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    cheap enclosure or not?

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by merlin666, Dec 21, 2010.

  1. merlin666

    merlin666 Notebook Consultant

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    I have an older (IDE) 7200RPM harddrive from my old notebok which I would like to use with an enclosure. E-bay has many super cheap 2.5 IDE enclosures, and I am wondering if these are any good and reliable. Or should I get some brand-name enclosure (e.g. startech) which is almost 10x as expensive? Please post your experiences with cheap enclosures.
     
    merlin666, Dec 21, 2010
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  2. garetjax

    garetjax NBR Freelance Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    While I've never had problems using generic (cheap) hard drive enclosures, I do value warranties greatly, so I'm pretty picky about which ones I buy.
     
    garetjax, Dec 21, 2010
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  3. Joel

    Joel coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee

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    All my enclosures are those "super cheap" ones... Still working fine. I'm not the one to be spending mega-bucks on an enclosure.
     
    Joel, Dec 21, 2010
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  4. kamitorial

    kamitorial Notebook Enthusiast

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    Generic would be fine as long as they're made of aluminum to prevent overheating.
     
    kamitorial, Dec 22, 2010
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  5. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    I've bought cheap generic drive enclosures before, and I've bought name-brand ones before. To this day, I will continue to only buy name-brand (preferably Vantec NexStars).

    Generic drive enclosures are hit-or-miss for me. Some work great, some work and then begin to fail, others don't work at all. When I buy a name-brand like Vantec, I know it will work every single time. That reliability is worth the marginal added cost to me.
     
    kent1146, Dec 23, 2010
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  6. garetjax

    garetjax NBR Freelance Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    True that. Just picked up a 2.5" Vantec NexStar external enclosure from Amazon for $9.99.
     
    garetjax, Dec 24, 2010
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  7. 1ceBlu3

    1ceBlu3 Notebook Deity

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    1ceBlu3, Dec 24, 2010
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  8. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    I use Vantec enclosures as well. They are relatively cheap for what you get.
     
    flipfire, Dec 24, 2010
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