SATA Harddrive enclosure

Hi all.

I'm looking to expand my storage capability as my laptop's HD has a mere 40gb. In so doing, I would like to put together an efficient, cool-running, stylish, and compact external hard disk.

COMPONENTS:
-hi-capacity SATA HD
-usb/firewire enclosure

Which brands and models would you recommend for both of the components above for a *reliable* solution to my storage needs?

 

I'm not sure about the enclosure, since I got mine ages ago. However, I can definitely recomend an HD. I think you simply cannot go wrong with a Seagate drive. Seagate drives are very reliable, quiet (which is very important for the HD in an enclosure) and carry a 5 year warranty. Sometimes Seagates carry a small price premium, which they are totally worth.

 

Vantec is the way to go.

 

i've heard horrible thing about Lacie hard drive... i have a Maxtor external Hard drive, it is not as quiet as i've expected, noise and vibration is a bit much for my liking, it is not distracting if ur listening to the music, but certainly can be heard in a silent room, it is sort of constant hum, but when it is writing it is extremely silent, u can only hear it if u stick your ear close to it, and carefully listen to it. heat is very low, even under heavy use, the aluminium case never get anywhere near hot. the DANTZ "backup" software is hard to use so i uninstall it. u must intall a driver to gain

seagate seems to have 1 year warranty for external hard drive
http://www.seagate.com/products/retail/external/usb <- i really like this one

if u wanna build it your own (which seems to be the case) get a seagate hard drive, and i really like Thermaltake Muse

 

The days when Seagates were the quietest hard drives are sadly over (7200.9s were disappointing). These days, the WDs and the Samsungs tend to be quieter (from someone who has an old Barracuda 7200.7 in his enclosure).

The Spinpoints (samsung) also seem to use less power and run cooler, and their prices are very good. If I were going to buy a hdd for an exernal case today, I'd probably get a samsung (where noise/heat is more of a concern than performance).

I wouldn't use a Maxtor for anything except target practice

 

well hopefully the days of Seagate's high reliability are not over

2 wobble987: it's an internal HD that we're talking about. Not external. The original poster is going to assemble their own external HD, thus they need an enclosure and a regular 3.5" HD (or can go with 2.5" enclosure/drive combo).

 

With which brand would you go for an archival-friendly storage 3.5'' HD?

How about WD since I hear Maxtor and Lacie are unrelible and Seagate went out of business? Samsung maybe?

 

What do you think of the Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3400832AS ?

Reviews: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148063&ATT=22-148-063&CMP=OTC-B1zrat3

 

I don't know if your set on having 7200 RPM, but if your not there this is a good solution. It doesn't require a power source, so you can use it on the go with your laptop.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136051

 

I'm familiar with the product, thanks. However I'm looking to *build* an external solution myself...and it has to run at 7200 as well.

 

The 7200.8s were good acoustic and power wise. They are a bit dated now for performance, but that is not a factor if you're putting them in an external case.

Also, anyone shopping for a case should try and find out if the enclosure is smart enough to power down the hard disk when idle. Otherwise, you could end up putting unnecessary strain on the hard disk.

 

I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST320082 myself.
I beleive the drive you mentioned is from the same series. If so, it is an excellent drive for an external enclosure.

And yes, if you get an enclosure, it should at least have a power switch...

 

here's the problem with external enclosures, if u're looking for stylish and compact u're most likely gonna get a passively cooled enclosure which is probably only good for having the drive on for a short amount of time. i've only made and used 2 external hard drives myself so i can only tell u about the 2 enclosures i used.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145167
this was my first one, and basically i was going for compact and stylish. but with my 120gb 7200rpm hard drive in it, after about half an hour it would start getting warm and eventually get pretty hot to touch. hard drive eventually died and i wouldnt be surprised if the heat got to it as i gave it to my little bro and he left it on for at least an hour at a time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145660
this is my current enclosure and it's housing a 250gb 7200rpm hard drive for me. i have zero complaints about this enclosure. it has a built in fan that provides good active cooling and doesnt make any noise unless i really listen for it.

 

I like my Vantec one, but I don't leave it on for much time, I just only need it few maybe an hour at a time when I turn it on (which isn't THAT often).

 

I have the same Vantec NexStar3 as the first link posted. He has a good point about passive cooling and heat issues. It gets pretty warm to touch. However, I usually don't leave it on for over an hour as I mainly store movie files on it and such. If you're using an external HD just to archive some data heat should not be much of an issue as long as you remember to turn it off after you're done.

 

i have the kingwin aluminum SATA enclosure that also has a fan. it stays nice and cool with a WD 250GB 7200RPM 16MB buffer drive in it for hours.

 

Anyone seen a portable enclosure for a PAIR of 2.5" HDs? With Power switch?
Zy.., does N.S..3 have an On/Off switch? I have UGT-ST350CB, would like to connect 2 ST980825AS via my eSATA -SATA cables, but no way to power them yet Considering NST-260SU NS2, but if I connect via USB 2 I wiil have much lower MB/s I thought.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817121185
this is mine, it doesnt look so hot but it gets the job done and has cool blue lights if that's your kind of thing

 

the new seagate 16mb cache perpendicular recording drives are amazing for the performance and $$$... i have one and it isnt loud in the slightest ..maybe thats b/c my desktop is just louder. 5 year warranties are nice too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=14&Description=seagate+perpendicular&Ntk=all

for $80 and $95 (250 gb and 320 gb), you cant beat 'em.

put one of those babies in this enclosure and you're a happy camper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145167 (mine runs 24/7 and isnt really that hot at all... the bottom of my notebook gets hotter).

i like that version for the eSATA (desktop has an eSATA port and the enclosure comes with a pci-bracket + cable to add one), but for $10 less you can get a usb only one. i'm very pleased with this setup compared to the older/more expensive/slower retail external drives i've bought/used from bestbuy. i'd get the esata tho.

 

I'll just echo everyone else here. I have a Vantec Nexstar3, and I love it. Even when I run mine all day, it never gets that hot. I usually run it for an hour or so at a time, and use it to store TV shows and Movies I've ripped, but it works great for me, going on 4 months now.
I've got a Samsung 250gig inside, which I also highly recommend.
On a slightly different note, has anyone heard of Vantec updating the Nexstar GX (the HD enclosure with the USB hub built in) being updated to Sata anytime soon? I really like it, but it's gotta be Sata, I can't justify buying an IDE drive just for one enclosure that's backwards.

 

I have a http://directron.com/me350v3isabk.html cheap 25$SATA hdd enclosure.

and a Seagate 320GB 7200 (99$) . the enclosure will gets pretty hot if you leave ur hard drive on for a long time, I don't know if it's gonna burn or not. I use this as a back up drive.

 

I'd buy 120Gb SATA laptop HDD from Newegg, a 2.5" enclosure off ebay for about $6. Swap out the HDD's and your left with a laptop with 120Gb storage and a 40Gb external drive.