[bpm2000]

I will be ditching my old old old desktop (PIII 866mhz) that I've run into the ground for a laptop of undecided model soon (probably a macbook/pro or a lenovo) and I want to connect this to some sort of external HD(s) for more storage. I currently have a couple of HD's in my current PC that would be nice to be able to transfer into the case, but if not that is fine too - I can just transfer the data.

I have no real knowledge on this area - what kind of options are out there for this type of application? It will probably just be for media, so super blazing speeds are not that important (SATA?) I would imagine that usb2 or firewire would work fine... The ability to do RAIDs or JBOD isn't really that critical either, but would be nice to do a RAID0 (I dont really care about/want redundancy). Doesn't need to be some networked thing either - directly wired is fine.

Basically, the criteria is:
1) can hold 2+ HDs
2) looks nice
3) Isn't horribly expensive, since I'll have to buy the drives as well.
4) quiet - doesn't have to be silent but I don't want to hear it much.

It'd be nice if it had its own power management and cooling figured out as well.

I have seen some external HDs (larger cap singles) that might fit this bill, but you can't add to them later to expand storage in the future - I've also read some quality issues on these things, how true are they? I am especially looking at the mybook pro from WD in that realm.

thanks for the help

 

[trains are bad]

I would just aquire a bottom rung used PC, anything with an ATX case. Stuff it full of hard drives and stick it in a closet or something. Plumb it in your network. That's kind of what I do, I have almost a terabyte of storage on this desktop, which I can access anywhere in the house wirelessly on my laptop.

 

[bpm2000]

I would, but I'd like it to be portable and moreorless self-contained, not needing all the extra stuff in there.

Anyone use any of these:?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822102001
http://fwdepot.com/thestore/product_...oducts_id/1066

 

[LeonvB]

N2050GX is meant for eSATA. You would have to wait for a notebook that supports it fully.

 

[polvodediamante]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trains are bad I would just aquire a bottom rung used PC, anything with an ATX case. Stuff it full of hard drives and stick it in a closet or something. Plumb it in your network. That's kind of what I do, I have almost a terabyte of storage on this desktop, which I can access anywhere in the house wirelessly on my laptop.

Hey, that's pretty cool!

I might wanna do that some time later on...
Although, I don't think I could come up with a terabyte of stuff to save on it...

 

[floydenheimer]

Check out this enclosure, AMS makes great products.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817332001

 

[Konig]

they are supposedly the best

 

[snapdemon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by floydenheimer AMS makes great products. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817332001

I have an AMS Venus external HD enclosure (regular single drive) And I like it tons. I can say that it is a quality peice of hardware and looks very nice.

 

[bpm2000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeonvB N2050GX is meant for eSATA. You would have to wait for a notebook that supports it fully.

So you cant just connect using usb and deal with lower speeds? you have to have SATA support?

That AMs case looks pretty ugly to me, and i hear its pretty loud.

 

[snapdemon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bpm2000 i hear its pretty loud.

Compared to a hard drive enclosure with no fans it may be loud but the fans are extra insurance that your drive wont have any overheating problems that may corrupt data.

I guess it is a tradeoff.

As far as the looks it is a minimalist approach (which I like) compared to the enclosures that look like something has landed near you computer with all of the neons and pulsing lights.