HardDriveEnclosure
Latest
Mercury On-The-Go-Pro enclosure keeps your old internal drives useful
People often think there are only two options for old Mac laptops: sell them or throw them away. But there's a third option that can keep parts of your old MacBooks useful for a long time -- a hard drive enclosure. An enclosure allows you to turn any internal hard drive into an external one. I recently used the Mercury On-The-Go-Pro from OWC. It has allowed me to turn an internal 500 GB hard drive from a MacBook into an external USB 3.0 / Dual Firewire 800 drive that's useful on the lastest MacBook Pro with Retina display. I literally got the Mercury On-The-Go-Pro in the post this morning and 20 minutes later I was using my old internal drive as an external one. Keep in mind, I had already removed my hard drive my old laptop. But once that was done, converting it into an external drive with the Mercury On-The-Go-Pro was a snap. I simply inserted the hard drive into the enclosure's motherboard, then screwed it in place to the Mercury On-The-Go-Pro's clear acrylic enclosure. I then plugged my new external drive into a USB 3.0 port on my Mac and it transferred data at full USB 3.0 speeds. Besides the USB 3.0 port, the enclosure offers two FireWire 800 ports, which allows you to have quick transfer speeds on older Macs that lack USB 3.0, but still have the faster-than-USB 2.0 FireWire 800 ports. The best thing about the Mercury On-The-Go-Pro too is that it's bus-powered, so there's no need for an external power supply. The Mercury On-The-Go-Pro FireWire 800/USB 3.0 enclosure is Mac and PC compatible and costs US$64.99. A USB 3.0-only model is $37.99.
LaCie announces the 5big Thunderbolt series: up to 20TB capacity starting at $1,199
If LaCie's 2big Thunderbolt isn't quite large enough to handle your storage needs, a solution is on the way. At CES, the outfit has revealed the robust 5big Thunderbolt series that can handle five hot-swappable drives (as the moniker suggests) while offering up to 20TB capacity with advertised speeds capable of notching 785MB/sec (we witnessed 750MB/sec with our own peepers) -- when appropriately configured. Wielding a handful of said drives affords the device custom RAID configurations allowing RAID 0 on three units while the remaining two reside in RAID 1. Dual Thunderbolt ports make daisy chaining an option -- if your wallet can handle it, of course. If you're concerned about the heat output, the 5big sports a heat-dissipating enclosure alongside a Noctua cooling fan and exhausts to keep things at a manageable temperature. Both 10TB and 20TB configurations will be available with a beginning price tag of $1,199 from LaCie and other retailers at a yet-to-be-announced date. Small businesses may want to take a gander at the 5big NAS Pro which also sorts five bays with up to 200MB/sec speeds, a dual-core 2.13GHz Intel Atom processor, 4GB RAM and a single Wuala interface for both local and cloud storage. For now, the full PR rests past the break and a closer look awaits in the galleries.
Sanho announces new HyperDrive line-up, still enough storage for your Frank Zappa discography
Surely you remember Sanho's HyperDrive lineup -- ya know, the only portable HDD that plays nicely with the iPad? Well, if you don't dig the $249 entry level price, you're in luck. The company just announced a bunch of new HDDs for you to take with you and your iPad on that road trip you've had planned for years. As we saw at CES, the new drives no longer sport the QVGA color display or the CF and SD card slots -- instead, the black case has two mini USB ports and a power socket. The HyperDrive doesn't come with the traditional AC adapter but instead a USB-to-DC cable and the user-replaceable battery will allow up to 40GB of transfers on a single charge. And if you're wondering why there's two USB ports, we really couldn't tell you. Perhaps if you choose the right port while connected to your PC and enter the Konami code, unicorns and fairy dust will pop out of your screen -- wishful thinking, we know. The HyperDrives ship in March (pre-ordering is available now) with prices starting at $99 for a bring-your-own-drive housing, 1TB for $349 and various sizes in-between. So, if your photo/video library is worth accessing at all times, well, props to you. Press release is after the break.
Thermaltake's Max 5G dual-fan USB 3.0 HDD enclosure cools your platters with style
We know what you were thinking: my external hard drive enclosure is nice and all, but why is it so quiet? Well, Thermaltake is here to fix that with its new Max 5G dual-fan enclosure. Outside the fans and the fancy LED lights (which can be switched off, if you're feeling unextreme one particular morning), the enclosure is pretty great itself, with a smokin' USB 3.0 plug and support for high-end 3.5-inch SATA 3.0 drives. The fans are to promote long life on your hard drive and "data integrity" and all that, but pretty much they just say to your SATA drive: "I care." And isn't that all that matters? The enclosure is available for pre-order right now for $52, no word on release.
Rugged LaCie Tank enclosure protects external HDDs, gaming handhelds, family heirlooms
Hard to say why being "manufactured in Italy" is the reason for this thing's "guaranteed durability," but hey, there it is! LaCie's tough-as-nails Tank is little more than a robust, rugged, waterproof enclosure for anything small enough to sneak inside of it, but the internal foam cubes can be repositioned in order to house a top-secret external HDD, your cousin's DSi or your wife's gargantuan wedding band. Heck, you may even get two out of three in there. It's IP-63 certified to protect against dust and "pouring rain," and it measures 1.6- x 4.8- x 7.3-inches. Humorously, the warranty stops after 365 days, but look, it's built "like a fortress," okay? Now hand over your £19.99 ($31) and rest easy, bronco.
Brando begins deluge of anonymous USB 3.0 hard drive enclosures
Hey Brando! You're awesome for being your usual self -- $49 isn't too bad for this next-gen product (also the first USB 3.0 hard drive enclosure sans drive we've seen; 2.5-inch here, by the way), and it doesn't burn our eyes either. Now, maybe those drive manufacturers can start sorting out those extortionate SSD prices? We've seen the numbers and not even the 7200rpm 3.5-inch hard drives have made it over half the theoretical speed of USB 2.0, let alone reaching ten times that on 3.0. Still, there's no harm in making the early jump -- it is backward compatible after all, and if you don't mind paying for juice you can't use, who are we to stop you?
UMAzone UMA-ISO drive enclosure takes the sting out of mounting disk images
Hey, man -- aren't you sick of all the pain and expense of mounting disc images from the desktop? OK, we weren't either -- until we saw this: UMAzone's UMA-ISO is a drive enclosure (supply your own 2.5-inch HDD) that features a small display and jog wheel for scrolling through CD / DVD image files. Simply select the file of your choice and plug it into your machine via USB or eSATA and the disk will be mounted, the same as if you'd inserted an optical disc. It's that simple! There is also a mode for mounting as a standard external hard drive. Be forewarned, however: this guy is only compatible with a few flavors of Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7), and it's only available in Japan -- for the princely sum of ¥9,980 yen (about $111).
Marshal's DVD Power Up Dock includes room for HDD, Bugs Bunny jokes
If you're still waiting for NU's DVD/HDD docking station to make its appearance at your local purveyor of flimsy-feeling netbook accessories, perhaps you'd instead prefer to wait for this new, less wedge-shaped one from Marshal. Called the DVD Power Up Dock, it sports a DVD drive with the requisite plethora of reading and writing options plus a 2.5-inch SATA HDD and, finally, a USB hub with the least possible number of ports: two. It's listed as being compatible with Windows and naturally there's no mention of price or availability, but that would ruin the surprise.
NU's universal docking station adds more storage to (almost) any netbook
Love your netbook but wish it had more varied storage options, like maybe an optical drive and another hard disk? Wait until you see what NU can do for you. The company is advertising a universal docking station packing both a Super-Multi DVD writer and a removable enclosure for a 2.5-inch hard disk (action photograph below), along with a two-port USB hub and an integrated fan. No mention of price or availability, but with a blessing by the FCC already on the books it shouldn't be too long before this two-tone wedge gets re-badged and retailed domestically.
Ask Engadget: Best external hard drive enclosure?
No need to check your LCDs, folks -- this is happening. This is this week's rendition of Ask Engadget, and if you'd rather your own question be in this space next week, shoot us a good one at ask at engadget dawt com. "Like any good geek, I have upgraded my MacBook's hard disk many times, and have all the old 2.5-inch SATA disks sitting in a pile. I'd like to put them in a case, but the enclosures I see are either very expensive or look hideous and unreliable. I'd love to get some recommendations for dependable, fairly-priced portable enclosures; USB's a must, but FireWire 400, then FireWire 800 then eSATA would be bonuses, as would any extra features."So, HDD upgraders -- what kind of case (or cases) did you procure in order to keep using those displaced drives? Any great stories of success / failure? Let us know, would ya?
