Enclosure + HDD vs 'Pre-Made'?

Markus123 · 7 May 2008 at 11:58

Hi, I'm in need of a couple of external HDDs for secondary backup at work and they need to be pretty quiet since they'll be connected most of the time. Only thing is I'm on a pretty limited budget of £65 per-drive with a minimum of 500GB which limits my options a bit, Any ideas which would be better/quieter/more reliable?

Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External
vs
Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA 16MB 7200RPM HDD + Icy Box 390 Caddy

Or any other options that will come in under/very slightly over my budget? Thanks in advance.

bledd · 7 May 2008 at 12:29

i went for a samsung f1 1000gb 32mb cache + icybox 390, came to £120 with free delivery

the pre made ones have a higher failrate in my experience

i've fixed about 10 lacie drives and 2 or 3 wd ones (fixed by buying icyboxes for them and swapping them out!)

-edit, i wrote 500gb, i meant 1000gb!

errata · 7 May 2008 at 13:23

at least with the diy solution you dont have to send disc and enclosure back if theres a fault on just one component. Some pre mades may come with backup software which might be handy and they are very competitively priced vs a good quality enclosure

Markus123 · 7 May 2008 at 18:40

Thanks for the replies, swaying towards buying the enclosure/HDD separate now then.

Could anyone with an IcyBox 390 let me know if it's any good (i.e not much noise/vibrations)? Also, do you have to use the stand it comes with it, and is it suitable to leave on most of the time or will it get too hot? Thanks again.

bledd · 9 May 2008 at 15:27

my 1tb drive is silent in it, you can just hear it when it turns on (makes a very faint click -as do all hard drives) the temps are normal in it, and would be fine on 24/7, it comes with a stand but i just leave mine flat, makes it easier to carry about without it

it's the 3rd icy box i've bought (i still use the others, but they're a few years old) it's by far the best quality enclosure i've seen

, and for £20 it's a steal

looks tons nicer than the WD book things, they're louder and made of tacky plastic, and too bulky

farooqm · 10 May 2008 at 09:57

I've also gone for the 1Tb Samsung F1 with an Icy Box 390 and have to say I consistantly get high speeds, I have it next to my monitor and can honestly say that I can't hear it in use.

Would really recommend this combo.