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    Hard Drive Enclosure Recommendations?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by akwit, Aug 23, 2009.

  1. akwit

    akwit Notebook Deity

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    Have some 250GB SATA's laying around that id like to put in enclosure.

    Don't know the first thing about them; are they all the same and can you recommend one or two to look at?
     
    akwit, Aug 23, 2009
    #1
  2. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    Soviet Sunrise, Aug 23, 2009
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  3. akwit

    akwit Notebook Deity

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    akwit, Aug 23, 2009
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  4. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    Which $10 enclosure are you looking at?
     
    Soviet Sunrise, Aug 23, 2009
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  5. makaveli72

    makaveli72 Eat.My.Shorts

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    The price I guess. But the thing to look for with external HDD enclosures are quality and reliability...you will get an idea of this from looking at the reviews.

    I have the CoolMax Ext. SATA enclosure and have used it with both HDD and SSD. Worth checking out.

    This one seems like a better deal. Cheaper.
     
    makaveli72, Aug 23, 2009
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  6. akwit

    akwit Notebook Deity

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    Are these powered by an external power supply or through USB?
     
    akwit, Aug 23, 2009
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  7. Jayayess1190

    Jayayess1190 Waiting on Intel Cannonlake

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    I have this one, haven't used it yet but will soon once my ssd comes: Link
     
    Jayayess1190, Aug 23, 2009
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  8. eijiyuki

    eijiyuki Notebook Consultant

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    The Eagle 2.5" enclosures at newegg are pretty good. Come with built in usb cable
     
    eijiyuki, Aug 24, 2009
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  9. makaveli72

    makaveli72 Eat.My.Shorts

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    USB
    ............
    That's an IDE to USB enclosure Jayayess, i'm sure your SSD would have a SATA interface?
     
    makaveli72, Aug 24, 2009
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  10. akwit

    akwit Notebook Deity

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    akwit, Aug 24, 2009
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  11. Jayayess1190

    Jayayess1190 Waiting on Intel Cannonlake

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    Wow, didn't notice that. Good thing I haven't opened it yet.
     
    Jayayess1190, Aug 24, 2009
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  12. makaveli72

    makaveli72 Eat.My.Shorts

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    ^^^ Yea...I would just keep it incase you run into an IDE HDD that you can make use of it with. :)

    But yea, the one I use does the job. I've used it to install 7 on my SSD without a hitch. The only Con as others have mentioned in their reviews on Amazon is that the LED light doesn't blink or anything to show that the drive is in use when copying etc to and from it. It's just a solid green.
     
    makaveli72, Aug 24, 2009
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  13. BreakItDown

    BreakItDown Notebook Enthusiast

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    BreakItDown, Aug 24, 2009
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  14. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    The biggest difference between the MX-25 Soviet Sunrise posted and all the others ones linked so far in this thread is that that one has an eSATA connection, while all of the others are limited to USB 2.0 only, so transfer rates with the MX-25 will be much faster. That said, there are cheaper eSATA alternatives as well, but I can't speak as to quality or anything, as my current notebook lacks an eSATA port. As to BreakItDown, no, that enclosure probably will not fit the 1 TB drive, as it's a 2.5" enclosure, and I'm betting that Seagate HD is a 3.5".
     
    Judicator, Aug 24, 2009
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  15. kwest2

    kwest2 Notebook Enthusiast

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    ...if you use eSATA. Many laptops don't have that option.
     
    kwest2, Aug 24, 2009
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  16. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    True enough. Mine doesn't, either, but it does explain at least part of the price difference. Although I admit that I missed that makaveli72's links are also to eSATA enclosures.
     
    Judicator, Aug 24, 2009
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  17. makaveli72

    makaveli72 Eat.My.Shorts

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    No, mine doesn't have any eSATA connection. It's just USB to SATA or vice versa. No eSATA connection!

    You bring up a very good point about the eSATA on the MX-25 that Soviet linked to though. That does explain why it would be that much more in price than the rest.
     
    makaveli72, Aug 24, 2009
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  18. akwit

    akwit Notebook Deity

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    Ive got a Latitude e6400 with an e/Sata port.
    Are the transfer speeds really that much faster?

    EDIT: just found out its TWICE as fast as usb 2.0!!!

    So, maybe I should be looking at enclosures with eSata connections?
     
    akwit, Aug 24, 2009
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  19. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    USB is limited to 480Mb/s. It is way less than half of the bandwidth that SATA offers.
     
    Soviet Sunrise, Aug 25, 2009
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  20. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    I got one of these:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707170

    Allows for quick swapping of 2.5" or 3.5" hard drives. Great if you just plan on using it locally. It supports both USB 2.0 and eSATA and comes with all cables. The cost is higher than what I paid though. I believe I paid about $60, must have been a sale.

    They have single ones too, a bit cheaper. If you're going with a single, the Thermaltake is the best but it's only USB 2.0.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066
     
    HTWingNut, Aug 25, 2009
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  21. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Not a whole lot of difference, except build quality. I bought a cheap-o one and it's worked fine. I think some of them allow for quick changing of drives, which has its obvious benefits. Cheaper ones can be a pain to install, but if you just plan to install and leave it, then it's no big deal.
     
    HTWingNut, Aug 25, 2009
    #21