What Enclosure Does this Hard Drive Need?

December 28, 2010 11:24 AM

I received an internal hard drive as a Xmas present and I would like to use it as an external hard drive. What enclosure should I buy?

This is the hard drive listed on Amazon - 2TB Hard Drive

I do not currently have a desktop to install this drive into, but I would love to use it as an external hard drive for my laptop.

So my question is twofold. What enclosure should I buy and where can I buy it? If I could walk into a brick and mortar store here in New York and purchase it that would be great, but if online stores have the better price / selection than of course I would prefer an online option.

Thanks for any help.

posted by Julnyes to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

almost any SATA 3.5 enclosure will work, just do some homework on quality, and DO NOT buy one with any plastic parts that are detrimental to it keeping secure in the case, they will melt over time.
posted by zombieApoc at 11:31 AM on December 28, 2010

From my experience, Akasa make the best quailty enclosures.
posted by jacobean at 11:32 AM on December 28, 2010

I have this, which has worked very well.
posted by null terminated at 11:33 AM on December 28, 2010

Go down to B&H and get the second cheapest USB enclosure they have. They're pretty much a commodity.
posted by rhizome at 11:37 AM on December 28, 2010

I've also had good experiences with Icy Dock--I think I have a tower of five or six of them sitting on my computer.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 11:39 AM on December 28, 2010

There are only a few variables that matter when it comes to enclosure: size (3.5" or 2.5"), internal interface (SATA or IDE/PATA), and external interface (USB or firewire.) Size should be 3.5", internal interface SATA, and external interface can be whatever is more convenient for you. It's usually a good idea to get one that's either Aluminum or has a cooling fan (or both) for the health of the drive. Other than that, not a lot matters; they really are a commodity item.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:00 PM on December 28, 2010

I have what null terminated links to. It works for me. I copied 1.5TB over to it and there were no errors.
posted by Good Brain at 12:09 PM on December 28, 2010

I bought one of these a little while ago. It's okay, works fine. Like Rhomboid says, they're pretty much a commodity item.
posted by box at 2:41 PM on December 28, 2010

Holy cow, that's the same thing null terminated linked to. Okay, well, if you'd prefer, you can call that three votes for the Rosewill.
posted by box at 2:42 PM on December 28, 2010

USB 3.0 is now available and will be much faster (theoretically 10x) than 2.0 when you have a computer that supports it. Future-proof yourself with something like this. Rosewill again! I have two and they work fine.
posted by drdanger at 5:08 PM on December 28, 2010

As an aside, I'd be very careful if you're going to be using it with a laptop. I've had many a 3.5'' "portable" HD die when they got knocked over. That's why I've switched over to using 2.5'' HD for portable. That being said I use Rosewill and it works well for me.
posted by pyro979 at 5:12 PM on December 28, 2010

Ordering a Rosewill right now, thanks for the help.
posted by Julnyes at 8:18 PM on December 28, 2010