So who has the best enclosure of the pre-rolled external drives?

[Bimwad]

It appears that the prices for 1TB drives are trending down as the 1.5TB units become more prevalent. I'm looking for a 3.5" FW external single-drive storage solution.

-The old Seagate Freeagent enclosures are reputed to have flaky touch-sensitive power switches. Are the new ones better?

-The WD Mybooks supposedly have marginal power supplies.

I believe that WD uses Oxford bridge boards, but that's the only one I've heard about.

Anybody else stand out among SimpleTech, Iomega, Verbatim, G-Tech, LaCie or others? I've ready that LaCies can also have substandard power supplies.

I looked into rolling my own, but that's a game of Russian Roulette with Chinese ODM quality control, no matter who's branding and selling the case.

Spending more to get a better quality case like one of the OWC Elites negates the cost advantage and yields only a one year warranty, so there is the disparity of having the case only covered for one year, versus having both covered for a longer term, however crappy the enclosure may be. I still haven't ruled it out, though.

[Gareth]

G-Tech is considered the premiere manufacturer of drives by many. You pay a premium for it, though. I recently bought some 1TB G-Tech's (Quad interface) for work at $240/ea (versus about $150 for the comparable WD).

For personal stuff, I prefer to roll my own. Although I don't have the following case (I prefer trayless rack systems), this is what I'd buy:
http://satagear.com/USBG-CG35SSA_SATA_3....osure.html
Can't really beat $98 for a Quad interface, Oxford chipset, built-in power supply case (a Quad interface bridgeboard alone is $70 a-la-carte). I prefer built-in power supplies (even if it means the case has a fan) because I ruined a nice, expensive, Wiebetech case when I plugged in the wrong power supply (from a G-Tech, grr....). With built-in power supplies, all I have to manage is my large collection of IEC power cords.

[Kiva]

any opinions on this drive / enclosure?

http://www.onsale.com/shop/detail.aspx?dpno=7532251&store=onsale&source=BWBBIZRATE&srccode=cii_10043468&cpncode=21-12457801-2&wt.mc_id=BWBBIZRATE

[jdc]

only WD, maxtor and seagate have their own drives in their own case -- simpletech, iomega, and the rest of your list use whatever drive they can get in their own branded enclosures

seagate is the only company that makes single drive 1.5TB drives

WD is the only company that makes 2TB single drives

so if, for example, you are looking at a WD 1.5 TB drive, its two 750s...

g-tech might be considered one of the premier manufactures of drive *cases* -- but not drives themsleves

FWIW, those SATAGEAR cases are $10 cheaper at cooldrives, but still a lot of $$$ -- and cooldrives has a zero day return policy -- you buy it, you own it -- can only be replaced with same case

http://www.cooldrives.com/fi800420esqu.html

and Kiva, thats as good as any, 2 year warranty is average -- but like lacie, simpletech, etc-- theres no clue as to what exact drive is inside the case... unless you open it

[datbeme]

I bought an aluminum firewire case from Cooldrives a few years ago, and it is fantastic in every way. I'm really, really pleased with the quality. But when I wanted to purchase from them again last year, I was scared off by their unfriendly policies and some really negative online reviews about their disregard for customer service. I ended up paying more for an OWC FW800 Mercury Elite enclosure. It's fine, and I feel much better about dealing with these folks...but I still like the Cooldrives enclosure better.

[ileneh]

I also needed a new FW single drive enclosure this month. I tend to look for reliabililty, good service, long-term use, and price. I have OWC, Maxtor, LaCie, Iomega, Western Digital, Hammer Storage, and WiebeTech drives here. The Iomega and Hammer were new in late 2008, and so far have been fine; the others have been one hassle after another. I also, in an emergency, bought a CompUSA enclosure, which has given me nothing but trouble.

One older drive that's never gone down, never needed recovery, and has never given me an ounce trouble is my 5 year old OWC drive. I also have a OWC Mercury Elite-AL Quad Interface eSATA, FireWire 400/800 & USB 2.0/1.1 Enclosure Kit I bought in 2007 that hasn't as much as hiccuped in 3 years of use.

So, when I needed a new enclosure, I bought another OWC Mercury Elite-AL Quad Interface eSATA, FireWire 400/800 & USB 2.0/1.1 Enclosure Kit. I like having the option of using whatever cable is handy on whatever Mac I'm using. The one I got was on sale, and is no longer available, but these two are reasonably priced:
OWC Mercury Elite-AL Oxford 934 FireWire 400 & USB 2.0/1.1 OR
OWC Mercury Elite-AL Quad Interface eSATA, FireWire 400/800 & USB 2.0/1.1 Enclosure Kit <-- most similar to the one I bought.

As previously said in other threads, I now work for the company; but that's because I believe in their products from personal experience. W

Hope this helps!

OWC ilene

[jdc]

can i get your discount?

[ileneh]

RE: Discount


LOL ... Sorry, no can do that. Here's a hint on how I got some of my other drives though:

I wrote reviews for various Mac sites and/or user group newsletters. (Most recently was the Reviews Editor at MacNN.com.)
Often manufacturers let you keep a product you review; some sites have policies against that, others do not. So, offer to write a review for one of the Mac sites and have them request a product for you. Most drive companies don't let you just keep the product, but will accord you a press discount. (Oh, it helps if you submit an article to the site, so they can see your writing.)

That's how I became a writer.... to get needed software for my growing son. What's that saying... Necessity is the mother of invention!! ;-)

OWC ilene

[guitarist]

Is drive-rolling healthy for hard drives? Is pre-rolling preferred to post-rolling, or non-rolling?

[Kiva]

jdc wrote:
only WD, maxtor and seagate have their own drives in their own case -- simpletech, iomega, and the rest of your list use whatever drive they can get in their own branded enclosures

seagate is the only company that makes single drive 1.5TB drives

WD is the only company that makes 2TB single drives

so if, for example, you are looking at a WD 1.5 TB drive, its two 750s...

g-tech might be considered one of the premier manufactures of drive *cases* -- but not drives themsleves

FWIW, those SATAGEAR cases are $10 cheaper at cooldrives, but still a lot of $$$ -- and cooldrives has a zero day return policy -- you buy it, you own it -- can only be replaced with same case

http://www.cooldrives.com/fi800420esqu.html

and Kiva, thats as good as any, 2 year warranty is average -- but like lacie, simpletech, etc-- theres no clue as to what exact drive is inside the case... unless you open it

thanks,...much appreciated. I may start a separate thread on wireless backup options..