Replace MB drive with Formac 320GB SATA FW400 9mm Drive?

[RedTomato]

I've been searching a long time for a cheap but decent 2.5'' portable SATA / FW drive enclosure to put my old MB drive in when I upgrade.

There's not much out there - most 2.5'' enclosures are either IDE or all the SATA ones are USB only.

I need something that can run over a FW connection - it has a better power supply than USB.

I've also given up on waiting for the mythical Samsung 500GB 9mm SATA laptop drive.

I've just found the Formac Disk Mini external enclosure which is available pretty cheaply with a 320GB drive. But is it SATA, is it 9mm tall?

I emailed Formac support who replied in 5 mins, saying yes it's SATA, and yes it's 9mm tall.

So I plan to buy one of these, swap the 320GB drive into my MB, and put my MB 120GB into the Formac enclosure.

Is there any reason why I shouldn't put the Formac 320GB into my MB? Could it be a really slow one? (all the SATA 320GB 2.5'' drives out there seem pretty good)

 

[logana]

You may well encounter one or two problems....

How easy is it to crack open the Formac enclosure - some are easy - others are almost welded shut. Opening the enclosure no doubt voids the warranty anyway... What guarantee have you got about the brand of HD that is in there?

I know it is not easy, almost impossible, to buy a SATA/Firewire enclosure but have you tried USB2 - almost all will work happily drawing power from the machines USB port and depending on what you are using it for the difference is speed may not be an issue - USB2 SATA enclosures start at £6 and you could then pick the disk manufacturer (and no warranty problems either)

Just a suggestion...

 

[dops7107]

This video might help:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/formac-drive-upgrade/2787462843

 

[darkskies]

The 120gb Formac Disk Mini in that video is a PATA IDE drive, not SATA.

I also have an IDE PATA 120gb Formac Disk Mini.

If Formac are indeed including SATA drives in their Mini's I would be very interested to know.

DS