External HD Enclosure and HD itself

[Chronic_Bane]

Hey Guys, I'm new here. I just needed some help with external Hard Drives. Now I understand that making it yourself is much cheaper than getting a manufactured External. I have been searching around and wanted to know your opinions.

What I have come up with is either a Bytecc or Rosewill enclosure...with USB2.0 and Firewire . For the Hard drive i think i'm gonna go with 160GB. Does anyone have any suggestions about the enclosure or the HD? Which enclosure seems to be the best? Which Hard Drive at 160GB? Thanks for your time and consideration.

 

[compslckr]

i have a no name enclosure and a western digital 200gb se and it cost me about $130 total with shipping. it works awesome, and i have not had any problems with it.

 

[Zamboni]

I've switched to the Ximeta network drive enclosures. They run off of either Cat-5 or USB (only one, decided at format), and can form RAID-1 or RAID-0 arrays out on the network. Empty enclosures are about $80 bucks (steep for a USB enclosure, cheap for a networked file server). They have a 120GB model that has an 8-port switch in the back of it ($220) - it's a handy spot for plugging in a pair of mirrored enclosures.

USB is more portable if the drive is going to be moved around. Get one with a fan, though. Fanless enclosures get *hot*.

 

[Ice Czar]

Which enclosure seems to be the best?

IMO
Highpoint E-SATA
of course its unlikely your friends would have a spare port
but then Im not a fan of externals at all, 3.5" formfactor HDDs really arent supposed to be mobile

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/interface_cards/RocketMate1110/
http://www.highpoint-tech.com/

 

[Chronic_Bane]

Thanks guys...umm, 80 dollars is steep for an enclosure lol.
I dont think i'm gonna go for e.SATA....dont have a SATA port to connect to. The connectivity looks like a firewire port though....
So what i'm looking for is a USB2.0/IEEE 1394 enclosure...
any links are appreciated

 

[Chronic_Bane]

In addition, iv heard stories about the internal chipsets. I know the bytecc version has an all in one firewire and USB chipset, while the Rosewill has an Oxford 911 for the firewires and Cypress AT for the USB. On tomshardware, they said that some firewire chipsets only reached a max transfer rate of 10MB/s and i'd like to avoid those if possible lol. So any help is appreciated.

 

[mpeg4v3]

I've got two Macally enclosures, one PHR-100AC (3.5", firewire & usb2.0), one PHR-250CC (2.5", firewire & usb2.0) and they've both worked great so far. The 250CC even works fine powered just off the firewire cable.

 

[Chronic_Bane]

do you have any links?

 

[scottatwittenberg]

i got 2 of these back when they were $54 with free shipping. . i thought the price was steep then.. but i do like it.. 80mm fan. keeps my drive cool and is much faster than i expected an external to be.. i really can't tell a difference between it and my internal most of the time, unless i don't access it for a few hours and then go to it.. then it will be slow until it gets warmed up.. (that's probably a setting in windows though)

http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=search&item=17-145-657

so i will reccomend it.. maybe you could get the plain usb one. . i really had no reason to get firewire too... i have only used mine with firewire though... even though usb2 is supposedly faster... i might switch cables one day to see what differences if makes if any..

 

[Chronic_Bane]

well, the only firewire solution i have wouold be to use the firewire ports off my audigy 2 plat. Are those decent enough? Or would it be better to use my USB 2.0?

Also, my brother got a bytecc enclosure and a 160GB HD for 100 from a friend. Interestingly enough, my computer recognizes it and installs drivers for USB. For firewire, nothing...it just appears. When i access a folder, I get an annoying clicking sound from the external and the drive stops responding That's a HD prob right? and not a problem of the enclosure?

 

[DrinkinV8]

well, the only firewire solution i have wouold be to use the firewire ports off my audigy 2 plat. Are those decent enough? Or would it be better to use my USB 2.0?

Also, my brother got a bytecc enclosure and a 160GB HD for 100 from a friend. Interestingly enough, my computer recognizes it and installs drivers for USB. For firewire, nothing...it just appears. When i access a folder, I get an annoying clicking sound from the external and the drive stops responding That's a HD prob right? and not a problem of the enclosure?

-use usb2.0 instead of firewire from audigy, audigy firewire controller sucks in comparison to the usb one on your mobo
-the clicking a hdd makes is probably caused by the drive spinning the platters and then reseting because it can't find what it wants. not good. not enclosure problem.