REQ: Need Advice On Buying External Hard Drive

[larry moe 'n curly]

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:30:26 -0700, larry moe 'n curly

Upright? That struck me. My problematic enclosure lays horizontal as
does the drive therein.

I found that mounting a drive vertically will make its aluminum
casting run 2-3 degs. C cooler, and the hottest chips can run 15-20C
cooler, at least if they face outward and are exposed to the air
convection. I don't know about current Maxtors, but old ones use six
tiny chips to move the heads and spin the motor that can run really
hot and burn out if they don't get enough air flow.

Mine has an internal PS. I just connect an AC cord to it. Maybe
that's the problem.

I don't know, but here's a Welland-made Bytecc enclosure with
internal high quality, UL approved PSU:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/170756085_2d0fb1c01f_o.jpg

The PSU has its own metal enclosure for safety (thing with vent slots
in it) and a cooling fan.

OTOH I once bought this piece of junk Neo brand enclosure with an
internal PSU that was definitely non-certified:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/92/232555031_7768d6e20e_b.jpg

The IDE-USB interface board (moved to the left) pressed against the
heatsinks of the PSU and was electrically insulated by only a thin
sheet of tough plastic (removed here). The PSU doesn't seem any
overcurrent protection, except for the fuse, or any overvoltage
protection..

Notice that the Bytecc enclosure raises the drive at least 1/8" from
the bottom and even has vent holes around its mounting points, while
the Neo enclosure lets the drive sit almost flush with the bottom,
reducing air flow for the drive electronics. It's possible this
caused a Neo enclosure to destroyed one person's drive:

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/9798/p50713972ew.jpg

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/8554/p50713949ot.jpg

This is why I want any enclosure to be made of either metal or fire-
resistant plastic. This Neo enclosure was advertised as being made of
polycarbonate, which is kind of hard to burn, but I suspected that it
was actually ordinary acrylic, one of the more flammable plastics (I
tried a drop of ammonia on it, which is supposed to attack
polycarbonate but not acrylic), unless fire retardant is added to it.

The burned chip was probably the motor and head arm driver, normally
one of the hottest chips.

If your enclosure doesn't raise the drive off its floor, it would
probably be a good idea to install some plastic or metal washers to
raise it up, using longer screws if needed.

BTW, both the Bytecc/Welland and Neo enclosures came from the same
merchant, Dealsonic, and I have no complaints about them. I asked for
a refund on one of the Neo enclosures (I had already drilled out the
other one and replaced its PSU with an external) because of the safety
defects, and they gave back all of my money, including shipping, and
paid for return shipping. And the person whose HD was destroyed
received not only a refund but also a new HD, even though he had
bought the HD elsewhere.
..

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

I plan to spring for a new external hard drive (USB). Anyone care to
offer advice on what is good and what is not? What I should watch out
for good or bad?

250GB appeals to me.

Check Fry's and www.salescircular.com for local specials. Fry's has
frequently sold 500GB external USB drives for $110.

It's possible you can buy an internal HD and an enclosure separately
for less than an external drive, but if you do, first consult
FatWallet.com's "The Official External Enclosure Thread" for both
technical informaiton and sources of bargains:

www.fatwallet.com/t/28/496281

Some enclosures can be awful, so look for something with plenty of
ventilation holes and a facility to let it stand upright securely.
Also avoid most enclosures with built-in power supplies because those
supplies are often not UL or CSA approved and may be pretty dangerous
and untrustworthy. An external power supply will almost always be UL
or CSA approved, and by being outside the enclosure, the internal HD
will run cooler.

 

[Brian Cryer]

Given a soldering iron, solder, a short length of wire and
some heatshrink tubing, you could drill a hole in the
enclosure casing and install a female socket which matches
whichever connector is on the replacement PSU you'd buy if
the need arose. Granted this seems like a lot of work, but
maybe about 5 minutes which could be less time than it would
take looking around for a PSU with a special connector.

Sounds a bit "Heath Robinson", but should my PSU go then I think your
suggestion would save me a lot of agro. Thanks.

 

[gecko]

1st ones I looked at were Freecoms, but mfr spec quoted 50,000hr
MTTF which is pretty awful. Unfortunately I didnt find mttf / mtbf
specs for other makes, but I know I want more than 80-90% to
survive the first year.


NT

As would I!

Thanks

G

 

[gecko]

Check Fry's and www.salescircular.com for local specials. Fry's has
frequently sold 500GB external USB drives for $110.

It's possible you can buy an internal HD and an enclosure separately
for less than an external drive, but if you do, first consult
FatWallet.com's "The Official External Enclosure Thread" for both
technical informaiton and sources of bargains:

www.fatwallet.com/t/28/496281

I just got through fast-reading this site's info. Looks very detailed
and useful. Thanks.
G

 

[kony]

I can understand IDE/SATA type is IDE/SATA type, but I am not talking
about IDE/SATA isn't standard IDE/SATA but if it's exactly like a normal
IDE/SATA drive with all the Jumpers, PIN, Power connector etc. that you can
easily install as internet (if the case is broken for example).

Some may be normal drive but how about all?

Yes they are usually standard drives you could install
inside a case. "ALL"? A manufacturer could change a design
at any time but as far as I know, all of them have been this
way, largely due to the fact that it would cost more to
design and manufacture another series of drives just to save
a couple cents by getting rid of a jumper block (since
they'd still need the bus and power pins).

 

[kony]

I was thinking about the 1TG external drive, but then I read someone
mentions it's actually (2) 500GB tied together, and I read *if* one fails
then 2 go to trash can. Of course I never own one to know more detail.

I'd imagine there are 1TB enclosures using only one drive,
wasn't it only Maxtor that released a 1TB as two drives?
Either way, you could still buy an empty enclosure then put
any drive you want in it.

 

[kony]

Sounds a bit "Heath Robinson", but should my PSU go then I think your
suggestion would save me a lot of agro. Thanks.

DIY repair solutions are often seen as excessive, but in
some cases they are cheaper, faster, and improve the
product. Win/win situation, unless the original PSU failure
has also damaged the enclosure electronics or drive.

On the other hand, you could just snip the original PSU's
proprietary connector off and graft it onto the new PSU
instead, but I would prefer the former option as then the
enclosure is compatible with a more common PSU plug should
the PSU ever need replaced again.

 

[Joel]

I'd imagine there are 1TB enclosures using only one drive,
wasn't it only Maxtor that released a 1TB as two drives?
Either way, you could still buy an empty enclosure then put
any drive you want in it.

I don't own any 1TG external to know for sure, and I only read from ONE
person who mentioned inside the 1GB is (2) 500GB drive. And s/he said *if*
one fails both have to go because they connect to each other (I don't know
more detail about this).

 

[Gilgamesh]

I don't own any 1TG external to know for sure, and I only read from ONE
person who mentioned inside the 1GB is (2) 500GB drive. And s/he said
*if*
one fails both have to go because they connect to each other (I don't know
more detail about this).

The one you're thinking of does stripping of the disks with parts of the
files written to alternate disks (in simple terms) so if one disk fails you
loose all your data. You just need to replace that one disk to be back up
and running.