homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Homestead mailing list
List archive
[Homestead] $79 160 gig hard drive for your laptop
- From: tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>
- To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org, RGod2 AT aol.com
- Cc:
- Subject: [Homestead] $79 160 gig hard drive for your laptop
- Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:04:46 -0500
$79 160 gig external hard drive---USB II or Firewire
Tech News
Greg Gazin
USB/FireWire enclosures - A great investment
By GREG GAZIN -- CNEWS Tech News
Click here for all Greg Gazin's Columns
the 2316C combo external hard drive
When was the last time you did a backup? If you are like
some people, it’s probably been a while. Why? Because it’s
probably a pain! Right? And although your computer is
likely equipped with a CD burner, it would still take too
many blanks and too much time to do a backup. Sound
familiar?
While there is no lack of options, a painless solution to
backup or even to use as auxiliary storage is an external
hard drive. Bare drives are getting to the point where
they are almost free. Last week I purchased a 3.5" 160GB
hard drive for a net price of $79. (That’s $159; less the
mail-in rebate I’ll get by summer time). That 2GB for a
loonie – way better than the $300 I spent a couple of
years back for a 30GB drive.
To connect externally to your computer, your drive needs a
housing or an enclosure. Veteran computer users will
remember the trials and tribulations they had to overcome
to connect in the past. Remember SCSI?
USB/FireWire Enclosures
External enclosures come in all different shapes and sizes
to support 2.5", the average laptop size drive, the more
common 3.5" drive as used in most computers and even 5.25"
drives.
Most enclosures use either a Universal Serial Bus (USB)
interface (1.1 or 2.0) or a FireWire (IEEE1384) high-speed
interface or a combination of the two. SCSI interfaces are
still used but are less common now and not part of this
exercise.
If you use a PC, you’ll likely use the USB interface,
unless you have a FireWire card in your computer. (Nix the
USB 1.1 because it’s painfully slow.)
If you use a Macintosh, all models in the last few years
shipped standard with at least one FireWire port. To be
safe and ready for all occasions, get a combo unit – it
has both ports on the back. This is the one I use.
Easy to Use
The particular unit I chose doesn’t really have a brand
name on it – it’s just called the 2316C combo. It measures
206x132x50mm and weighs about 1/2 kg. It has one USB 2.0
port, one FireWire ports (Also called IEEE1394), a power
jack and a power switch.
For most enclosure kits, you don’t need a technician or a
PhD. Typically, two screws and the aluminum cover slides
off the main chassis. This unit allows me to slide the
bare drive directly into the appropriate spot where the
two connectors attach to the drive. It snaps in like Lego.
No wires or internal cables and no tiny pin connectors to
challenge your eyesight. Depending on your system
configuration, you may need to jumper the drive as a
master or slave – those directions are usually written
right on the bare drive itself.
Two small screws are supplied to optionally secure the
drive to the chassis. I opt not to use them so I can slide
out my drive and insert another when I choose to do so.
Very Compatible
This enclosure, as most are, is compatible with Windows
98SE/ME/2000/XP and (USB 2.0 Driver is supplied, if
necessary) and Macintosh OS 9.0, OS X and higher.
They are very easy to use. Hook up the drive with the
appropriate cable to your computer, power up. Follow the
supplied instructions. Install the driver if necessary.
What’s also nice is that the drives are true Plug N’ Play
and hot swappable. And unlike the old days of the
parallel, serial or SCSI drive, you can use your external
without having to power down the machine.
I mainly use a laptop and I wouldn’t even dream of
attempting to replace my internal hard disk. I have two
FireWire enclosures. The first one I use as an offsite
storage, the second one, I just replaced my 30GB with the
160GB I mentioned earlier and have it partitioned into 4
sets of just under 40GB. I’m now using 2 partitions for
rotating backups and the other 2 for just stuff.
The reality is that at one point in time we may need to
rely on a backup of our drives data. Furthermore, as
applications get bigger and bigger and we collect more
stuff – thousands of MP3 files and digital photos, we’re
going to need more storage. For under $100, external
enclosures allow portability and the flexibility of
swapping drives is truly the answer and a great investment
too.
- [Homestead] $79 160 gig hard drive for your laptop, tvoivozhd, 02/17/2005
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.