New External Drive

ChrissyT88 · 2 Oct 2008 at 20:48

Hi,

My Freecom external backup drive (a desktop moodel) packed up a little while ago so i am looking for a replacement. The drive gets moved around a little bit, and although it is always moved carefully, i have a feeling this may be why the Freecom drive packed up. For this reason, i am considering an external drive that would be classified as 'mobile' (who knows, maybe one day i will use it with a laptop!). I dont need a vast quantity of storage - 320gb should be fine for backups of music and docs.

I have been looking at the Freecom Mobile Classic drives, and also at an icybox 2.5" caddy and a WD Scorpio 7200 rpm drive. Cost wise, the caddy is probably better (not much more money, but better performance), but im wondering about durability - how durable are the caddys? I am also wondering if the 2.5" icybox enclosure, which uses the case as the heatsink), will be able to keep the 7200 rpm drives cool enough (i presume so, but its worth checking!)?

Thanks, any help/advice would be much appreciated.

fobose · 2 Oct 2008 at 21:47

I used to use my WD 320GB "blue" (5400rpm) 2.5" drive in an icy box via e-sata. It was quick enough for me and the temp was always low:

bledd · 3 Oct 2008 at 09:22

icybox 290 or 390

small & rounded, easy to move about

, the 290 would fit in your pocket

ChrissyT88 · 3 Oct 2008 at 20:31

Cheers guys - i think i will be putting in an order over the weekend. Your input is much appreciated.

ChrissyT88 · 8 Oct 2008 at 17:46

I went ahead and bought the icy box 290 and a WD Scorpio black drive over the weekend and put everything together this morning. I do have a couple of quick questions if anyone can give me some answers.

1. I really want to use the esata connection, but the power and esata connectors are too short to place the hard disk on my desk. Is is possible to buy longer connectors? Alternatively, i could place the drive on top of my PC above the PSU - is this safe? i know HDDs are sensitive to strong magnets, and am worried that the transformer in the PSU could cause issues...

2. I am having trouble 'removing the device safely' using the USB connector. I am using vista64, and windows always claims that the disk is in use. Is this normal? Can i just remove the cable and cut the power to remove the disk, or should i wait until the computer has been shut down?

Thanks