EDIT: Recommend me an external enclosure

[Andvari]

EDIT: So what sort of enclosure should I get?
















(Bear with me... It's long because I'm giving you all the details)

I just got my Vantec NexStar 3 external hdd enclosure in the mail today. Stuck a Western Digital 500gb drive in it, plugged it in and hooked up the eSATA cable to my PC, and nothing. Vista 64 didn't recognize a thing. I googled around, and supposedly nobody can get Vista 64 to recognize this thing in a hot swappable fashion.

After rebooting, and then "scanning for hardware changes" in device manager, it was detected. I formatted the thing, etc etc. All seemed well.

Then I turned the PC off and turned the drive off and unhooked the eSATA cable. (After all I just want this thing for periodic backups, I don't want it hooked up all the time.) Turned my PC back on and went to play some Team Fortress, but it was moving at about 5 frames per second. Even typing was slow. Seconds later, it froze and I couldn't do anything. Couldn't ctrl-alt-delete or anything, then my monitor went off so I assumed the video card had shut down. I held the power button down to shut down the PC. Turned it back on, and it booted up for 10 seconds or so then shut down again. I turned it on again and it worked. I played Team Fortress and it worked fine.

All the while I was doing this, I noticed the Vantec felt strange to the touch. It felt kinda "rubbery" if that makes any sense. It's a smooth alluminum case, but when I rubbed my finger over it, it felt as if it was gripping my finger. It didn't feel this way out of the box. Anyway so after a couple of hours of Team Fortress, I want to hook the drive back up to see if it is hot swappable now that I've already formatted it and got it working previously. Nope. Still have to reboot and scan for hardware changes. A slight PITA, but oh well.

Now I notice that the Vantec case feels smooth to the touch again. This makes no sense. The only difference is whether or not I have the eSATA cable hooked up to my PC. Then it hit me. The PC is grounded, the hard dive enclosure isn't.

Sure enough my theory was correct. I ran my finger over the case while it was plugged up and hooked up to my PC, and it was smooth. I pulled the connection from the PC, and it suddenly got "grippy" on my finger again.

I'm no electrical genius, but is this a short?

It feels neat, if anything, and the only reason I care is because now I've tried to play Team Fortress several more times without success. It runs like molasses and freezes after a few seconds every time now. If the Vantec case is shorting, would it possibly have damaged my PC?

Any ideas?



Moved to Memory and Storage
Anandtech Moderator
Gillbot

 

[Andvari]

And now Team Fortress is working again... Beats me. Needless to say I'm quite hesitant to plug this thing back into my PC.... Think I should send it back?

 

[Andvari]

Any ideas?

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Andvari
All the while I was doing this, I noticed the Vantec felt strange to the touch. It felt kinda "rubbery" if that makes any sense. It's a smooth alluminum case, but when I rubbed my finger over it, it felt as if it was gripping my finger. It didn't feel this way out of the box.

This right here sounds like there's a short somewhere within the case. Is the motherboard on spacers or risers or whatever? Are there any spare leads from the PSU touching edge of the case?

 

[Andvari]

^No no, not the PC case. The external hard drive case. =) The hdd case is alluminum and basically hugs the drive, so there is metallic contact all over the place with this thing. I don't know if the drive is messed up or if the enclosure is messed up.

Or neither. Is it normal? The enclosure doesn't have a ground prong on the plug.

 

[jterrell]

Ya know it sounds like the drive spins up and then you get that feeling. It could be heat dissipation and normal vibration dampening techniques.

I would not risk a pc though if there was any doubt.
I'd try to find users of the product as it seems endemic to that enclosure.

You might try plugging it into a different pc and see if there is any issue there.

I'd also make sure it wasn't near a monitor or any device with a magnet in it.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Vantec NexStar 3.... Thank you for reminding me of the external enclosure to make sure no one buys again. Such utter and complete crap. My advice--ditch and replace it now.

 

[Andvari]

^Why is this Fullmetal? Other than the problems I'm having of course. It's gotten decent reviews, and it's the most reviewed usb/esata enclosure on newegg. Since I know nothing about enclosures, and assumed they're basically all the same, I just went with it for that reason.


In a little bit I'm going to try taking the HDD out, and simply plugging the enclosure up without the drive in. I have a feeling it is still going to feel strange. If not, then I know it's the drive and not the enclosure. And no, it's not the drive spinning, because it felt "strange" even with it turned off but plugged up.

 

[Andvari]

Yeah so I took the hard drive OUT, and simply plugged in the power to the enclosure. I feel the same "grippy" feeling just as before. So it is definately solely the enclosure. I tried to get my dad to feel it but he couldn't notice anything. My mom noticed it, and described it as a vibration feeling. I said, no, it's not a vibration because if you don't move your finger across it, then the sensation is gone. You can only notice it when you move your finger across it.

Man I sure am nitpicky eh?

Anyway... I think I'll send this one back. What other enclosure should I buy? I need eSATA and USB compatibility, with SATA internal connections.

Of course, I have considered the fact that this is completely normal for the enclosure, and my computer acts up shortly after disconnecting/connecting it is related to the fact that Windows might be "confused" about the hardware changes. After all, this thing is everything other than hot swappable. I have to jump herdles to get the PC to recognize this, so maybe disconnecting it throws the PC for a loop temporarily. *shrug*

 

[Andvari]

Nobody has a recommendation for an enclosure?

 

[Old Hippie]

Same one I always recommend, Antec MX-1.

 

[corkyg]

The "grippy" feeling is the symptom of a low voltage leak/short to the case. This is an anomaly. I have three Vantec eSATA/USB - SATA internal cases and all are stellar performers. I plan on adding a fourth.

Earlier products had a power wire (for the LED) very close to the edge of the case that could get pinched if one was not careful when closing the case. Later models changed that design.

I believe you have a defective case. Return it for another.

 

[Old Hippie]

The "grippy" feeling is the symptom of a low voltage leak/short to the case.

Great translation! :thumbsup:

 

[Andvari]

Thanks for shedding light on the issue corkyg! You think it may have damaged my PC?