Question about making my own portable drive.

[ingeborgdot]

I asked on another topic about a pocket hard drive and someone suggested making my own. Ok, but what will I need to do to make it? What advice can you give on where to go and what to do?

 

[SNGX1275]

If you want it small, take a look at this.

If you want one that you can use a regular IDE rather than a notebook drive, here is a good start.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Are all the enclosures created equal or are some better than others? Not real familiar with these yet.

 

[iss]

All you need for a small portable Hard drive is a laptop drive (2.5") and a enclosure for a 2.5" drive. the install is extremely straightforward and easy. once you put the hard drive intot he enclosure you connect the drive tot he usb port and partition and format the drive in windows.

I stick with Bytecc and vantec enclosures ( I have 3) they work very well.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I have decided on the 3.5 drive. One reason I can get over twice as much for a cheaper price. I found an ata160gb for 89 with a 50dollar rebate. That's cheap. This will be a little larger but not that much. Are there any brands of enclosures that would be recommended and why? Thanks again.

 

[iss]

The advantage of using the laptop drives is in portability and the fact that they are powered by the USB Bus. the 3.5" drives require and external power supply that has to be plugged into an AC outlet in order for the drive to work.

Plus the once in the enclosure the 3.5" is NOT a "little larger" it is 4 times the size of the 2.5" enclsures. still portable but you aint gonna stick it in your pocket and that doesnt even take into consideration the extra bulk of the AC adapter power source needed.

 

[Samstoned]

Ya I think he missed the boat on that one
from put in pocket to try and stuff in a large jacket pocket ,maybe
and for the money 9.99 thats cheap as chips
got hit with 1.$$ dollar a gb for cheap 2.5 drive
now where are you going to put the power adapter
in the other pocket oh well

 

[ingeborgdot]

Nah, I decided now probably going to the small drive even though more costly. Know of the cheapest place to buy?

 

[SNGX1275]

I linked you a place above, thats probably close to as cheap as you'll get stuff. Sure you may save a dollar or 2 somewhere else, but newegg is a great dealer with reasonable prices, and you'll get it fast without paying a lot for shipping.
Go to www.pricewatch.com if you are that concerned about a couple dollars, but you need to pay attention to the dealer reputation before ordering.

 

[iss]

I agree with SNGX1275 stick with newegg.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I have found newegg to probably be the cheapest. Are all enclosures created equal? I really like the look of the vantec case but is it really any better for $13 more bucks?

 

[iss]

Vantec adn Bytecc make some of the best enclosures becuase they use better chipset controlers. cheapo enclosures often use substandard chipsets that casue all kinds of problems.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Well, I ordered a 2.5" hdd. It is a 5400rpm drive by samsung. I got the vantec one on newegg for 23bucks. It should be great.

 

[iss]

I have two of the samsung 40gb 5400rpm 8mb cache drives they are fast and quiet. one os in a vantec enclodure and the other in a bytecc. with them I dont even use pen drives any more.