Getting External Storage: Questions

[Conrad11]

Hi there,

I am thinking of getting some external storage.

I am getting a 200GB IDE drive and a caddybox type thing.

Questions:

Is it worth going sata, will it be much faster?
Will the drive be hot swappable. ie can i switch it on just when i need it? Or will i have to switch the computer off first then switch it on?

Thanks.

EDIT:

Can anyone confirm that this caddy (Sumvision ENCL-35USB-3.5USB) takes SATA?

 

[Conrad11]

Both USB2 and eSATA drives are hot swappable.

What about external IDE drives?

EDIT:

Can anyone confirm that this caddy (Sumvision ENCL-35USB-3.5USB) takes SATA?

 

[Conrad11]

What about Sumvision ENCL-35WXT-E825-3.5 (same price)

Does that have a fan?

Also is an ATA/100 drive fast enough? (don't know about the different speeds?)