What's a good HDD checker for external HDDs?

[Rod Speed]

How about one little fan on the bottom of the enclosure case in the back?

Some of them are close to entirely cosmetic, the fan doesnt do much.

It doesn't seem to blow a lot of air out if it is on a table due
to short height space between the table and case's fan vent.

You dont actually need much air volume to make a big difference.
Think of convection cooling which you cant even feel with a hard drive,
doing quite a bit better than that air movement wise is usually enough.

The fundamental problem with decent external housings is the
consumer expectation that they be nice and slim and petite
looking. It aint easy to get decent fan cooling with that, and
its not hard to see why the designers try to make it look good.

Yeah, that is why I picked this Kingwin HDD Enclosure (MS-350U-S) HDD enclosure
(http://www.kingwin.com/pdut_detail.asp?LineID=&CateID=27&ID=230 or
http://tinyurl.com/ym3nb8 ).

Not too clear how long fans like that will last, or whether its getting any
air in thru the sides which may or may not be slotted for air to get in.

Ah nice.

Nah, that wouldn't happen. I just needed it to carry
around and mainly as a backup/archive place.

Laptop drives do that very well, more portable because
they are smaller and much less of a heat problem too.
Significantly more expensive $/GB tho.

Heh. Probably too much for me.

It doesnt cost much if you use a discarded PC.

 

[ANTant]

How about one little fan on the bottom of the enclosure case in the back?

Some of them are close to entirely cosmetic, the fan doesnt do much.

Yeah, that's annoying. I don't really care about comestic as long as it
not pink or some crazy color and offensive.

You dont actually need much air volume to make a big difference.
Think of convection cooling which you cant even feel with a hard drive,
doing quite a bit better than that air movement wise is usually enough.

Hmm, I wonder how well the airflow is in this Kingwin enclosure I have.
The metallic/aluminum case can get very warm. I don't think it gets hot
as Maxtor't case.

The fundamental problem with decent external housings is the
consumer expectation that they be nice and slim and petite
looking. It aint easy to get decent fan cooling with that, and
its not hard to see why the designers try to make it look good.

Yeah, both Maxtor and Kingwin's cases are pretty big to me, but probably
still have problems to cool down.

Not too clear how long fans like that will last, or whether its getting any
air in thru the sides which may or may not be slotted for air to get in.

I don't see any vents on the sides. Only the fan vent. :I Not even sure
if the vent on the bottom is more effective than rear (e.g., Maxtor's).
I think it's worse because the table is blocking more room.
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[Rod Speed]

Yeah, that's annoying.

Yeah, it annoys me too, tho its easy to see why they do it that way.

I don't really care about comestic as long as
it not pink or some crazy color and offensive.

Yeah, me too. Though I have avoided the colorful laptop bags etc.

Hmm, I wonder how well the airflow is in this Kingwin enclosure I have.

Bugger all if the only vents in the case are where the fan itself is.

The metallic/aluminum case can get very warm.

And that is the evidence that it hasnt been properly designed.

I don't think it gets hot as Maxtor't case.

Yeah, both Maxtor and Kingwin's cases are pretty big to me,

Yeah, that Kingwin is pretty crude appearance wise.

but probably still have problems to cool down.

Yeah, in both cases **** all air is moved thru the case.

I don't see any vents on the sides. Only the fan vent. :I
Urk.

Not even sure if the vent on the bottom is more effective than rear (e.g.,
Maxtor's). I think it's worse because the table is blocking more room.

Bit academic if there is no place for the air to get in.