Along the lines of firewire enclosures, anyone have a recommendation for 2.5" enclosures? I've bought a couple in the past but haven't looked recently. I'm aware of the usual suspects (newegg, owc, etc.) but if someone has a recommendation for a great drive at a great price I'd love to hear about it!
thanks ... Eric
Eric,
I have experience with two different models of 2.5" drive enclosure, both are reasonably priced, IMO.
For a cheap, functional, aluminum-clad, bus-powered dual firewire (firewire 400) enclosure that is bootable for Macs, consider the Sanmax Aluminum (HD-227-FW ). It comes with the needed cables and screws, and is a snap to open for drive installation:
http://www.sanmax.com/products/index.cgi?display=item&part=HD-227-FW
$25, dual firewire, in stock: http://www.coolerexpress.com/al2hadrca.html $27, dual firewire, but currently out of stock. http://pcmicrostore.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500944 $35, dual firewire, http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3698235 $45, combo firewire & USB2, http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3698245
My favorite is still the ME-910 series, which has been available as USB2, dual Firewire, or combo dual Firewire + USB2. I'm not sure who actually manufactures them, possibly www.triumphtech.com or www.welland.com.tw. Anyhow, they're durable polycarbonate plastic, prettier in real life than in the pictures, are bus powered, bootable for Macs, and can accommodate the older 13mm high 2.5" hard drives, as well as the newer 9mm high thin ones. They have non-skid feet, additional colored side-panels, USB and/or firewire cables, and carrying case. Even a PS-2 power cable if you decide to plug it into a Windows machine (which typically don't provide bus power.) I've used it with my Powerbook Pismo, iMac DV, and eMac.
$38, Firewire; http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3484023 $44.99 Firewire & USB Combo; http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3484043
Note however, I have previously reported on these lists my trouble with a capacitor exploding in the ME-910U2F enclosure when used on iMac and eMac systems (not my powerbook though), because of the higher amperage supplied by the desktop firewire busses, and a bad lot of capacitors used in production. The vendor sent replacement enclosures, but they had the same problem, and I ended up just installing new capacitors myself. This is a known issue, was acknowledged by Triumph, and some vendors say they've gotten new stock that doesn't have this problem. Other vendors just disavow any knowledge of the problem. (It does not damage the drive itself, or the connected computer.) If you buy from outpost, I'm sure they'd give a refund if the thing exploded. The ME-910 seems to be replaced with a flashy "Luna" model now, but I've not used one, though I'd imagine they've fixed the cap problem by now.
Good luck!
--Jim.
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