2.5" Enclosure Recommendation?

Hi folks, I'm in the market for a 2.5" IDE enclosure.

I'm simply looking for something that doesn't need an external power supply and draws all its power SOLELY over a SINGLE USB cable. I've pretty much had it up to here with dragging around extra cables and adapters.

Cheaper is usually better, but it should be of sufficient quality that I can toss it into a backpack and not have to worry about it. I should preferably be able to buy it from Newegg, but ebay or a brick and mortar is fine too.

Thanks for any advice.

 

I love the rocketfish enclosure, looks good and it's fast. I got mine from Bestbuy. it was about $50, expensive compared to newegg, but it is very solid and durable.

 

Alot of the 2.5" external USB enclosures will do this. Just keep this in mind.

1. The drive that is enclosed needs to use 0.5mA or less. Any greater and you will need an additional power source. Alot of enclosures include a special usb cable though that can take additional power from a second USB port.

2. Don't get an enclosure that has any kind of active cooling. Passive cooling is all you will ever need.

3. Here is my recommended enclosure. --> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817145135

Very nice. It will run fine from strictly USB power. It uses a mini-USB to USB cable.

 

1) The drive in question is a 30GB, 4200RPM Hitachi Travelstar. I think it draws a full amp. What will happen if I use this drive?

3) The USB cable looks mighty strange. What's with that double sided jack at one end?

 

You will either need to...
a - use the second usb plug to get additional power
b - use a dc adapter to get the remaining required power

It is a USB passthrough. It allows the enclosure to get additional power without wasting a usb connection.

 

Bah, those are exactly the inelegant solutions I want to avoid. Is there an enclosure that'll run a higher-current drive on a single USB port? Or am I asking for too much?

 

No as 0.5A is all that a USB port will provide. It might be possible to get 1A out of 2 ports though using that dual plug cable. I have a 120GB drive inside the enclosure I pointed out and it uses only .5A.

 

You know, I think I have an IDE enclosure in box and everything. If I find it, I'm willing to sell it to you for a nominal price. I never used it (I bought it a couple of years ago when I didn't know that there was IDE and SATA for notebooks too).

I'll follow B/S/T rules =P.

 

How about
http://www.modders-inc.com/reviews-story--109.html

 

Bleh. That stinks. And I got home and checked and it really does take a full amp.

Will it run off a single USB cable though that seems rather unlikely right now

That's a 3.5" enclosure?

 

From the description:
" . Cooler Master has a way to make your life easier with their X Craft Press & Go 2.5" external hard drive enclosure. "
I like it because its made out of Al, and has heat vents, so it should keep the HDD cooler.

 

Wow, what am I smoking. Coulda sworn it said 3.5"...

Actually, that implementation of the double USB doesn't look like a bad implementation. Where'd you get yours?

 

I have the Same Cooler Master X-Craft 250 Lite.. it has shock absorbers, Heat Vents & a Cypress Chipset to ensure uncorrupt transfers.

Photo:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...iption=Cooler+Master&name=External+Enclosures

What is the difference between the $15, $19, $25, and $27 models?

Will it matter if I cheap out and go for the $15 model?

 

Interesting, I'm wondering about the difference too.

BTW, I dont have that enclosure, I have older 3.5" enclosures, and a couple of recent Western digital passport drives (just cuz the passport drives are cheaper than getting an HDD seperately). But this enclosure+ drive should work better (the WD passport enclosure is made out of plastic, so I dont think the drives will like it).

nocturnal310, I think I found out about the drive from one of your posts