Let's list off the best enclosures

[thenewguy]

So a lot of us are debating whether or not to get a pre-built external hard drive like the WD My Book, or to get a drive and an enclosure seperately, which can often be cheaper and have better warranties.

But - the enclosures vary SO Much. I have only seen one FW800 enclosure from Coolgear, and it was over $100, which ruins the price difference between that and a FW400 all-in-one.

So - I would love it if people could post links to their favorite ext. enclosures and list the features.

thanks

 

[gr8tfly]

Well, you already mentioned this, but I'll put the info out anyway:

http://www.cooldrives.com/aluminum-hard-drive-enclosure-built-in-power-oxford-912-firewire-800.html

Well built and compact.

Oxford chipset
FW800/400/USB2
Build-in powersupply
NO FAN
compact
ATA drive

My second one from them - I wanted fanless this time. The built-in pwr supply is also great for my installation as I don't really have room for the brick.

They also make one that takes SATA.http://www.cooldrives.com/saiitofi80al.html
Oxford
FW800/400/USB2/eSATA
external pwr supply
fan

 

[ender78]

I've heard a lot of good reviews of the OWC enclosures [http://www.macsales.com]. They have some really nice enclosures [ones that support; FW400/800, USB2 and E-SATA]. A high end enclosure does cost approx $100. What will you be storing on the enclosure. Unless you move serious amounts of data, FW400 is more than enough.

 

[dios]

icydock enclosure

This company has some pretty cool enclosures. I stumbled upon them while searching for enclosures on newegg.com. The MB559 AND MB561 are obviously geared more towards mac users.
I'm thinking of purchasing the MB559.http://www.icydock.com/product/mb559us-1s.html

It's:

eSATA + USB2.0 combo

1 x 3.5” SATA I / II

Standalone with horizontal or vertical positioning

Aluminum body w/ partial plastic

They also have a firewire version.

 

[thenewguy]

$69 + ship/tax for a FW400 drive seems a bit steep to me.

any others?

 

[dios]

Referring to me I imagine?

Well looking at the specs its hot swap capable. It looks like you could remove the hard drive and exchange it for another on the spot . That's a pretty handy feature.It gives you room to expand by just purchasing another hdd holder. And when you need to go somewhere you don't have to take the entire enclosure with you.

 

[SiliconAddict]

I ordered this one yesterday:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/item/8840/OWCMSTG800U2K/

Looks like a good unit. Keep in mind the premium you are paying for is the SATA interface. The PATA/IDE cages are much cheaper.

 

[Hls811]

Any suggestions for a 2.5" External enclosure w/ FW800 and USB 2.0 connections?

SATA and/or IDE compatible...

 

[dios]

Maybe This

I-201-B2-W
Color White
Host Interface USB 2.0
Host Transfer Rate 480Mb/sec
Number of Devices 1
Drive Support Support 2.5¿ IDE HDD (Support 9.5mm Notebook HDD)
Drive Interface IDE
System Requirements Windows 98 SE/ME/2000/XP (USB2.0, 1394a) , Mac OS 10.2 or higher (USB2.0), Mac OS 9.1 or higher (1394a)
Power Supply Bus Power 5V / 500 mA (When Host provides power)
Operating Temperature 41° to 104° F (5° to 40° C)
Operating Humidity 10%-95% non-condensing
Material Aluminum Heat Sink For HDD
Dimension ( mm ) 130L x 86W x 15H
I copied and pasted from here http://store.orbitmicro.com/ccp5529-stardom-white-itank-i201-external-usb-2-0--2-5-in-i201-b2-w-s114611.htm

 

[typecase]

There's a whole bunch of excellent choices that match the Macbook Pro in this article. I ordered the Rosewill U2FAB myself. I like the fact that it has FW 800 has well.