Di-it-yourself External Hard drive shopping list

[1rottenapple]

Anyone here have built their own external HD and if so, do you have a list of the parts that you bought?

I am planning to build one since it is pretty easy according to the people on here, and from doing a google search under "building your own external hd". I'm looking to spend about 100-140 for a HD size between $100-$130. The better GB per $ ration, the better deal.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[EvilDoc]

yea all you have to do is find a external enclosure that you like and slap the hardrive into it.. it takes like 5 mins.. you plug the hd into the cables within the external enclosure and close the case and there you go.. it will take you longer to find one you want then to hook it up..

 

[homerjward]

• hard drive
• case

you might also need a screwdriver depending on the case but im sure you have one of those
edit: here's a decent 160gb (much better to buy 160 over 120--price is so close) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152014
decent usb2 case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
i have the fw version of that case. ($20 more) really good case
edit: afa what i actually used, i used a 300gb wd hard drive, but that's a lot more than you're looking to spend

 

[EvilDoc]

depending if your in the US http://www.newegg.com has tons of external hd case for good prices and they have very fast shipment

 

[1rottenapple]

Yeah I'm in the US. Anyway, so do all external hd enclosures have internal fans? Also, when I connect the enclosure to my computer, are the wires needed to connect the two included with the purchase of the enclosure or is it seperate? Thanks!

 

[blodwyn]

Yeah I'm in the US. Anyway, so do all external hd enclosures have internal fans? Also, when I connect the enclosure to my computer, are the wires needed to connect the two included with the purchase of the enclosure or is it seperate? Thanks!

Not all external enclosures have fans. The enclosures I have bought all came with the USB or Firewire cable.

If you have some spare drives laying around, you may want to consider getting a 5.25" enclosure and fit it with a removable drive dock. That way you can swap the other drives in and out easily and use them for backups or media storage, whatever.

I've always set the drive jumper to the 'Master' setting before assembling into the enclosure, and never had a problem.

 

[superbovine]

most of all make sure the enclosure you buy supports lba-48 bit addressing otherwise it will not support drives over 136 GB.