Recommendation for external USB 2.0 or USB 2.0/FireWire case
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 6:10 pm
This question has come up before, but the product that was recommended doesn't seem to be for sale anymore, so I would like to ask again.
I am thinking about taking advantage of the sale on the Maxtor 160 GByte listed in the Hot Deals forum, and would like to put the drive in an external enclosure. I want a 5.25" enclosure that can house either an optical drive or a hard drive rather than a 3.5" enclosure for a hard drive only. Someday I might want to use it for an optical drive as well.
I would like an enclosure with a fan, since these bigger, faster drives can generate some heat and I would like to prolong the lifespan by keeping things cool. A metal enclosure would also be nice, although it isn't a requirement. I definitely want a USB 2.0 interface, since that is more prevalent than FireWire and I already have a USB interface on my computer, but I would consider a combo enclosure as well.
I was looking at these enclosures specifically:
http://www.meritline.com/meritline/usb20dealex5.html
http://www.meritline.com/meritline/fi13oxandusb.html
Those pages don't specifically mention that the enclosures can house hard drives, but the manufacturer's spec sheet does:
http://www.mapower.com.tw/dm/y51.pdf
Here are my questions:
1. Is there any advantage to having a FireWire interface as well? I don't currently own a FireWire adapter for my computer, and don't anticipate buying a camcorder that might prompt me to get a FireWire adapter. I know that USB 2.0 bit rates are theoretically faster than FireWire (at least in versions used in typical enclosures) and either should be fast enough for the drive, but sometimes real-world concerns such as drivers, interface cards, concurrency issues, etc can make a seemingly "slower" standard superior in practice.
2. Would there be any problem with the enclosure recognizing a 160 GByte drive? I know that there were some issues with older motherboards recognizing 48-bit LBA drives with capacities greater than 137 GBytes and wonder if the same issue might apply here.
3. Does anyone have any experience with these particular enclosures or would recommend another?
Thanks,
cfitz
I am thinking about taking advantage of the sale on the Maxtor 160 GByte listed in the Hot Deals forum, and would like to put the drive in an external enclosure. I want a 5.25" enclosure that can house either an optical drive or a hard drive rather than a 3.5" enclosure for a hard drive only. Someday I might want to use it for an optical drive as well.
I would like an enclosure with a fan, since these bigger, faster drives can generate some heat and I would like to prolong the lifespan by keeping things cool. A metal enclosure would also be nice, although it isn't a requirement. I definitely want a USB 2.0 interface, since that is more prevalent than FireWire and I already have a USB interface on my computer, but I would consider a combo enclosure as well.
I was looking at these enclosures specifically:
http://www.meritline.com/meritline/usb20dealex5.html
http://www.meritline.com/meritline/fi13oxandusb.html
Those pages don't specifically mention that the enclosures can house hard drives, but the manufacturer's spec sheet does:
http://www.mapower.com.tw/dm/y51.pdf
Here are my questions:
1. Is there any advantage to having a FireWire interface as well? I don't currently own a FireWire adapter for my computer, and don't anticipate buying a camcorder that might prompt me to get a FireWire adapter. I know that USB 2.0 bit rates are theoretically faster than FireWire (at least in versions used in typical enclosures) and either should be fast enough for the drive, but sometimes real-world concerns such as drivers, interface cards, concurrency issues, etc can make a seemingly "slower" standard superior in practice.
2. Would there be any problem with the enclosure recognizing a 160 GByte drive? I know that there were some issues with older motherboards recognizing 48-bit LBA drives with capacities greater than 137 GBytes and wonder if the same issue might apply here.
3. Does anyone have any experience with these particular enclosures or would recommend another?
Thanks,
cfitz