I stopped at a computer & electronics gear show and sale today (http://www.marketproshows.com/visitor/search.asp), and noticed these HDD Enclosures being sold in the $35 to $55 range. These were all new to me, but they are nice: Inside the enclosure goes a desktop internal 3.5” HDD with an EIDE interface. The Enclosure Box provides power to the HD (presumably from some ac>dc power adapter), and coming out of the box is a USB2 and firewire connection.

Then, right down the aisle, I saw 200 Gb hard drives being sold for $149 (West Digi, 7200 rpm varieties). Then I realized what people are doing: Buy a enormous-capacity 3.5” desktop HDD, slap it in the enclosure, connect a USB cable, and you have one of the external USB HDD for about $150 less than what the brand names (WD, Maxtor) sell for at retail.

So, a few questions: Has anyone done this with their Thinkpad, and specifically is their any limitation in a TB’s BIOS that would limit how much of the external HDD a TB can access? Does W2K and XP have native drivers to access these devices via the USB connection? Is that a correct assumption about the EIDE interface type inside the enclosure?

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the name of the manufacturer of the enclosures, or I’d look at their website and get this last question answered.

Yes on all counts. My son has a 120Gb desktop drive in one of these enclosures ($15 on the web) and stores all his music and videos on it. This way he can take his music and video files with him. His present computer is USB 1.1, though, so transfers are VERY slow! Wouldn't recommend this ordinarily but he's getting the new T42 for his 16th birthday!

Yep, I'm about to order an enclosure and harddrive too. I'm getting mine from newegg.com. The Bytecc 5.25" one. Then throw in a 80 gb hd. Maybe a dvd-rw sometime in the future.

Don't think that there should be any limitation in the bios regarding the size of the HDD. Yes, with W2K and XP it's just plug n' play with these ext. HDD's, W98 needs drivers. Yes, EIDE interface inside.

I am currently using a 120Gb IBM in a 3.5'' Box for storage at home and a 40Gb in a 2.5'' box for extra space on the road. The 2.5'' box is especially sweet since it draws it's power from the USB connection and of course it's size.

Regards

I got a 40gig 5400 2.5" Hitachi drive in a USB2 enclosure and to me it is the perfect backup - host powered, small and light.

Thanks for the insights (if I had known it was so easy, I would have bought one today), ... I have two more questions:

Can you boot from these devices ... say if I wanted to add a second OS and make my TP multiboot?

The enclosures I saw had power on/off swicthes. Asssuming that one uses either the power switch -- or one unplugs the USB cable for those devices that obtain their power from from USB --- is this an acceptable, graceful way to shutdown the HDD (i.e., it doesn't do any damage nor shorten the HD's lifespan, etc.)?

Hmm, I've seen so many standard 3.5" desktop drives dying that have been lugged around in computers for LAN parties etc... They're much more sensitive than the laptop 2.5" drives. I wouldn't want to use them as portable devices, only stationary.


What a lucky son.

You've got to tell us your exact ThinkPad model, otherwise we can't help you. Most of us aren't clairvoyants (well, very few here may be psychos... but psychics? Nah... )

T41 - 2379DJU

I have a 160GB Western Digital ($60 on sale) in a USB 2.0 enclosure ($25). Works great on my thinkpad.

Another important advantage of the 2.5" drives and enclosures is that they're self-powered. They get their power from the 5V line in the USB interface. That makes them far more portable than the 3.5" drives which require a power supply in the enclosure and a plug-in to 120VAC. Of course the 2.5" drives cost more, so if you need more than 40GB you're probably better off with 3.5" technology.

Well personally, owning a thinkpad t series makes you think slickness in all IMO. hence i purchased a notebook 80gb hd and a VanTec NexStar external enclosure, both from newegg, and it worked out great. it's so skinny, and travels really well.

I'm still hoping someone can tell me if these devices can be made bootable on a T41?

Anyone using a Sanmax case?
I am thinking about getting this unit instead of Vantec Nexstar because of the smaller form factor.

Thanks

http://www.sanmax.com/products/index.cg ... =HD-338-CB

Yes, they can. Enter your computer's BIOS setup and look for "USB HDD" in the options to set the boot order. To resolve any potential issues, just make sure you've got the latest BIOS.

The SanMax is larger.

SanMax: 138 x 84 x 20mm (ref your link)
Vantec: 130 x 75 x 12mm (http://store.yahoo.com/surpluscomputers ... 0neex.html)

i love mines

I purchased a 2.5" enclosure about a year and a half ago when they were just coming out. Before I got a 2.5" drive, I borrowed an old 8GB drive from our IT guys just to see if it would work (and before I forked out the cash for a new 20GB HDD). Sure enough, worked fine. But, I needed power from the mains to make it work with my old R32 (not so with my X40).

I don't travel with mine, save for back and forth between home and work.

I failed to mention that I was referring to the 3.5 version.
I am planning to use it with a 250GB hard disk

Vantec (3.5 version) is bigger, but looks sturdier.