[terance]

Simple question. . .I hope the answer is as simple.

I just stripped down my windows machine, and I want to use the 120gb hard drive as an external hd for my macbook


thanks

-mattk

 

[rob01]

Same in terms of how they work? Yes, you'll just need to find one that takes ide or sata drives (which ever type yours is). Then get one that has either firewire/usb/ethernet (which ever one you prefer). Some are built better than others of course (better cooling etc), sort of get what you pay for imo with them.

 

[MrJoshua]

I bought a 2.5" IDE to USB2 enclosure for a 40gb laptop drive I had, and it's rubbish. Max data transfer is rubbish and it errors when you attach it, saying it could work faster if connected to a high speed usb port.

I got a Freecom external drive instead and it works perfectly.

However, I have an old, cheap 3.5" USB2 Enclosure and it's fine.

Maybe read up on the enclosure you have in mind, and buy branded.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by terance /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are all external hard drive enclosures the same?

Not at all!
1. There are enclosures for either 2.5 or 3.5" HDD's.
2. There are two type of HDD interfaces, either IDE or SATA.
3. There are, at least, four type of communication interfaces to your computer. USB 2.0, Ethernet, FireWire 400 or FireWire 800.

Make sure you buy one which take your HDD (probably 3.5") and support the interface you plan to use.

 

[terance]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not at all! 1. There are enclosures for either 2.5 or 3.5" HDD's. 2. There are two type of HDD interfaces, either IDE or SATA. 3. There are, at least, four type of communication interfaces to your computer. USB 2.0, Ethernet, FireWire 400 or FireWire 800. Make sure you buy one which take your HDD (probably 3.5") and support the interface you plan to use.

mine is a 3.5" IDE harddrive

i need anything that can fit into a macbook!!

i will probably order off of new egg, since they have pretty fast shipping.

thanks for that run down, i appreciate it! (as well as the rest of the posts)

is there anyway for me to buy one that runs off of the power in my notebook, and not an external DC adapter?

the reason being is that I will be in England, and don't want to buy another power adapter for the hard drive

 

[krmathis]

Afaik all the 3.5" enclosures require and external power adapter.
A 2.5" enclosure have lower power consumption though, and can be powered over USB or FireWire.

 

[terance]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Afaik all the 3.5" enclosures require and external power adapter. A 2.5" enclosure have lower power consumption though, and can be powered over USB or FireWire.

that makes me sad =/


bah! plan foiled again

 

[daggerlee]

also, for hard drives it is much better to get firewire. Although theoretically usb2 is faster, firewire has been shown to have much higher sustained data transfer rates than usb2, and is much more suited for hard drives.

 

[intlplby]

i've come across two different enclosures that caused horrible RF problems and i've probably had more than a dozen different types of enclosures

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by terance /img/forum/go_quote.gif that makes me sad =/

Me too, for your sake!
So you either have to live with the extra power adapter, or go for a 2.5" external hard disk.

 

[Distroyed]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817145388

I've had the IDE version of this enclosure for a year or two now. It's the best one I've ever had. Good transfer rates, superquiet (no vibrations like many other enclosures suffer), dissipates heat very well on a flat, non-cloth surface. If you're going sata and this is anything like the ide version, it's a winner.