Noob Needs Help. External Enclosure + internal HDD ?

[photoshop]

Ok Guys im a bit of a noob at this.
I never knew you could buy something like an IceBox and then pair it with a ATA or SATA HDD (depending on the Enclosure) and use it as an external hdd.

I being a noob was going to spend a lot of money on an external drive like WD Book or the Lacie d2's BUT i think doing it seperatly i can save a few bob.

So im thinking of pairing the Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM with something like Icy Box External Enclosure IB-360AStUS SATA + USB Combo - Black/LED Good combo?

All in all this will set me back £160

im planning on using it via USB connection as i want to keep it simple.
This will primerly be used as a Back-up and archiving drive.
Your probably thinking if im going to use it via USB i would be better off getting a ATA drive instead but i have thought of this and to stay future proof ive opted for SATAII drive. Good choice?

I plan on only switching it ON when i need to transfer files over to it and then switching it OFF rather than having it on all the time. This is how i use my existing lacie at the moment. Will this be possible with the caddie?

if all is good then i plan of creating the above 2x ending up with 1Tb


Opinions please.....

EDIT 1: How is the HDD powered?
EDIT 2: Just read a few reviews and it is suggested that a cheaper HDD be used as the connection will choke the speeds......so......i might pair it up with a 500 Gb Seagate ST3500630A Barracuda 7200.10, IDE (PATA), 7200 rpm, instead Good idea?

 

[rpstewart]

Reasonable choice of drive and caddy BUT... I've only see one small review of that caddy which suggests that you can only use the USB connection if you fit an IDE drive but if you fit a SATA drive you have to use the eSATA connection. Now to me this defeats the purpose of having multiple interfaces but IcyBox doesn't seem to have a site to confirm this.

You should be able to turn the caddy off as you do with your current Lacie

The drive will be powered by an external power brick

If you're going to run using the USB connection then any drive available today will be able to transfer data faster than the interface can cope therefore there's no point in paying extra for a fast disk. It might however be worth going for the Seagate on the basis of the 5 year warranty.