External HDD Enclosures

[AndrewLyle]

So i really like the idea of having two hdd's daisy-chained through firewire, and then go right into my unibody mbp through the fw800 port with a single cable...

Is it worth it to upgrade from two seperate usb 2.0 drives (which enclose sata drives)?

can anyone recommend an enclosure that uses
1. has a SATA interface
2. isn't $50+
3. maybe has usb 2.0 also?

 

[pooky]

I like this enclosure, although it only supports 400Mbps firewire.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817347016

 

[AndrewLyle]

That is basically what im looking for,

but i would prefer fw800 if it exists...

does anyone else use this type of setup?

 

[kastenbrust]

I have that setup, with FW800 but good luck finding a good quality one under $50.

 

[AndrewLyle]

@kastenbrust

If you don't mind posting your setup,

what enclosure are you using?

 

[kastenbrust]

I use this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817146603

The only reason you would need to use Firewire 800 is if you are daisy chaining hard drives together (using more than 1 on a single connection) otherwise firewire 400 is plenty fast. You wont find a hard drive that will output data (7200RPM) as fast as a Firewire400 connection can handle data.

Hope that helps.

 

[AndrewLyle]

So really if im probably going to just be using one at a time its not even worth the upgrade to 800?

im fine with 400 if there is no significant difference for my use..

one will be time machine the other will be media, time machine every hour, media once or twice a day to stream

 

[Horst]

So really if im probably going to just be using one at a time its not even worth the upgrade to 800?

im fine with 400 if there is no significant difference for my use..

one will be time machine the other will be media, time machine every hour, media once or twice a day to stream

Depends, as usual.

If you transfer large files on a regular basis, or in a situation where transfer speed matters, FW 800 will safe you time.

For backups and occasional transfers, FW 400 is just fine, imho.

 

[pooky]

I've never found 400Mbps to be limiting, even with daisy chaining. It's not something I do a lot, but I've never had a problem. It has always "felt" MUCH faster than USB 2.

 

[Consultant]

Firewire 800 enclosures are usually pricy, since firewire connector has its own processor (usb uses your computer cpu for transfers).

There are some here.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/External-Enclosures/

 

[minijon]

Yes, Firewire 800 Controllers are expensive.

I use a Rosewill Quad Interface -- it's got FW 400/800, eSata, and USB. I wanted the FW800 for speed without the eSata Express Card so I could (actually) boot off the drive without the cripplingly slow speed of USB. However, to get one with Firewire that looked ... Mac... the only ones I could find were Quad interfaces, so I've got eSata too. The nice thing is that I can hook it up to my PC-Gamer's friends computers (They all use eSata for speed -- at least they've admitted that USB is slow now)

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182123

However, I will recommend unplugging the LED from the PCB when you install the HDD -- that thing will light up the entire room.

 

[Horst]

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182123

However, I will recommend unplugging the LED from the PCB when you install the HDD -- that thing will light up the entire room.

Interesting, they are labeled MacPower in Europe , and come with several interface options , look here .

Amen on the LED, that thing is extremely bright.
Nice, solid enclosure, I have 3 of them, run cool and quiet.