Building an external HD.

[kuba]

Was considering building my own external HD...what brand of notebook HD would you guys recommend?
thanks

 

[suicidalpigeon]

do you really want a notebook hd as an external hd? its very expensive.

 

[kuba]

expensive? really? i mean, 60Gigs will only run me about $75-90 , that's not too bad.
I mean i already have a case for it, so not spending money on anything else other than the HD.

 

[hthnmnky]

A coworker of mine recently got a 20 gig Hitachi off ebay for $1 and seems quite happy with it. Also already had the enclosure.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

even if it is smaller/quieter, you pay quite a handful compared to desktop hd's. based off that price for a 60gig i think its 5400rpm, right? for a 3.5" you can get a seagate 160gig 7200.7 for around $90 and 5 year warranty. that or look for weekly specials at retail stores/hot deal forum. but the real dilemma is that you already have the enclosure..

 

[kuba]

true but an enclosure is what? $25-$30 no big deal there, ill take a look into the larger ones i guess...thanks for the heads up ...although add to that, id like something that is self powered...

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: kuba
true but an enclosure is what? $25-$30 no big deal there, ill take a look into the larger ones i guess...thanks for the heads up ...although add to that, id like something that is self powered...

these enclosures are great
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817146312

solid work great and have a cooling fan, friend had a 300GB HDD in one adn i have 2 of them with 80s in them

 

[Blain]

I prefer enclosures that don't require an AC adapter and that can accommodate 5 1/4" optical drives...
Like This One :laugh:

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Blain
I prefer enclosures that don't require an AC adapter and that can accommodate 5 1/4" optical drives...
Like This One :laugh:

AC input: 100 - 240V DC output: +5V/+12V

??

 

[Blain]

Sorry, wrong unit linked... Corrected

 

[kuba]

all need to be powered...booo lol
i said SELF POWERED

 

[imported_akito]

i think what you are looking for is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822161116

do a google search, i believe ONLY 1.8" drives are capable of being usb self powered... has to do with the max mA that usb allows and the amount of mA that 2.5" and 1.8" drives require to boot up the drive.

 

[Oyeve]

I bought some el-cheapo laptop HD enclosure from compusa (12 bucks) and it came with 2 USB cables, one for power and one for i/o but both are needed to fully power the HD. Would be nice to be able to power a desktop HD but I dont think USB has enuf juice.

 

[kuba]

hmm odd because my buddy has a 2.5" drive with the same enclosure he gave me, and he said he doesn't use a cable to power it, it works well on its own through the USB...

oyeve, what's i/o mean? it's on the tip of my tongue and forgot lol
and doesn't your notebook hd power itself through the usb alone?

 

[imported_akito]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
I bought some el-cheapo laptop HD enclosure from compusa (12 bucks) and it came with 2 USB cables, one for power and one for i/o but both are needed to fully power the HD. Would be nice to be able to power a desktop HD but I dont think USB has enuf juice.

yeah, having two usb cables should be enough to power a 2.5". i dunno about 3.5"; you'd have to look at the specs.

if you don't mind using two usbs, i guess that is all right. i have a limited number of usb plugs on my laptop. This all depends on your situation, and what you consider to be convenient.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: kuba
hmm odd because my buddy has a 2.5" drive with the same enclosure he gave me, and he said he doesn't use a cable to power it, it works well on its own through the USB...

oyeve, what's i/o mean? it's on the tip of my tongue and forgot lol
and doesn't your notebook hd power itself through the usb alone?

Input/Output. Basically the data cable.