Porch Enclosure

I currently have a USB 2.0 enclosure, however I’m thinking of getting a combo USB/Firewire one.

Is Firewire better for an external hard drive? For things such as pictures, videos, back up images, software, music, etc?
Or is there any difference at all?

I have a PC with Win7.

I don’t know why, but I had problems with fire wire with windows 7. When i used usb 2.0 it worked fine, but not as fast. I would recommend fire wire if it works.

Maybe one that connects by FireWire or ExpressCard?

Yes, although they aren’t sold purely as enclosures.

The Asus XG station was the first device of this sort, but it was discontinued before ever making into widespread production. I think it was available in Australia for a very short time.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/08/hands-on-with-the-asus-xg-station-external-gpu/

ATI later announced the XGP, which somehow led to the Amilo graphics booster but it seems those products also went nowhere. They were announced, some reviews were written but I don’t think they ever made it to retail channels.
http://game.amd.com/us-en/shop_AMILOGraphicBooster.aspx

Nowadays there’s the Vidock2, which connects to an external monitor via an ExpressCard slot. To my knowledge the PCI-E card contained inside can be replaced. That’s the one to check out- they even have a Facebook page

http://www.villagetronic.com/vidock2/index.html

I have a 3.5" hard drive, just a standard one, no firewire or SATA. I need an enclosure with usb 2.0. I am in the UK, and a limit of £30-£35. Can anyone help me find one please.

yes here ya go :

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=3.5+ide+enclosure&LH_BIN=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m489

I have too many hard drives in my case and I need more storage space. I wanted to buy a nice external enclosure that holds 4+ 1.5TB hard drives and can be setup as a RAID5 configuration. I found a few online but they’re $450+ and I really would rather not spend that much since that’s almost the price of 3 hard drives combined. Any good suggestions? Even if it’s only USB2.0 i might consider that.

Antec twelve hundred for around $120 sometimes can host 9 5" hdds. front port eSata and usb.

Thermaltake Armor series, similar price with same port options.

Lian Li makes cases that have the same ports.

Cooler master stackers have eSata ports with around 6-9 hdds I believe.

Check newegg, microcenter, buy.com, and frys if you have any nearby for prices.

I have an Iomega Ego 500gb External Hard Drive, but the USB 2.0 port on the enclosure is damaged. I’m shopping for a new enclosure but do not know what kind of drive this is to know what to buy. SATA, IDE, or what.
This is a link to check out the hard drive.
http://www.devduff.com/tech-talk/iomega-ego-500-gb-usb-firewire-portable-external-hard-drive.php

It is SATA type with 8MB or more cache.

I have 6 160GB drives sitting around collecting dust. They are IDE drives. I am looking for an enclosure to hold 2 or more of these that connects to the comp via usb 2.0 preferably. My motherboard has firewire capabilities but i dont feel like running the wire to the case so prefer usb 2.0. Any help or links would be great or does anyone know a way to use my current usb to ati bridge (external case) and use 2 or more drives at once on that? Im not looking for it to combine them into one drive. I want them each seperate.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=92&name=External-Enclosures

they probably have what you are looking for there

I’m going to be buying an enclosure for a 2.5 inch SATA drive I have spare.

Preferably I’d like one which works with USB and eSATA (or maybe firewire).

I figured I’d check eBay prices and was looking at these ones:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-SATA-TO-USB-2-0-eSATA-EXTERNAL-HDD-ENCLOSURE-CASE_W0QQitemZ270494500368QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL?hash=item3efaba8610

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-USB2-0-eSATA-combo-to-SATA-HDD-Enclosure-CASE-New_W0QQitemZ230379053533QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL?hash=item35a3a961dd

or this amazon one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/eSATA-USB-combo-enclosure-SATA/dp/B000S89NQG/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263763703&sr=1-19

I’ve never used an enclosure before, so any comments or advice before I buy?

any of above will work fine………………….

make sure you "remove usb item safely " , before removing unit.

+ make sure you defrag once aweek if using as back-up device.

enjoy.

I am a graohic art student and i am looking to put Adobe illustrator and photoshop on this computer would this be a good computer for this??

Processor Type: PowerPC 970* (G5) Processor Speed: 1.8 GHz
Details: The PowerPC 970 "G5" has 64-bit data paths and registers with native support for 32-bit application code. It additionally includes the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processor and "two independent double-precision floating-point units".

*Although it is unlikely to be important to the average user, this system may have a PowerPC 970fx processor.

Also see: How fast is the iMac G5 compared to the iMac G4 Flat-Panel and Power Macintosh G5?
Processor Upgrade: None FPU: Integrated
Details: The processor is mounted directly to the motherboard.
System Bus Speed: 600 MHz (3:1) Cache Bus Speed: 1.8 GHz (Built-in)
Details: 667 MHz frontside bus.
ROM/Firmware Type: Open Firmware ROM/Firmware Size: 1 MB
Details: Boot ROM and around 1 MB, other instructions are loaded into RAM (NewWorld).
L1 Cache: 32k/64k L2/L3 Cache: 512k
Details: 32k level 1 data cache, 64k level 1 instructional cache. The 512k on-chip level 2 cache runs at processor speed.
RAM Type: PC3200 DDR Min. RAM Speed: 400 MHz
Detais: Supports 400 MHz PC3200 DDR SDRAM. If installing RAM in both slots, use matching memory for best performance.
Standard RAM: 1.0 GB
Maximum RAM: 2.0 GB

Motherboard RAM: None RAM Slots: 2
Details: If non-matching RAM is installed, the 128-bit memory bus will operate as a 64-bit bus.
Video Card: GeForce FX 5200 Ultra VRAM Type: DDR SDRAM

Standard VRAM: 64 MB Maximum VRAM: 64 MB
Details: Video cannot be upgraded.
Built-in Display: 20.0" TFT Native Resolution: 1680×1050
Details: This model has a 17.0" TFT active matrix display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a native resolution of 1440×900. In the 16:10 aspect ratio, it also supports 1152×720, 1024×640, and 800×500, and in the 4:3 aspect ratio it supports 1024×768, 800×600, and 640×480. Apple additionally reports a "typical" brightness of 200 cd/m, contrast ratio of 400:1, and viewing angle of 120 degrees horizontal and 90 degrees vertical.

Standard Hard Drive: 160 GB (7200 RPM) Int. HD Interface: Serial ATA (1.5Gb/s)
Details: Also see: How do you replace or upgrade the hard drive in the iMac G5 models?
Standard Optical: 4X "SuperDrive" Standard Disk: None

Standard Modem: 56k v.92 Standard Ethernet: 10/100Base-T
Details: Internal modem and 10/100/1000Base-T (Gigabit) Ethernet standard.

Details: AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR standard.
USB Ports: 3 (2.0) Firewire Ports: 2 (400)

Apple advertised that this system had a "total of five USB ports" counting three USB 2.0 ports on the system and two USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard. Two Firewire "400" ports are shared - 8 watts.
Expansion Slots: AP/BL Expansion Bays: None

Incl. Keyboard: Apple Keyboard Incl. Input: Apple Mouse
Details: N/A

Details: Integrated all-in-one "ice white" enclosure approximately two inches deep supported by an aluminum stand.

Details: The Apple model number should be unique to this system.

Details: Please note that these identifiers refer to more than one model.
Battery Type: 3.6V Lithium Battery Life: N/A
Details: N/A
Pre-Installed MacOS: Tiger 10.4.11
Maximum MacOS: Current
Details: Please note that this system can run the current version of MacOS X as of the date last updated (see bottom of page).
MacOS 9 Support: Classic Mode Only* Windows Support: Emulation Only

*This model is capable of using MacOS 9 applications within the MacOS X "Classic" environment provided with MacOS X 10.4.11 "Tiger" and lower ("Classic" is not supported starting with MacOS X 10.5 "Leopard"). It cannot boot into MacOS 9

Yes, it’s a good computer, but it is an older, PowerPC-based model, so you won’t be able to run applications that are Intel binaries, and you’re limited to Mac OS X 10.5.8 as the last version of the OS you can install. As more developers leave the PowerPC architecture behind, more and more applications will require an Intel-based Mac to offer more features, even if they are features you don’t want or care about.

But if you stick to applications that work on PowerPC chips and Mac OS X 10.5.8 or lower, it should do well for you. Just be careful about upgrade any Adobe applications, since the newer versions take even more time to install and have ridiculous system requirements and dependencies. Buy the Adobe CS2 versions or the CS2 Suite if possible; skip the CS4 crap.

multiple bay enclosure that houses both these drives?, with firewire capacity?

Here is a list
have fun

http://www.newegg.com/store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=92&name=External-Enclosures

So a HD caddy that allows 3.5′ IDE and sata, and will connect via usb or firewire, well the firewire isn’t essential but the ide and sata are.

a couple options for you to look over

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232024&cm_re=2.5_3.5_sata_ide_5.25-_-12-232-024-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152&cm_re=2.5_3.5_sata_ide_5.25-_-12-119-152-_-Product

i have an adapter set like the Rosewill, it has worked great for me