Smoking (USB2 external enclosure)

[papaschtroumpf]

ordered one, came in as advertised, enclosure appears to be working fine. A little on the loud side for my taste but it's not meant to be on all the time anyway.

 

[PuppettMaster001]

OMG i just bought an external enclosure for more than this.

 

[MuthaFaker]

Originally posted by: cr4zymofo

Originally posted by: papaschtroumpf
so if I don't care about ATA-6 (i.e. up to 120G only) I might find something cheaper? $28 bucks shipped is just more than what I was hoping to spend for something that I would only use for backups.

Dude, you can't find it cheaper...... if you're complaining about $28 bucks shipped for a new USB2 enclosure, then I can't help you.

HAHAHA.....My friend is actually waiting for one FAR....which I have continuously told him it's IMPOSSIBLE...he is still waiting.....*d0iNk*

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
Though it doesn't beat the price of this thread, I don't know the chipset and it doesn't list the max size HD accomodated, this is waaaaaay sexy for $34.

http://store.4linkcomm.com/makcse5fuale.html

That's the nicest-looking, and seemingly better-designed aluminum enclosures I've seen. Also comes in 3.5" and 2.5" versions. They all use the Genesys GL811 chipset.

Ground shipping at that site appears to start at $5.95.

Hopefully, the price on these will drop to the under-$30 range soon.

 

[IksokChoy]

Got it in, mounted up 30 Gb Hd, works fine on both Winn2k & XP machines, on both USB 2.0 and backwards compatable on USB 1.1 also.

 

[Arcanedeath]

FYI Oxford does USB and firwire, most common chipsets are Oxford 911 (firewire only) and Oxford 922 which is firewire and USB2, you need to be careful though some firewire / usb2 enclousres will use a 2nd chip for usb2 even if they use the Oxford 922 for firewire (not sure why but I've seen that happen at least twice and Oxford makes the best bridge chips for both firewire and USB to IDE IMHO)

 

[Devistater]

I've used a case that looks identical to this before. It works fine, I've used it for hdds and dvd burners and cd burners. All work fine. I've used it at both USB 1.1 and USB 2 speeds, works great.

Only issue I've seen (and maybe its because I have an old revision of this case) is that I couldn't partition a 160 gig drive to 160 gigs, I had to do 128 gigs. But no problem, I used partition magic later to resize once I plugged it in to the motherboard.

 

[ParatoOptimal]

The enclosure that is the topic of this thread uses the Ali chipset.

How do the following chipsets compare?
Bytecc = Ali chipset
Plumax = Cypress
MaPower = Genesys GL811 chipset

 

[ParatoOptimal]

Can anyone tell me how these perform regarding speed?
Isn't sustained transfer at 25MB?

What is the sustained throughput of Firewire?

Thanks

I found the answer to my own question.
25MB = USB2.0 sustained throughput
35MB = Firewire sustained throughput (Oxford 911a chipset)
13-25MB = Firewire sustained throughput (nonOxford chipsets)

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: Arcanedeath
FYI Oxford does USB and firwire, most common chipsets are Oxford 911 (firewire only) and Oxford 922 which is firewire and USB2, you need to be careful though some firewire / usb2 enclousres will use a 2nd chip for usb2 even if they use the Oxford 922 for firewire (not sure why but I've seen that happen at least twice and Oxford makes the best bridge chips for both firewire and USB to IDE IMHO)

Would make more sense if they were using the Oxford 911 alongside a separate USB chip. Then the rationale could be that it was cheaper than a single Oxford 922 chip.

 

[vector]

Originally posted by: jrichrds

Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
Though it doesn't beat the price of this thread, I don't know the chipset and it doesn't list the max size HD accomodated, this is waaaaaay sexy for $34.

http://store.4linkcomm.com/makcse5fuale.html

That's the nicest-looking, and seemingly better-designed aluminum enclosures I've seen. Also comes in 3.5" and 2.5" versions. They all use the Genesys GL811 chipset.

Ground shipping at that site appears to start at $5.95.

Hopefully, the price on these will drop to the under-$30 range soon.

jrichards- you're sure it uses the Genesys GL811 (which would be bad for me, since I'm running linux)? On Mapower's site they list it as using "Oxford FireWire 400/800 & USB 2.0 High Speed" but I'm not clear on whether the Oxford also applies to the latter. I mailed them but it will probably take awhile to get a reply. Thanks.

 

[ParatoOptimal]

vector,

Please post the responce to your email.

Thanks

 

[Auric]

I considered external enclosures but with the relatively high prices, potential problems and required power bricks they ultimately fail to be more convenient than good ol' mobile racks where channels are available and portability is only required betwixt your own machines (where you can install the receivers). I use a couple of these with great success for backups and PC to PC transfers.

 

[oppie1]

Originally posted by: jrichrds

Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
Though it doesn't beat the price of this thread, I don't know the chipset and it doesn't list the max size HD accomodated, this is waaaaaay sexy for $34.

http://store.4linkcomm.com/makcse5fuale.html

That's the nicest-looking, and seemingly better-designed aluminum enclosures I've seen. Also comes in 3.5" and 2.5" versions. They all use the Genesys GL811 chipset.

Ground shipping at that site appears to start at $5.95.

Hopefully, the price on these will drop to the under-$30 range soon.

i've been trying to look up reviews of that enclosure all night.. MaPower.com says its a combo (usb and firewire drive) but that site has it categorized under USB.. is there a definite answer if its a combo drive? if it is, i'm all over that secksi enclosure

 

[ParatoOptimal]

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: jrichrds

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
Though it doesn't beat the price of this thread, I don't know the chipset and it doesn't list the max size HD accomodated, this is waaaaaay sexy for $34.

http://store.4linkcomm.com/makcse5fuale.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That's the nicest-looking, and seemingly better-designed aluminum enclosures I've seen. Also comes in 3.5" and 2.5" versions. They all use the Genesys GL811 chipset.

Ground shipping at that site appears to start at $5.95.

Hopefully, the price on these will drop to the under-$30 range soon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



i've been trying to look up reviews of that enclosure all night.. MaPower.com says its a combo (usb and firewire drive) but that site has it categorized under USB.. is there a definite answer if its a combo drive? if it is, i'm all over that secksi enclosure


MaPower has 3 models of this style.
USB2.0, Firewire and COMBO USB2.0 AND Firewire.
The COMBO is Map-KC51C1.

I didn't do an extensive search or check pricewatch.
Google turned up only http://www.axiontech.com selling it for $63.95.

See it here http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=64619

 

[vector]

ParatoOptimal- I will post any response but in my limited experience mailing large manufacturing conglomerates I never get a response for several months if at all. I've also mailed 4linkcomm asking for the model number (which as oppie1 points out is probably the USB only one) and Axion (asking the same question I asked Mapower).

I'm tempted to go ahead and buy the one from Axion but with shipping that's $71 which seems pretty steep for an enclosure, and they have a 19% restocking fee if I return it due to a Cypress USB chipset.

Maybe I'll try calling Mapower HQ tomorrow if no one beats me to it.

 

[rustyjeep]

I've bought alot of these 3.5 enclosures, and wanted to pass this on:

usb 2.0 mini b cables

I bought one in compusa for $20, here you can get 5 10foot cords for $6.

 

[vector]

Originally posted by: vector
ParatoOptimal- I will post any response but in my limited experience mailing large manufacturing conglomerates I never get a response for several months if at all. I've also mailed 4linkcomm asking for the model number (which as oppie1 points out is probably the USB only one) and Axion (asking the same question I asked Mapower).

I'm tempted to go ahead and buy the one from Axion but with shipping that's $71 which seems pretty steep for an enclosure, and they have a 19% restocking fee if I return it due to a Cypress USB chipset.

Maybe I'll try calling Mapower HQ tomorrow if no one beats me to it.

Okay, I called Mapower USA about the Map-KC31C1. The Oxford is just for the Firewire, they use Genesys chipset for USB. He insisted the Genesys was tested with Linux(!) but I'll have to read up on that.

 

[Kelemvor]

Was about to order something like this but just found out we are getting them at work to help us do tech support stuff so I won't have to buy one. Oh well.

 

[oppie1]

i think i'm just gonna end up ordering this..

http://dealsonic.com/plcoideusb2i.html

need it for my dvd-r...

 

[jrichrds]

Enclosures often come in multiple versions (from lowest to highest cost): USB 2.0 only, Firewire only, USB 2.0/Firewire combination.

An easy way to tell the chipset being used in an enclosure is to check the driver package, assuming it is available from the manufacturer's website. The chipset brand and/or model is often listed in the .ini file.

For example, for the MaPower USB 2.0 enclosure, if you look at the .ini file in the driver package, you'll see "Genesys GL811" listed inside.

 

[ParatoOptimal]

oppie1,
How's that chipset?
Is it good for Linux?
Is the case solid?
How's it been for you?

Thanks

 

[Jynx78]

actually i just have plain maxtor 250's in mine. but i haven't seen a difference in speed between the drives being internal or usb2. i actually just pruchased two more, i i will have all 10 of my usb2 ports filled with these guys...nice way to have a 2.5TB array.

 

[vinnyracer]

I got this with a 250GB Mator HD and it's running great!

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-SMMGB-35U2-N&cat=CAS

 

[nekote]

Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
25MB = USB2.0 sustained throughput
35MB = Firewire sustained throughput (Oxford 911a chipset)
13-25MB = Firewire sustained throughput (nonOxford chipsets)

Those are MBytes per Second, right?

25MBs * 8 bits/byte = 200Mbps ~~ 40% of USB 2.0 480Mbps speed?

As compared to ATA/133 being 133 MBytes/second, burst rate?