I have a laptop full of media files that I want to transfer. I’m looking for the cheapest option that provides the most storage for my buck. I’m looking to spend about $100.
I would go for an external drive. Hard drives are getting so cheap these days, you can get almost 1 Terabyte for $100 bucks. Try newegg.com for prices.
http://www.newegg.com
I wanted to buy one but I dont know which to buy. There is like a 3.5", a 2.5" and a 1.8". I dont know what those numbers are for.
Those are the different sizes of hard drives. Desktops have 3.5", laptops have 2.5", and small things like ipod classics have 1.8".
I have this Seagate hard drive(250gb, SATA, 3.5") from my old, broken computer 
, and I am trying to use this as an external drive for extra storage. However, I am not sure which one to get, a converter(Sata to usb or esata) or an enclosure with a fan, to connect the drive to my new computer. Any ideas??
If you’re going to connect that one drive and leave it connected, an enclosure. If you have a lot of drives and change which one is connected, a cable adapter. (The electronics are the same, but it makes more sense to keep the drive in an enclosure if you’re not going to keep swapping drives.)
Should I get the new white MacBook that comes standard with 2gbs of ram and 250gb hdd, it has the new 7-hour battery, glass trackpad, but it lacks an sd slot and FireWire, but I don’t use FireWire but the lack of sd slot is important. And there’s the refurb MacBook pro that has all the features above, ony it has an edge to edge screen, a black keyboard and of course the aluminium enclosure. But it has 2gb of ddr3 Ram, and a 160GB HDD. So the only thing that’s pulling me towards the MacBook pro is the sd slot. Which should I choose? Thanks!
Btw, they are both $999.
I have bought several refurbs from Apple recently with no bad experiences. The MacBook pro may have a smaller HDD, but considering the falling price of SD cards for the slot (bonus storage when needed) and the power of a solid-state HD as a future upgrade, I would lean towards the Pro. The black keyboard will need fewer cleanings to look nice and the resale is likely to be higher in several years for the Pro.
I have a power supply heat sink that is directly coupled to an aluminum enclosure. It also creates a ground path. The Heat sink is simply an aluminum sheet metal bracket. Black anodizing seem to be the norm for heat sink finishes. But it seem to create some electrical resistance. Is there a super finish that will help with corrosion yet be electrically conductive, and help to dissipate heat.
Uncoated aluminum and aluminum alloys react with air forming a mostly invisible layer of aluminum oxide, which is electrically non-conductive. So even uncoated heat sinks have the electrical resistance problem.
The usual way of handling this is to let the (metal) fasteners make the electrical connection between the heat sink and the enclosure, or between the transistor case and the heat sink. A threaded hole makes ample contact, and a (captive) star lockwasher under the screw head will bite through any coating. That frees you to select any coating or nature finish you desire.
I don’t think that a coating affects the the rate of heat transfer to air significantly. Surface area is the main controlling variable.
I think the coating will have little impact on heat transfer through conduction. Use of a thermal grease and/or thermally-conductive pad for coupling the heat source to the heat sink will overcome minor surface roughness.
I need an additional hard drive to store large image files. I will be keeping the drive plugged into the computer and running whenever the computer is on, as I need to access the files throughout the day. I think I’ve settled on a Western Digital Caviar Black 640 GB for the drive, and now I need an enclosure for it. Should I get a case with a fan, or will it do to use an aluminum case with no fan?
The drive is 7200 RPM
I agree speed makes a huge difference with the answer, however let me add a couple quick items.
All heat is evil when i comes to computer components BUT small fans are hard to replace when they go bad and they get really noisy so if at all possible find an enclosure that has some natural air flow vents.
GL
I need an additional hard drive to store large image files. I will be keeping the drive plugged into the computer and running whenever the computer is on, as I need to access the files throughout the day. I think I’ve settled on a Western Digital Caviar Black 640 GB for the drive, and now I need an enclosure for it. Should I get a case with a fan, or will it do to use an aluminum case with no fan?
The drive is 7200 RPM
I agree speed makes a huge difference with the answer, however let me add a couple quick items.
All heat is evil when i comes to computer components BUT small fans are hard to replace when they go bad and they get really noisy so if at all possible find an enclosure that has some natural air flow vents.
GL
I have installed my new USB HD 250 gig (still unformated). My PC can detects the new USB mass storage device, but it appears nowhere, no drive letter, nothing. This happens both on my desktop as well as my laptop. I am using windows XP.
Any hints ?
Thanks in advance, Yoel
Go to start -> run
Type MMC and hit enter
File-> Add/Remove
Click Add
Choose Disk Managment
This computer
Close
Ok
If you see it there format it.
I had a dell latitude c810 laptop and it died of ‘old age’ and all my personal documents are in it. I was told that I could get my information back by buying a hard drive enclosure. How does it work and do I have to buy a certain type just because it was a Dell? Is it hard to get my information out, I have another laptop now and was told that I could connect the enclosure to it? Please help if you can.
The enclosure simply provides an easier way to connect your hard drive to your computer. All you need to do is use a USB / Firewire / eSATA cable to hook it up to a port on the outside of the computer. So, you can think of the enclosure as a way to convert an internal hard drive to an external hard drive.
Normally, if you open up a computer, the (internal) hard drive, sitting inside the case, has to be connected to the motherboard using either an IDE (old) cable, or a SATA (new) cable, and have a separate cable for power, connected to the power supply within the case.
So, the enclosure does a few things:
- provides the hard drive with power, usually through a USB or Firewire or eSATA port, which of course, is needed to operate the drive (spin the disks). some enclosures may need an external power supply though (plugged into your wall outlet)
- provides physical protection for the hard drive, and prevents electrostatic shock which would ruin the hard drive (by touching it when you are charged)
No, you don’t need a specific type or brand of enclosure. Just need to make sure that the port it uses (USB / Firewire / eSATA) is available on your computer.
You can connect it to ANY computer that has the kind of port it needs. Laptop / Desktop, anything.
i am tring to find the best enclosure type for my (2) 12" solo baric speakers. the trunk in my bmw 528i is pretty big but i want to make sure it still leaves me space for regular stuff.
Ground shaker enclosures are the bomb…. you can find a cheap one on onlinecarstereo.com … i have a ported one for 2 15" L7s and the box sounds great