Need some advice on laptop accessories (wireless and external hard drive)

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xFROSTx

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First i am looking for a good wireless card. I don't really want the huge one with the external antenna that i would constantly have to use. Something small that gets the best range would be the best. I am also looking for one of those portable wireless access points. Small size with the best range would be ideal (are there any that work off of batteries?). Last I am looking for an external hard drive that can do both firewire and usb 2.0. Is there anyway that you could just buy an exteral hard drive enclosure and put in whatever hard drive you want?


Thanks in advance, since that was alot of questions.
 
For the hard drive, check out enclosures at Newegg.

I just bought a laptop and wanted a second drive for space. I have an enclosure but also bought a modular "case" that holds my extra hard drive and replaces my cdrom.

I have a great and easy dual boot environment or just extra space. I never use a cdrom anyway.
 
 
Derrict said:
WiFi finder:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=624785&CatId=374
Free after the mail in rebate

Iogear PCMCIA 802.11g card:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=879248&CatId=367

External enclosures: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=1204&

External hard drives:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=136
You can search for the ones that are both USB 2.0 and Firewire.
Click to expand...



Alright, i'm new to this laptop thing so sorry if my questions are dumb.

I have a 160 gig 3.5 internal harddrive in my old desktop. Can I just buy an enclosure like this and put that drive in there? Does it matter that it powers itself off of the usb port? Lastly would firewire be that much of a speed improvement and worth the extra money over usb 2.0?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1214063&CatId=1204
 
Only 2.5" hard drives will be powered off itself. It needs a USB 2.5" enclosure.

They make 3.5" hard drives but those use desktop hard drives. Those are not self-powered.

Hope this helps.
 
BoyBlunder said:
Only 2.5" hard drives will be powered off itself. It needs a USB 2.5" enclosure.

They make 3.5" hard drives but those use desktop hard drives. Those are not self-powered.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


i see now, i need to get a 3.5 enclosure.
 
TSS Modder said:
i have one i might sell if youre interested. send me a PM or email me at andywaplinger AT gmail DOT com.

and this appears to be a good wireless card: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=33-130-114&depa=1

i dont personally own one as i have the wireless builtin my lappy.
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Sorry, I just ordered one already. I got the external case for my hard drive now and I found the portable wireless access point, so thats all taken care of.

I have wireless built in on my laptop too but I borrowed a linksys pcmcia wireless card from a friend and I get much better range now. I was wondering if there were any other cards out there that were known to get exceptional range.
 
xFROSTx said:
I was wondering if there were any other cards out there that were known to get exceptional range.
Click to expand...

Orinoco Gold is what you're looking for.
 
the external enclosure I grabbed suits my needs for external DVD-RW and external hard drive.

Each week, I back up onto a 300GB hard drive in an enclosure the following onto four partitions:

1 - laptop
2 - wife's pc
3 - Raptor 74GB hd with apps/games
4 - 160 GB RAID 1 setup

I see that you've already ordered one - will it be able to fit an optical drive? If so - you've got an external setup that works really well for backup on optical media and hard drive. Mine supports USB and firewire, needs power, and has a built in fan.

Which model did you settle on?
 
RazorOye said:
the external enclosure I grabbed suits my needs for external DVD-RW and external hard drive.

Each week, I back up onto a 300GB hard drive in an enclosure the following onto four partitions:

1 - laptop
2 - wife's pc
3 - Raptor 74GB hd with apps/games
4 - 160 GB RAID 1 setup

I see that you've already ordered one - will it be able to fit an optical drive? If so - you've got an external setup that works really well for backup on optical media and hard drive. Mine supports USB and firewire, needs power, and has a built in fan.

Which model did you settle on?
Click to expand...

I went with this one. I am gonna buy a seperate 5.25 one for my dvd burner too. Does it matter that it doesn't have a fan? Many computers don't have fans for their hard drives so I figured it wouldn't matter.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-145-336&depa=0
 
BoyBlunder said:
Orinoco Gold is what you're looking for.
Click to expand...


Thats it. I had a name that was on the tip of my tounge that I remember peopletalking about being really good but i couldn't remember it.
 
xFROSTx said:
I went with this one. I am gonna buy a seperate 5.25 one for my dvd burner too. Does it matter that it doesn't have a fan? Many computers don't have fans for their hard drives so I figured it wouldn't matter.
Click to expand...

nah, it doesn't matter whether or not it has a fan unless you're going to be running it continuously. If you're just backing up - it's personal preference - the model I picked out had one and didn't offer a model without one. I just wanted to point out that you could grab an enclosure that accomodates both 5.25 and 3.5 drives. I just swap them out in the same enclosure. Most of the time, it houses my DVD-RW and when I back up every week or two, I swap it out with the hard drive. Back everything up - and then put the DVD-RW back in. That way you only have to buy a single enclosure. The model I got was about 50 bucks.

I couldn't be more pleased because I get an external DVD writer and 300GB hard drive for 249 bucks (after rebates for all three parts).
 
RazorOye said:
nah, it doesn't matter whether or not it has a fan unless you're going to be running it continuously. If you're just backing up - it's personal preference - the model I picked out had one and didn't offer a model without one. I just wanted to point out that you could grab an enclosure that accomodates both 5.25 and 3.5 drives. I just swap them out in the same enclosure. Most of the time, it houses my DVD-RW and when I back up every week or two, I swap it out with the hard drive. Back everything up - and then put the DVD-RW back in. That way you only have to buy a single enclosure. The model I got was about 50 bucks.

I couldn't be more pleased because I get an external DVD writer and 300GB hard drive for 249 bucks (after rebates for all three parts).
Click to expand...


it will be used non stop pretty much, so i guess i better get one with a fan.
 
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