Building an external HD

Ok, since my iBook from FreePay only has 40 gigs, I want an external, but have heard it's much cheaper (and pretty easy) to make one yourself with a case and an internal HD.

I found the HD I want

http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148022

But as far as case goes, I really don't know external cases, I have IEEE on my PC and iBooks have it, so I can do USB 2.0 + IEEE 1094. I think this case is good, if anyone can show me a better one for cheaper, I'll give +KMA.

http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817186206

That's the case I'm looking at.

If anyone can provide basic easy instructions, I'll give +KMA for that too.

Thanks!

you take the external drive case off and plug the ide dongley in.
you plug the power cord in too.
plug the hdd in to the wall and the computer
on mac run disk utility or on the pc use included software or something. if you want it to be both mac and pc make it fat32 since mac is an understanding system and accepts fat32 into it's family wheras windows is not and sucks.

i put together an external drive a few months ago. just took one of my extra hds and this case (except mine was black...seems like they no longer have black, but they have a few other colors)
http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145227R

i chose this case because it was one of the most compact, and can either stand or lie flat. plus its hot swappable usb, so plug n play (it says plug n play for mac n pc but i havent tried it on my mac yet). definitely recommend it, very quiet as well.

edit i realized i linked to a refurbed one up there. this ones a non-refurb, and has usb and ieee! http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145228

i got a usb netstar 2 off newegg.
the finish is sort of apple white and has a cool design so i bought it
you can hot swap any external drive pertty much.

Have you also considered upgrading the internal drive?

[quote94f75dc8f9="turpentinedreams"]i got a usb netstar 2 off newegg.
the finish is sort of apple white and has a cool design so i bought it
you can hot swap any external drive pertty much.[/quote94f75dc8f9]

well i meant u dunt need to use any software like your previous post said.

[quote9d771a2b12="Tholek"]Have you also considered upgrading the internal drive?[/quote9d771a2b12]

very very expensive for anything over 60gb


get a quality case if you'll be moving it around.

If he's getting a 3.5", then it's moot, but if he's after a 2.5", then he ought to think about just installing it internally.

An external drive gets a [if5bd3a77a4]helluvah[/if5bd3a77a4] lot more shocks compared to one nice n' snug in the laptop. )

I'm probably going to get a 3.5", since I can always use the extra space for storing some stuff from my PC.

why don't you just install a harddrive and make the 40gig your external??

i have 3gigs left on mine. gotta throw some stuff away

[quote4ab7473db2="tylerc"]I'm probably going to get a 3.5", since I can always use the extra space for storing some stuff from my PC.[/quote4ab7473db2]
3.5" drives not only store more, but are a lot cheaper per gig.

As for the cost of the case, that's pretty cheap. One thing to look at is the power adapter that comes with it. Make sure the connection on the drive will fit. My suggestion is to go check out some of the external cases at CompUSA then go back online to newegg and try to match up the best case. A good case is worth paying a bit more. That last thing you want is a cheap case that feels cheap.

[quote3ea69270cc="chillywilly"][quote3ea69270cc="tylerc"]I'm probably going to get a 3.5", since I can always use the extra space for storing some stuff from my PC.[/quote3ea69270cc]
3.5" drives not only store more, but are a lot cheaper per gig.

As for the cost of the case, that's pretty cheap. One thing to look at is the power adapter that comes with it. Make sure the connection on the drive will fit. My suggestion is to go check out some of the external cases at CompUSA then go back online to newegg and try to match up the best case. A good case is worth paying a bit more. That last thing you want is a cheap case that feels cheap.[/quote3ea69270cc]

i haven't seen you in forever.

honestly you in most cases will get it cheaper if you buy a pre enclosed HDD strangely enough.

[quote06f40e1fa5="JOSHBOX"]honestly you in most cases will get it cheaper if you buy a pre enclosed HDD strangely enough.[/quote06f40e1fa5]

they are really coming down in price.

i suggest watching slickdeals for a hot deal, unless you need the drive asap.

i like having my external enclosure seperate from the drive, so i can hook up other drives as need be. so far its been used to save 3 of my friends' data )

The pre enclosed drives can be opened if need be. Inside its the same 3.5" hdd. Its just cheaper in most cases to buy both in a package.

oh, didnt know that.

[quote084783ad67="kyks17"]oh, didnt know that.[/quote084783ad67]

thats because you are stupid...

jk lol

its cheaper making it than buying it but ive never done it myself my friend has one

I'd go with this one
SYBA Versa SY-U2F-3BK
http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817186109

Its got a fan and seems to have good reviews. Both Firewire and USB2.0 are good in case you need either one.

[quotea787af4510="Wolfeman"]I'd go with this one
SYBA Versa SY-U2F-3BK
http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817186109

Its got a fan and seems to have good reviews. Both Firewire and USB2.0 are good in case you need either one.[/quotea787af4510]

pssh, thats exactly my enclosure (although mine has only usb, but the one i linked to had usb and firewire) cept it says versa and mine says penguin haha

[quoteb2e94723ca="kyks17"][quoteb2e94723ca="Wolfeman"]I'd go with this one
SYBA Versa SY-U2F-3BK
http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817186109

Its got a fan and seems to have good reviews. Both Firewire and USB2.0 are good in case you need either one.[/quoteb2e94723ca]

pssh, thats exactly my enclosure (although mine has only usb, but the one i linked to had usb and firewire) cept it says versa and mine says penguin haha[/quoteb2e94723ca]

psssssssssssssssssh ) Its gotten good reviews overall. Is the fan noisy on yours?

Lacie 160GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive Design By F A Porsche $99.95 (I would go for this instead of the combo you're thinking of getting)
Iomega Silver Series 250GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive $129.95
Fantom Titanium 300GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive - $149.95

Those are some of the deals I saw at buy.com.

My Iomega 100GB is solid. No problems but a bit noisy...

[quote3ebe79c8e7="Wolfeman"][quote3ebe79c8e7="kyks17"][quote3ebe79c8e7="Wolfeman"]I'd go with this one
SYBA Versa SY-U2F-3BK
http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817186109

Its got a fan and seems to have good reviews. Both Firewire and USB2.0 are good in case you need either one.[/quote3ebe79c8e7]

pssh, thats exactly my enclosure (although mine has only usb, but the one i linked to had usb and firewire) cept it says versa and mine says penguin haha[/quote3ebe79c8e7]

psssssssssssssssssh ) Its gotten good reviews overall. Is the fan noisy on yours?[/quote3ebe79c8e7]

nope! perfectly noiseless. if it is noisy, it means u didnt scrunch the wires in the right way at the end. i didnt scrunch em 1 time and it was like a lawn mower. but thats wat u get when wires are too close to the fan )

If i were you< i wouldnt spend more than $15 for a hard drive enclosure. Some of them go up to even $80, they have lights and hubs and all that stuff but its not needed. For a general purpose, just get a cheap one. If you want to play like 40 bucks for a hd enclosure then just get a new computer case and move everything into it, if you really want to move the hard drive around a lot, then its best to get a real external hard drive.

[quote51e2906b90="EatChex89"]i haven't seen you in forever.[/quote51e2906b90]
Yeah. Being too busy, but had to come back to get the latest freebies.

+Karma for coming back chilly...

Thanks wolfeman.