Rod said:
I've just bought myself a Plextor PX-256M5P SSD. It included (or should have)
a 3.5 inch Bracket. The supplier will only accept a return/refund and then I
would have to re-order - at a higher price!
Does anyone know what these brackets look like/ Or where I can get one from
please?
I got this one to install a 2.5" mechanical laptop drive into a desktop:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817989005
(free shipping is available)
It will hold up to two 2.5" drives within one 3.5" drive bay.
I was a bit suprised as the supplier showed a cased drive but when it arrived
it was uncased!
Please explain what you mean by "uncased". The pic shown here for that
drive has it inside a case (so it has the screw holes needed to afix it
to a drive adapter):
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71L0N68MNXL._SL1500_.jpg
If it looks like below then you bought the item from a scrapper:
http://content.hwigroup.net/images/products/xl/159074/4/plextor_m5_pro_256gb.jpg
However, although it is exposed, it should still mount okay using the 4
holes in the PCB to a drive adapter that has holes on the bottom (since
drives often have bottom-side mounts, too). The adapter that I
mentioned at Newegg can accept drives or PCBs with side or bottom
mounting positions. Of course, with only a PCB, there are no threaded
holes in the PCB, so you'll need to provide your own bolts and nuts (and
hope you don't over torque to crack the PCB). The adapter that I
mentioned is made of plastic so you don't have to worry about shorting
circuit paths on the PCB to the case ground (but then don't use nuts or
bolt heads bigger than the allocated pad on the PCB for mounting).
The case is only for protection. If you don't scrape a screwdriver
across the PCB, the drive will be sufficiently safe once you attach to
an adapter and then slide the adapter into the drive bay. Yes, dust can
get on the PCB more than an encased PCB so you should figure on getting
an air can once a year to blow out the dust (and do that outside);
however, dusting out your case once a year is something you should do
anyway whether you have that SSD drive or not. The CPU will cool better
without all the dust in its heatsink and the fans wear less if not out
of balance due to accumulated grime.