard drives using the USB 2.0 interface easily saturate this spec, while eSATA has a much higher ceiling by clicking HERE.

The link also provides benchmarks using a Thermaltake BlackX HDD docking station and a myriad of different RPM hard drives in both USB 2.0 and eSATA configurations.

 

So the only difference between SATA and eSATA are the speeds?
How do the prices compare between both types of drives?
Basically i am running out of space on my laptop and i need an external to store about 150 gb worth of stuff and more in the future, so does the speed matter that much?

 

SATA is what the hard drive itself connects to, on the inside of a computer or enclosure. eSATA is external, hence the 'e', and it's where you plug an enclosure into the outside of your laptop. If all you're using the drive for is storing media, speed doesn't matter so much, although it can make a difference if you're transferring huge files.

 

Generally speaking, there is no difference in speed when it comes to SATA or eSATA. SATA is merely the specification of the interface it uses, not the speed.

If the external hard drive enclosure is to be used for additional storage, such as media, then no, speed does not matter. However, if you will be transferring large amounts of data to and from your external HDD enclosure frequently, and your laptop offers eSATA connectivity, then I would look into an eSATA capable external HDD enclosure.

That's not necessarily true. The same can be said when transferring many hundreds of small indidvidual files.

 

Good point.

Wait...*double take* did I just agree with you?

 

Amazon is selling it for $25.73 AR ($15 rebate). I'm planning on getting that. I'm also getting a Seagate HDD because based on Tom's Hardware roundup review, it's the quietest and coolest for a 7200 hdd while having good performance.

@OP: The enclosure provides the interface. In this case SATA to USB and vice versa. The USB will be the bottleneck. To achieve SATA speeds as an ordinary hdd connected to the main board would, you'll need eSata.

 

IMHO, if you're just gonna store some files and so forth and not move them back and forth alot, then a regular ole USB connected external will serve you just fine. I, like I said have a 80Gb USB and a 160Gb eSATA. The larger I use for Large transfers bc it's about 3x as fast. USB=480Mb/s max. eSATA=1.5Gb/s max. SATA(which is internal)=3.0Gb/s max. Then there's SATA II=6.0Gb/s(I think). You'll be looking for USB or eSATA. Someone correct if I'm wrong(which I'm sure they will). LOL.

 

The tradeoff with eSATA is power. With USB, transfer speeds are relatively slow, but you can power the drive entirely from the USB ports. With eSATA, you have to plug in an AC power supply.

 

I was comparing the price difference between external hard drives and internal hard drives + decent enclosures and the cost is VERY similar. I'm not sure what to do myself.

At this point I don't really think the internal hard drive + enclosure is any more advantageous than an external hard drive.

 

Warranty and the ability to swap hdd's is a plus for hdd+enclosure. Plus you'll know what brand and model you're using. Opening an external hdd will probably void your warranty. Did you compare it to an external hdd with eSata? Many external drives come only with a USB that costs the same as an internal+enclosure with eSata and USB (and maybe firewire).

 

I just power mine from an Unused USB port with a wire I made. Pretty easy. But for ease of use for thr regular JOE, USB is the way to go. (RHYME)

 

...form for the Thermaltake BlacX eSATA USB Docking Station???

Also, I have only USB ports on my laptop: will I be able to use this dock to transfer files back and forth?

Cheers!
David

 

If looks are important, i recommend these 2.5" drive enclosures:

http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315123

I actually got 2 of them







they look slick and feel like they are very high quality. it's the feeling you get when you hold a brand new 64gb ipod touch lol

anyway, yeah, i have two of these enclosures with 320gb drives in them. i have been using both for the past couple of weeks and love them. the only downside is that they're $34.99 each... :X

im not really a speed freak - i personally need the storage more than the performance. the two 320gb drives (both 5400 rpm) came out of my dv7t laptop. i replaced those drives with two 500gb (5400rpm) western digital drives. when i copy huge files, i just start the copy and do other things while the copy completes.

fwiw.