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General discussion

Need advice on hard drive external enclosure.

Jul 13, 2006 3:02PM PDT

I will be purchasing a Western Digital Caviar SE16 hard drive. It is 3.5" and has 7200RPM, 250GB, 16MB cache, and is SATA II.

Please help me by answering the following. Just give me a one word answer unless you have additional advice/recommendations.

1.)Which is better: A or B? (Note that I will be getting a powerful drive listed above).
A.)An aluminum enclosure with a fan but has no vent holes except for where the fan is located.
B.)An aluminum enclosure with no fan but has several vent holes around the case.

2.)Which is better: A or B?
A.)An aluminum enclosure that fits tightly but has no fan and not many or no vent holes.
B.)An aluminum enclosure with a fan but has alot of extra space inside the enclosure because the enclosure can also fit a 5.25" drive? My drive is 3.5".

3.)I am looking for a hard drive enclosure with the following specification. Any recommendations (note: must meet all specifications below)?
- Brand name
- SATA II
- Aluminum
- Has a good fan
- Has vent holes
- Prevents vibration/shock
- Quiet fan
- Good chipset
- Internal: SATA, External: USB

Discussion is locked

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Haven't found anything that meets that list.
Jul 13, 2006 8:39PM PDT

Even the units made by WD, Maxtor. Let me note this item you listed "Prevents vibration/shock". That would have to include a sensor to tell the drive to park. Outside of a few laptops nothing has this.

You may see such in a few years but not today.

Best of luck,

Bob

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Might try your search at
Jul 14, 2006 2:09PM PDT
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Any with shock sensors?
Jul 14, 2006 9:17PM PDT

Their list exceeds what I see in such devices today.

Bob

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List is long and subjective
Jul 15, 2006 3:43AM PDT

Shock sensors...haven't seen any with them. But for the right price...I'm sure someone could add shock sensors and maybe even shock absorbers. Only problem it would be so expensive, no one would buy.

VAPCMD

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Maybe they need a new "spec"?
Jul 15, 2006 4:00AM PDT

While admirable for the list, to prevent such shocks and more, the unit would almost need to have Artificial Intelligence with video sensors and legs to move out of the way of an oncoming collision.

Bob

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(NT) (NT) Ah, it needs a Chicken Chip!
Jul 15, 2006 7:13AM PDT