OT: Need USB external 3.5" case recommend.

p@mast3rs wrote on 1/5/2006, 10:01 PM

I need USB 2.0 external cases for some hard drives. I have checked out New Egg and just about everything in their $20 range the reviewers said it was too hot. So I need some recommendations in the $20/case range and the larger the hard drive it will support the better. Oh yea, would prefer cases that dont need external power supplies as well (for students to store their video on and a power cord is just something else for them to lose.)

So please hit me up with any recommendations you may have.

Comments

apit34356 wrote on 1/5/2006, 11:11 PM

pmasters, I think you are out of luck if you are wanting USB 2.0 powered box for $20 that can survire being handled by students. The cooling fan, which is a great feature to have, puts the box more in the +40 range. I would be concern about powering a large drive and fan from an USB 2.0 port, especially being used with different motherboards.
Some notebooks drives have been used this way, with some good success, but not standard drives.

cbrillow wrote on 1/6/2006, 5:13 AM

I have 4 of the ByteCC ME-320U2 (as seen on newegg) enclosures hooked up to 2 computers, and they have worked well. They have internal power supplies, meaning that they require a simple computer-type power supply cord, but there's no wall wart or power brick to worry about getting lost. They also feature a cooling fan and there's a lot of room inside, as they're designed to house CD & DVD burners as well as bare hard drives. So the drives don't run screaming hot. The cooling fan may be considered by some to be too loud, but there doesn't seem to be a consistent noise level among my units, so it's hard to generalize.

Some reviewers complain about the plastic case, its ease of assembly or the appearance. As far as I'm concerned, appearance is of little consequence - I'm looking for utility. The plastic case is sturdy enough that it can be transported without fear of parts falling off. During assembly, the upper and lower halves of the case are connected with a plastic strip that runs the length of the sides of sides, and has tabs that snap into slots in the two halves. It can be a little awkward to put together, but it doesn't take the manual dexterity of a surgeon to get it done, either.

TeetimeNC wrote on 1/6/2006, 5:15 AM

pmasters, If you have an available 5.25 bay in the computers you might consider using a HDD mobile rack to hold your 3.5 drives. Give each student their own HD cartridge, which they plug into the computer's HD rack. There are no external power supplies to worry with, cooling is good, and cost is low - about $25 for the for the rack and one cartridge, and $8 for each additional cartridge. You would need one rack per computer and one cartridge per student.

If you don't have an available 5.25 bay, you can get an external USB enclosure rack that you insert the individual HD cartridges into.

Lots of models available. I use Kingwin KF-32. Tigerdirect sells these.

-jerry

cbrillow wrote on 1/6/2006, 6:10 AM

Those are nice, TeeTime, but if the students will also be using the drives on their own equipment, it would require that they have the available space for a rack, too. That could be a problem for some.

And thanks for the heads-up on the external USB racks -- that sounds like a winner for my applications.