[-dustin]

i'm thinking about picking one up for my g/f's computer, as well as mine. but, i know jack squat about this stuff. i just know i want about 60 gigs of space, and USB compatibility.

are different external cases designed for the different SATA, SCSI, and EIDE hard drives? like i really even know what those 4 letter abbreviations mean...

different cases for apparently different sized hard drives (3.5, 5.25)?

Western Digital vs. Maxtor vs. IBM....?

are they fairly easy to put together? i see some are pre-fab'ed, but my guess is that i could put one together cheaper.

are some cases better than others, or is it just aesthetics that determine the price? do i need to worry about heat or anything?

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

Well just a little FYI after about 1 year and a half my maxtor just blew up on me and maxter basically told i was SOL, luckily i am a backup freak... Look at the lacie products

http://www.lacie.com/products/family.htm?id=10007

Alot of industry guys are using these, and i find them to be of top quaility, that is what will be replacing my maxtor...


o and i would def get a pre fabed one, esp if you dont have much experience they might even be cheaper than buying cases and drives. hope this helps...

 

[Ciaran]

Well just a little FYI after about 1 year and a half my maxtor just blew up on me and maxter basically told i was SOL, luckily i am a backup freak...

I have never had good luck with Maxtor drives either. Seagate, however, seems to make good stuff.

 

[golgiaparatus]

I'm running a 250 GB Firewire Lacie Porsche. Cool little drive.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

I'm running a 250 GB Firewire Lacie Porsche. Cool little drive.

so you would recomend getting that?

 

[narlus]

i've got a 300GB external Maxtor drive which has been fine (very occasionally (it's happened maybe 3 times?) i will get a file error where i have to run the chkdsk utility, whcih has always fixed it. i've had it in operation since Oct or so.

i am curious about the external cases/internal drives, from a redundancy/backup perpsective. ie, use the case to make a backup of a drive, then pop a new drive in for more space).

 

[bean]

One pretty cool option is to get a case for a 2.5" notebook drive. I was able to get a USB 2 one for $12 including shipping and the cable, and the installation only took about sixty seconds (just 2 screws).

 

[krazykow]

I have a 250g maxtor and love it. running it through firewire though. My brother has the 150g lacie for driect capture off our TD-150 camera, and man does it work good

 

[golgiaparatus]

so you would recomend getting that?

Sure, I like it... use it every day for work (Lacie Porsche, they have all sizes) You may not have fire wire... I think they make a USB2 (2) version though... I would NEVER get a USB1 hard drive, speed would be slooow.

 

[mack]

Ive been thinking of getting one. here is my question

If i get an extrernal hard drive and put all my music on it, can i play the music on my computer when it is plugged in, or is it just for transfering files?

 

[surfinguru]

Dude, don't sweat all those questions. No need to worry about SATA, etc. and opening your case. Just get a USB or Firewire interface device and it's plug and play.

I'm a little biased as I work for Seagate, but these are two quality products worth checking out. It's more storage than you said you were looking for, but can you ever have too much storage? They're pretty cool since they're plug and play.

USB only: http://www.seagate.com/products/retail/external/usb.html

USB/Firewire: http://www.seagate.com/products/retail/external/usb_firewire.html

I also like these little guys. Way cool....we call 'em "Hockey Pucks." http://www.seagate.com/products/retail/pocket/index.html

 

[bean]

Ive been thinking of getting one. here is my question

If i get an extrernal hard drive and put all my music on it, can i play the music on my computer when it is plugged in, or is it just for transfering files?

It'll work like any other drive, so yes you can play music that's stored on it. I am right now, actually.

 

[stinkyboy]

http://www.iomega.com/na/products/product_family.jsp?FOLDER<>folder_id=63237&ASSORTMENT<>ast_id=63191&bmUID=1112905217728

 

[yonton228]

Go To The Following, READ There Reviews, They Are A Great Mag:

http://www.maximumpc.com/reviews/hard_drives/review_2005-01-14.html

http://maximumpc.com/reviews/hard_drives/review_2004-10-07.html

http://maximumpc.com/reviews/hard_drives/review_2004-06-17a.html

http://maximumpc.com/reviews/hard_drives/review_2003-02-27.html

THESE ARE THE ONES WITH THE BEST REVIEWS, I WILL TRY TO LINK YOU TO OTHER GOOD EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE REVIEWS. HOPE THESE LINKS WORK, HAVE FUN AND ENJOY

 

[yonton228]

also if you have any other questions just shoot me a Pm. hope i can answere all your questions..

 

[narlus]

i think people are confusing Inbred's original question. he's looking using a regular hard drive inside a separate, store-bought enclosure. not the pre-packaged, all-in-one device.

 

[yonton228]

ooops, well... you can still go to maximumpc.com, they have great reviews, and if you need help to find and decide what you are looking for you still can shoot me a Pm.

lol, sorry i got confused

 

[-dustin]

narlus is correct.

i'll spend more time reviewing this thread after i get back from a ride.

 

[-dustin]

hm...is there any reason why i shouldn't get one of these off ebay?

http://computers.listings.ebay.com/Hard-Drives-External-Zip-Jaz_USB-2-0_W0QQfromZR4QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQlopgZ1QQsacatZ70818QQsocmdZListingItemList

 

[Pau11y]

Inbred, keep an eye out at this site: http://www.bensbargains.net/
I see ext. enclosures come up all the time, even tho there's not any right now. But you can pick up a 320GB HDD for $130.00 right now...

 

[Changleen]

I bought one of those aftermarket add-your-own HD dealies, it was ****. Lasted about 3 months then started stopping and starting randomly, then not showing up, then showing up and freezing, all kinds of crap.

If you're going to get one, make sure it's a quality unit, that's all I'd say.

 

[pixelninja]

I just recently bought an internal 3.5" drive and a seperate USB2 enclosure. Dead simple to plug the drive into the case.

3.5" drives are what's common in desktops. 2.5" are what's in laptops.

2.5" external cases are cheaper, but 3.5" drives are cheaper than 2.5" drives. I'd recommend getting a 3.5" internal drive and put it in a USB2 case.

 

[-dustin]

ended up with a 200GB Maxtor ($80 locally) and a Venus something-or-other case. was gonna get a NexStar case, but realized it didn't have a fan. the computer is set up right next to the window, and rarely sees sub-80 temps, so i wanted to get the Venus due to the fan.

 

[narlus]

what did the case cost? $80 for 200GB is great

 

[-dustin]

case was $65