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Recommend a good 2.5" external HDD enclosure?

LTX

LTX

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 25, 2008
164
0
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Yesterday I snagged a 32GB Patriot SSD from NCIX.com for $50 after rebate, which I am planning to place in my Macbook (early 2008). To make up for the lack of space, I am going to use the 120GB drive that's currently in it and purchase an enclosure for it, so I can use it as a Time Machine backup drive as well as storage. I have been looking at NCIX and Newegg.ca, but there are literally hundreds of enclosures. I was wondering if anyone had experience with a particular one and could share their recommendation.

Criteria:
- Canadian retail or online store, such as Newegg.ca or NCIX.com
- Supports a 2.5" 120GB SATA drive
- USB2.0
- Firewire would be cool, but not required
- Not too chunky, as I'd like to be able to take this around with my Macbook
- Power: I'm on the fence for this one. As far as I know, they either require an external power source (won't be able to use the external on the go without a plug nearby) or 2 USB ports (of which the Macbook only has 2, leaving me unable to use my wireless mouse or other peripherals, should I require them).
If I were to go for an enclosure that uses 2 USB ports, I'd probably need a USB hub for my other stuff, which requires power, completely defeating the purpose of going for the double-USB enclosure. A little bit of a dilemma here.

I have a desktop computer also, which has plenty of hard drive space for my music, movies, and such, so I don't need to worry about space issues.

Another thought: I could go for an externally powered enclosure if I feel that I will not need the external on the go, because the two main reasons for getting an SSD are for its speed and lower power usage. It's kind of pointless to get the SSD for longer battery life, but end up powering the external from the Macbook, leading to lower battery life. Right now I'm leaning towards externally powered.

I appreciate your feedback!

Thanks.
 
i just bought this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817193044

same thing as you, upgraded my mbp hdd and put the original 120gb sata in it. only uses one usb port (altho it includes a power -> usb cable if you have an older computer that requires 2 usb ports), very compact, includes a sorta padded storage bag. no real shock protection tho, but it was really easy to use and worked perfectly with CCC.

also, it doesn't have a Y cable like the pictures show. it has a usb -> usb cable, and a usb -> power cable. i only need the one, so it lightens the load in my backpack a bit.
 
f1sh3r said:
that's the one i almost bought, but for 3x the price i was willing to give up firewire. the macally one seems to be more stout tho.
Click to expand...

If time == $$$, the FW is worth it. I use my external 2.5 for video editing ... USB would be way too slow. I opted for the FW800 version of the OWC case. It runs hot and because the only cooling is the metal heat sync on the bottom, I usually prop it up on something to get better air flow. I agree that the 3x pricing is ridiculous, but if you are going to use the drive frequently and copy large amounts of data, the extra speed will pay for itself.
 
gwerhart0800 said:
If time == $$$, the FW is worth it. I use my external 2.5 for video editing ... USB would be way too slow. I opted for the FW800 version of the OWC case. It runs hot and because the only cooling is the metal heat sync on the bottom, I usually prop it up on something to get better air flow. I agree that the 3x pricing is ridiculous, but if you are going to use the drive frequently and copy large amounts of data, the extra speed will pay for itself.
Click to expand...

all i really needed it for was my hdd upgrade, so for me the speed wasn't a big deal. fw would have been neat gadget wise tho.
 
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