3.5 inch Harddisk Enclosure

[eight8]

Hi there,

My PC recently broke down. I was thinking of getting a new PC but i would like to get a 3.5 inch harddisk enclosure to access my harddisk data. I was wondering what brand of enclosure is good and stable. I will need to access it thru USB. Hoped that you can provide me with some nice enclosure brand so that i can do the rest of the analysis myself. Thanks.

[mike911]

actually those 3rd party ones will do, 25-30 dollars in sls. not too sure about those imba brands. a.c. ryan maybe?

[surefire888]

If u r looking for an external 3.5" box, i would highly recommend one with both USB and eSATA. The best thing about eSATA is not its speed (5 times faster than USB2) but the fact that, if your MB supports it, you can boot your eSATA drive. It's very useful for trouble-shooting to be able to boot up in Windows on an external HDD and run any diagnostics or back-up program you wish.

I have not tried any standalone eSATA casing but I bought the Ovation 640MB eSATA/USB HDD for $139 which i think is a great price because the HDD can be removed (unlike some other brands) and the casing used on its own. An even better deal is the 1GB model which was selling at only $179 at IT Show

[ly1968]

If u r looking for an external 3.5" box, i would highly recommend one with both USB and eSATA. The best thing about eSATA is not its speed (5 times faster than USB2) but the fact that, if your MB supports it, you can boot your eSATA drive. It's very useful for trouble-shooting to be able to boot up in Windows on an external HDD and run any diagnostics or back-up program you wish.

I have not tried any standalone eSATA casing but I bought the Ovation 640MB eSATA/USB HDD for $139 which i think is a great price because the HDD can be removed (unlike some other brands) and the casing used on its own. An even better deal is the 1GB model which was selling at only $179 at IT Show


Bro should be 1tb right

[surefire888]

Bro should be 1tb right

u got me :o shd also be 640GB!

[newcell]

If u r looking for an external 3.5" box, i would highly recommend one with both USB and eSATA. The best thing about eSATA is not its speed (5 times faster than USB2) but the fact that, if your MB supports it, you can boot your eSATA drive. It's very useful for trouble-shooting to be able to boot up in Windows on an external HDD and run any diagnostics or back-up program you wish.

I have not tried any standalone eSATA casing but I bought the Ovation 640MB eSATA/USB HDD for $139 which i think is a great price because the HDD can be removed (unlike some other brands) and the casing used on its own. An even better deal is the 1GB model which was selling at only $179 at IT Show

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing - surefire888

@TS - I bought a 3.5 enclosure, blindly, and no issue so far. Only thing is, I dare not use it too long, no ventilation and find it very warm after use. It is cheap but use it only for quick data retrieving.

[eight8]

just to check whether can a IDE be connected to this enclosure too since both my harddisk is IDE?

[surefire888]

just to check whether can a IDE be connected to this enclosure too since both my harddisk is IDE?

if u r asking about the Ovation, the answer is No because this is an external HDD solution where the casing already comes with a HDD installed.

what you need is an IDE/SATA casing with external USB/eSATA connectors. i have seen 1 model selling at SLS - can't remember the brand but it says "3-in-1" on the box - and sells for around $60 (casing only). There's a few versions so make sure u get the one with both IDE/SATA and external USB//eSATA. When i was considering m options, i decided Not to get this because even though i still have a couple of IDE HDDs, once they kaput, i don't intend to get anymore (SATA HDDs are a lot cheaper tahn IDE HDDs) so no point spending money supporting old technology

[eight8]

if u r asking about the Ovation, the answer is No because this is an external HDD solution where the casing already comes with a HDD installed.

what you need is an IDE/SATA casing with external USB/eSATA connectors. i have seen 1 model selling at SLS - can't remember the brand but it says "3-in-1" on the box - and sells for around $60 (casing only). There's a few versions so make sure u get the one with both IDE/SATA and external USB//eSATA. When i was considering m options, i decided Not to get this because even though i still have a couple of IDE HDDs, once they kaput, i don't intend to get anymore (SATA HDDs are a lot cheaper tahn IDE HDDs) so no point spending money supporting old technology
but i still got 3 IDE (250GB) each due to the old PC. Last time need extra space but old PC doesn't support SATA thus LL. Is there any enclosure that just take IDE output USB?

[surefire888]

but i still got 3 IDE (250GB) each due to the old PC. Last time need extra space but old PC doesn't support SATA thus LL. Is there any enclosure that just take IDE output USB?

def have. those that use IDE drives should be going for very cheap - just browse around in sls - kao yap, ATF etc. not sure which brand is good but i think all of them should be fine since this is not new technology - just buy the cheapest

[Axioaxio]

If u r looking for an external 3.5" box, i would highly recommend one with both USB and eSATA. The best thing about eSATA is not its speed (5 times faster than USB2) but the fact that, if your MB supports it, you can boot your eSATA drive. It's very useful for trouble-shooting to be able to boot up in Windows on an external HDD and run any diagnostics or back-up program you wish.

I have not tried any standalone eSATA casing but I bought the Ovation 640MB eSATA/USB HDD for $139 which i think is a great price because the HDD can be removed (unlike some other brands) and the casing used on its own. An even better deal is the 1GB model which was selling at only $179 at IT Show



Hi pal,

you are right Ovation Esata is good enough for the speed and also the casing built in cooling fan.

So far i bought from Chamoxa in sim lim square, but they do not have stock for 640gb liao leh. Left 1TB only...:s12:

[foxxkat]

Hi pal,

you are right Ovation Esata is good enough for the speed and also the casing built in cooling fan.

So far i bought from Chamoxa in sim lim square, but they do not have stock for 640gb liao leh. Left 1TB only...:s12:
does Ovation Esata require you to power it using external power?

any 3.5" casing that only uses USB to power?

[DigitalHub]

all 3.5" require external power as USB 5v is not enough to drive the platter.
maybe you can consider NST-300
no fan required as the whole enclosure is made of aluminum to cool down your HDD.

http://www.vantecusa.com/front/product/pro_list/76

[gentoro]

just buy a USB - sata/IDE cable and a 3 pin power adaptor to HDD, wah lah, you can run any 3.5" IDE hdd externally.

[daygain]

Steer clear from the $21 A1Pro 3.5 IDE hard disk enclosure from Kao Yap.

The first one I bought has an adaptor problem. The second one I exchanged worked ok during on-the-spot testing. But when I'm back home, it shows my hard disk to be GENERIC VOID DISK. I checked the jumper settings, everything is ok. When I slot my hard drive to another hard disk enclosure, my IDE hard drive worked fine.

Sighs, gotta bring the A1Pro enclosure back to Kao Yap for other goods exchange.