Has anyone tried this at home?

[arnab_das]

This is a jacket and ide to usb cable for the internal hard disk drive. Once applied, you basically have a brand new external drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182143

Was wondering if anyone has actually used something like this. Or if these actually work or is just a gimmick where you end up with a flimsy hard drive.

[TeoBigusGeekus]

Of course. My laptop died in the last September and I took out the hd, wrapped it in one of these and got meself a new external one.

[winh8r]

I have two Allcam U3510 external HDD enclosures. Use them both daily and consider them to be a worthwhile investment.

[arnab_das]

oh so is this only for laptop ones? cant i use for 3.5mm hard drives?

[philinux]

This is a jacket and ide to usb cable for the internal hard disk drive. Once applied, you basically have a brand new external drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182143

Was wondering if anyone has actually used something like this. Or if these actually work or is just a gimmick where you end up with a flimsy hard drive.

I bought a dock that can take both 2.5 and 3.5 drives. You never know when it might ve needed. It was from amazon for about £18.

[arnab_das]

I bought a dock that can take both 2.5 and 3.5 drives. You never know when it might ve needed. It was from amazon for about £18.

question, do u need an external power supply for this? pretty inconvenient though, isnt it?

[philinux]

question, do u need an external power supply for this? pretty inconvenient though, isnt it?

Yes but useful that it takes both sizes. It's not big either.

[coldraven]

I upgraded my laptop drive from 160GB to 250GB, it cost £30.
Then I bought an enclosure from eBay for £5 and used the 160GB for external, portable storage. Much happiness for a total of £35!

[wolfen69]

I once had a (small) pc repair business, and something like this is a must. Worked great, and helped me out a bunch of times.

[dpny]

Been using these for years: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go

Wide range of connection types, can come with a drive or without.

[Warpnow]

2.5" is for laptops. 3.5" for desktops.

The laptop drives can pull power from the usb.

The desktop ones require an external power supply.

[cariboo]

I have several, for both 2.5" and 3.5" drives, the enclosures for 3.5" drives are for both PATA and SATA drives, and I have separate enclosures for 2.5" PATA and SATA.

[MisterGaribaldi]

Absolutely. I have several enclosures, however mine are all 3.5" enclosures because I'm dealing with standard desktop HDDs. But I've had a laptop HDD enclosure back in the day, and it worked fabulously.

Here's what I use when I need USB access quickly to an internal HDD:

http://images.highspeedbackbone.net/skuimages/large/Sabrent-USB-DSC5-A455-2366-.jpg (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2329300&CatId=3770)

This way, I can support 2.5" and 3.5" IDE drives (which use different connectors) and 2.5" and 3.5" SATA drives (which use a common connector). Just remember to disconnect this from both ends (that is, the computer side and the HDD side) when switching between disks, because otherwise it holds onto the previous drive's firmware identity.

[Paqman]

They're good if you've got some old IDE drives. Bit pointless for SATA, as you can just plug those into e-SATA and get a lot faster than USB will give you.

They work fine for optical drives, too, so they're quite a good option if your machine doesn't have an optical drive. You can pick up an old IDE optical off eBay for a lot less than they'll sting you for an actual USB optical drive.

[CharlesA]

They're good if you've got some old IDE drives. Bit pointless for SATA, as you can just plug those into e-SATA and get a lot faster than USB will give you.

Yeah, The only thing I have problems with is finding a way to power the drive when it's hooked up via eSATA because I don't have any external power packs for them. At least I can hook it up to one of the cables from the PSU and be done with it, even if that is a bit of a pain and requires opening the case. :p

[SemiExpert]

Every external hard drive is simply a hard drive in an enclosure. Some enclosures are better than others, and there are notable exceptions.


They're good if you've got some old IDE drives. Bit pointless for SATA, as you can just plug those into e-SATA and get a lot faster than USB will give you.

A lot of notebook PCs have combination eSATA/USB ports, although very few people ever buy powered eSATA cables. Right or wrong, the USB port has become universal, and with USB 3.0 becoming universal this year, I think that the argument will soon be settled.

[arnab_das]

this thread has been extraordinarily helpful. so a big thank you.

i have started the process of networking my place by going for this: a belkin router with a usb port, http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=543387

the usb to sata thing is next.

[wojox]

Anyone ever mod one of these themselves? Looks fun.

[SemiExpert]

Yeah, The only thing I have problems with is finding a way to power the drive when it's hooked up via eSATA because I don't have any external power packs for them. At least I can hook it up to one of the cables from the PSU and be done with it, even if that is a bit of a pain and requires opening the case. :p

Well, there is such a thing as a powered eSATA port, basically just a combination USB/eSATA port that requires a very specific and relatively uncommon powered eSATA cable, or eSATAp.

[CharlesA]

Well, there is such a thing as a powered eSATA port, basically just a combination USB/eSATA port that requires a very specific and relatively uncommon powered eSATA cable, or eSATAp.
Interesting. I had a bracket on one of my desktops that took a molex connector and turned it into an eSATA power plug, with a special connector.

[arnab_das]

Been using these for years: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go

Wide range of connection types, can come with a drive or without.

wait a minute, what in the world is that? hmm looks like i need to do some digging on this. thanks for sharing.

[dpny]

wait a minute, what in the world is that? hmm looks like i need to do some digging on this. thanks for sharing.

OWC can be a little more expensive than places like New Egg--which I also like--but their products are rock solid.

[arnab_das]

OWC can be a little more expensive than places like New Egg--which I also like--but their products are rock solid.

Is this just a jacket then? Or does the hard drive come with it? I could see prices relating to hard drive capacities.

[CharlesA]

Is this just a jacket then? Or does the hard drive come with it? I could see prices relating to hard drive capacities.
It looks to be just an enclosure.

[Grenage]

I don't own a machine without an external SATA dock (with IDE side-port). They're just too damn useful!