Thinkpads Forum

I'm considering getting an external hard drive for my T43 when it arrives... although I'm not too familiar with them.

I was considering upgrading my notebook's HD to the 7K60, and put the 40GB 5400 in an external enclosure for whatever I want to back-up. 60GB + the external 40GB will be MORE than plenty for me.

Now, what are some things I need to look for in an external enclosure? notebook drives are 2.5" versus 3.5", is there a difference in performance between these? Are there different speed enclosures or is that determined by the HDD itself? I'm assuming you can just plug the enclosure into the USB only when you need to back something up, back it up, and then unplug and continue using the notebook, is this correct? Do I need external power for the enclosure?

Also, what have been some brands you have had success with? Any I should stay away from?

Thanks in advance!

ct, a german computer magazin tested enclosures. For 2,5'' most of them needed to much power from the usb port. The one with the lowest power consumption was dvico momobay cx-2 (or ux-2 for just usb). This one I am currently using. No external power adapter is needed. The other test winners were Onnto enclosures (but they needed external power supply). The size of the momobay enclosure is like an ipod ( http://www.dvico.com/pcx-2.html ).

3,5'' drives alway need external power supply, they are louder but of course cheaper.

...

I have two: a 1.8" external that uses power direct from USB and a 2.5" that also uses power direct from USB. However, the enclosure that I use for the 2.5" also has a 5V power input, so I use that to ensure that power is consistent.

However, interesting that this thread has come up. Yesterday, I lost access to my 2.5. I was doing a backup in my office (the 2.5 gets fully mirrored to my desktop) and midway through, it powered down in the middle of the backup - even thought it was fully plugged in to the mains. It has happened before, and usually doesn't cause damage. However, this time it seems to have altered the structure of the disk itself, as it was impossible to read. It would barely even register in 'logical disk management'.

In the end, it would register, but after scanning it, trying to fix it in scandisk, and repeated attempts on three different machines, I simply couldn't read the drive. The only thing left was to low-level format, which I was able to do (although it was slow). Behaves pefectly normal now, so don't think it's a problem with the drive or the enclosure.

Didn't loose anything important, however, as it was a backup disk only. Close call.

...

I really like the Mapower enclosures. I have one for 2.5" and its great.

Look for the ones with both USB2 and Firewire.

emorphien wrote:I really like the Mapower enclosures. I have one for 2.5" and its great.

Look for the ones with both USB2 and Firewire.

Does Mapower work on USB power alone? Do you need to connect AC adapter to make it work in write mode? Thanks

I have a 100GB Seagate...I got for 150 dollars. There was a sale and rebate...which equalled to about 100 dollars off. wish I had money to buy 2 of them...anyways, it works great. 100GB, 2MB Cache, 5400 MS, Runs From USB 2 which is standard I'm sure...

one thing that I find weird, but could be useful if the need is there is the USB cable has 2 USB Plugs just in case you arn't getting enough power from 1 plug. I've used it on 2 laptops with out any problems...I think it's older systems that would have a problem...but, then if it's not putting enough power out you might just have a USB1.

Very similar to Batuta's suggestion.
http://www.meritline.com/firewire-usb-e ... e-hdd.html is what I like to use to cover all the bases. It may be a little larger than most users want, but I keep a Plextor 716 dvd burner in one a lot.
It uses a separate internal power supply to eliminate usb and firewire power problems. I have a few cables that give me all the different usb/firewire connection combinations so I can literally hook up any drive to any system, easily.
Food for thought.
BTW, Tested with 40 min transfer, firewire seems to be about 2 min faster than usb2.

...

kanate wrote:

emorphien wrote:I really like the Mapower enclosures. I have one for 2.5" and its great.

Look for the ones with both USB2 and Firewire.

Does Mapower work on USB power alone? Do you need to connect AC adapter to make it work in write mode? Thanks

No, but it has a special cable that can connect to 2 USB ports for extra power is needed. One is simply a passthrough connector that leeches some power, you could still plug a thumb drive in behind it.

It unfortunately does NOT come with the AC adapter, but I ordered that from some website, I'd have to find it. It was $13 and pretty small. Definitely worth it and still one of the nicest enclosures IMO.

As far as the firewire vs USB 2.0 debates, speed isn't much different although the processor overhead needed for firewire is lower. However plug & play with firewire on the whole tends to be more sketchy. The plug & play issue hasn't cropped up on my drive, but I've experienced it with many firewire devices.

emorphien wrote:

kanate wrote: Does Mapower work on USB power alone? Do you need to connect AC adapter to make it work in write mode? Thanks

No, but it has a special cable that can connect to 2 USB ports for extra power is needed. One is simply a passthrough connector that leeches some power, you could still plug a thumb drive in behind it.

It unfortunately does NOT come with the AC adapter, but I ordered that from some website, I'd have to find it. It was $13 and pretty small. Definitely worth it and still one of the nicest enclosures IMO.

As far as the firewire vs USB 2.0 debates, speed isn't much different although the processor overhead needed for firewire is lower. However plug & play with firewire on the whole tends to be more sketchy. The plug & play issue hasn't cropped up on my drive, but I've experienced it with many firewire devices.

I have a Mapower enclosure also and build quality is top notch. What website did you get your adapter from? Since I dont have USB2.0 on my thinkpad, I plug in the firewire port first, then the USB ports for power.

I plan on getting one of their FireWire/USB2.0 5.25 enclosures so I can make an external DVD burner.

johnson wrote:

emorphien wrote: No, but it has a special cable that can connect to 2 USB ports for extra power is needed. One is simply a passthrough connector that leeches some power, you could still plug a thumb drive in behind it.

It unfortunately does NOT come with the AC adapter, but I ordered that from some website, I'd have to find it. It was $13 and pretty small. Definitely worth it and still one of the nicest enclosures IMO.

As far as the firewire vs USB 2.0 debates, speed isn't much different although the processor overhead needed for firewire is lower. However plug & play with firewire on the whole tends to be more sketchy. The plug & play issue hasn't cropped up on my drive, but I've experienced it with many firewire devices.

I have a Mapower enclosure also and build quality is top notch. What website did you get your adapter from? Since I dont have USB2.0 on my thinkpad, I plug in the firewire port first, then the USB ports for power.

I plan on getting one of their FireWire/USB2.0 5.25 enclosures so I can make an external DVD burner.

You might have to email mapower and ask since I can't remember or find the site and I threw out the receipt. It's was rather inexpensive though.

DavidNZ wrote:I have two: a 1.8" external that uses power direct from USB and a 2.5" that also uses power direct from USB. However, the enclosure that I use for the 2.5" also has a 5V power input, so I use that to ensure that power is consistent.

However, interesting that this thread has come up. Yesterday, I lost access to my 2.5. I was doing a backup in my office (the 2.5 gets fully mirrored to my desktop) and midway through, it powered down in the middle of the backup - even thought it was fully plugged in to the mains. It has happened before, and usually doesn't cause damage. However, this time it seems to have altered the structure of the disk itself, as it was impossible to read. It would barely even register in 'logical disk management'.

In the end, it would register, but after scanning it, trying to fix it in scandisk, and repeated attempts on three different machines, I simply couldn't read the drive. The only thing left was to low-level format, which I was able to do (although it was slow). Behaves pefectly normal now, so don't think it's a problem with the drive or the enclosure.

Didn't loose anything important, however, as it was a backup disk only. Close call.

Unfortunately, the same thing happened to me 3 times with the same drive. Each time the drive wouldn't get picked up by Windows any longer and required to be repartitioned. The 3rd time it happened, I decided to try read the drive via the enclosure on a linux system. Detected and corrected the problem instantly.

Can anyone help me with some questions regarding 1.8" HDD in an external enclosure:

- Is 60GB the absolute largest capacity currently available (or is it 80GB, I can't recall)?

- What's the absolute-smallest 1.8" drive enclosure that you've found? It can either be a prepackaged external drive, or an empty enclosure for which I'll buy the drive separately.

I've been using external 2.5" drive enclosures but would like to switch to 1.8" size for two reasons:

1) smaller size/weight obviously

2) no need to worry about some USB ports not providing enough bus power (because 2.5" HDD power requirement is often on the borderline of USB bus power specs, where you're never sure if the next computer's USB port will supply enough power or if you'd still need to bring the power cable)


An external 1" HDD is good too, if not for the etremely limited capacity

THis is the absolute smallest metal USB 2.0 enclosure for a 2.5" laptop drive. It's bus-powered and screw-less. Thinner than even my iPod mini.


http://www.meritline.com/usb-enclosure- ... nal-2.html

- Is 60GB the absolute largest capacity currently available (or is it 80GB, I can't recall)?


There is now availabe a 120gb 2.5 drive, Also a high speed 100gb 7200rpm

Also don't forget the option with many of the Thinkpads for using the Ultrabay as another HDD. I have 3 drives now in my A31p and that alone is reason for me to keep this baby running. While my colleagues are lugging around their external drives with cables dangling all over the place I have 2 additional drives humming inside of my laptop. They are easy to swap out inside the bay if you have several drives you go between.

Jack

Thanks guys, but to clarify I was looking at 1.8" drives, not 2.5" drives. I was asking if 60GB is the largest size available for 1.8" formfactor.

Then again, I guess 1.8" drives generally don't come with a standard IDE/ATA attachment connector (I think they've been used more for embedded use, or in a PC Card formfactor)? So perhaps I should look for a prepackaged external 1.8" drive instead of looking to buy an "internal" 1.8" drive and an empty 1.8" enclosure...


P.S. In regards to power requirements of 2.5" external drives, I found that the drive itself also makes a difference (not just the enclosure/interface chipset). For example I had an older, smaller capacity (single-platter) 2.5 drive which booted up and ran fine off USB bus power even when used in a variety of different USB enclosures I have. But a larger 2.5 drive I also tried failed to spin up from the bus power in some of the computers (when tried inside the same set of enclosures). I'd guessed the larger drive also had larger initial spin up power draw requirement or something...

Dvico MomoBay USB/Fw + Hitachi 80GN ic25n080ATMR 4200rpm

I followed up the hint by s0larian - Here my experiences.

for the momobay:
it's working OK and looking cool, but...

IMHO it's quite expensive 60 EUR, for it's cumbersome work
to fit the hdd inside the enclosure, the provided screw driver is useless.
for that price I would have expected a screw-less quick fit mechanism.

The FW cable cannot be used without external power
adatpter/cable , because the Thinkpad only offers a 4-pin FW plug,
needed would be the bigger 6-pin plug, which inlcudes power supply pins.
USB works fine- no external power needed.

For the ic25n080atmr -
compared to the ic25n040atmr it emits a slighty perceivable
(but still silent enough) high pitched whine and gets a little bit warmer.

Both are a great portable combination
to do backups via USB using R&R 2.04.