Any external 1GB drives that DON'T use two physical drives?

Now that 1TB 3.5" drives are out, are any of the more reliable companies
using them in their external drives?

I hate my old Lacie 500GB drives that use 2x250GB in a metal case. They
weigh a ton and are huge.

Any my Formac 500GB is huge AND sounds like a helicopter.

Cheers,

Fred.

Am 15.10.2007 07:10 Fred Finisterre wrote

I hate my old Lacie 500GB drives that use 2x250GB in a metal case. They
weigh a ton and are huge.

Any my Formac 500GB is huge AND sounds like a helicopter.

Why not just ditch those "Ready-to-Plugin" solutions and build one
yourself. All you need is the preferred harddrive of your choice and a
good external disk-enclosure.

The one I use is: Stardom iTank-i302

http://www.stardom.com.tw/itank%20i302.htm

It is aluminium, thus has no cooling fan, and can be used either via
USB2.0 (Firewire version exists) _and_ eSATA. In addition, and that may
be the coolest feature, the disks are swappable, meaning, they go into a
mount-frame, which is compatible with Stardom's internal frame-mounts
and most of the other models in the iTank/SOHOTANK/SOHORAID series,
For example the ST1000-2-U5C which I use as well and which has a very
silent fan, inspite of its small diameter.

http://www.stardom.com.tw/sohotank%20st1000-2-u5c.htm

So, get yourself as many SATA disks as you want, get a mountframe for
each one and ready to swap :-)

I use an external 500GB this way, via USB2.0 for backup purposes.

--
Greetings,
Andreas M.

Andreas M. wrote in
Am 15.10.2007 07:10 Fred Finisterre wrote

I hate my old Lacie 500GB drives that use 2x250GB in a metal case. They
weigh a ton and are huge.

Any my Formac 500GB is huge AND sounds like a helicopter.

Why not just ditch those "Ready-to-Plugin" solutions and build one
yourself. All you need is the preferred harddrive of your choice and a
good external disk-enclosure.

The one I use is: Stardom iTank-i302

http://www.stardom.com.tw/itank%20i302.htm


It is aluminium, thus has no cooling fan,

Obviously. And that shiny aluminum will transfer the heat just fine.
So where did they stick that little heatpump to get the heat transfer
from the disk to the enclosure going?

and can be used either via USB2.0 (Firewire version exists) _and_ eSATA.
In addition, and that may be the coolest feature, the disks are swappable,
meaning, they go into a mount-frame, which is compatible with Stardom's
internal frame-mounts and most of the other models in the iTank/SOHO-
TANK/SOHORAID series,
For example the ST1000-2-U5C which I use as well and which has a very
silent fan, inspite of its small diameter.

http://www.stardom.com.tw/sohotank%20st1000-2-u5c.htm

So, get yourself as many SATA disks as you want, get a mountframe for
each one and ready to swap :-)

I use an external 500GB this way, via USB2.0 for backup purposes.

Previously Andreas M. wrote:
Am 15.10.2007 07:10 Fred Finisterre wrote

I hate my old Lacie 500GB drives that use 2x250GB in a metal case. They
weigh a ton and are huge.

Any my Formac 500GB is huge AND sounds like a helicopter.

Why not just ditch those "Ready-to-Plugin" solutions and build one
yourself. All you need is the preferred harddrive of your choice and a
good external disk-enclosure.

With a bit of attention to detail, you will get a far better solution
at a moderate cost increase.

The one I use is: Stardom iTank-i302

http://www.stardom.com.tw/itank%20i302.htm

It is aluminium, thus has no cooling fan, and can be used either via
USB2.0 (Firewire version exists) _and_ eSATA. In addition, and that may
be the coolest feature, the disks are swappable, meaning, they go into a
mount-frame, which is compatible with Stardom's internal frame-mounts
and most of the other models in the iTank/SOHOTANK/SOHORAID series,
For example the ST1000-2-U5C which I use as well and which has a very
silent fan, inspite of its small diameter.

Careful with fanless enclosures: I tested several disk in
one (Revoltec Alu Book), and only Smasung disks had power
consumprion low enough to stay reasonably cool.

Arno

Am 18.10.2007 00:49 Folkert Rienstra wrote

Obviously. And that shiny aluminum will transfer the heat just fine.
So where did they stick that little heatpump to get the heat transfer
from the disk to the enclosure going?

They did not need to. It has a "grid" at the back, near the PCB to the
one side and another "grid" is in the front of the mount frame, creating
air convection cooling.

I use this for approx 9 months now, without any problems so far. Also,
it is for my backup disks so I do not run it every day for long times.

--
Greetings,
Andreas M.

Am 18.10.2007 07:04 Arno Wagner wrote

With a bit of attention to detail, you will get a far better solution
at a moderate cost increase.

What do you mean ?

I do backup with a dedicated backup program and copying with a
file-manager. What else could I want ?

Careful with fanless enclosures: I tested several disk in
one (Revoltec Alu Book), and only Smasung disks had power
consumprion low enough to stay reasonably cool.

Thanks for pointing this out, but the disk is pretty well cooled (air
convection + aluminium) and it's a backup system, seldomly running, only
for those backups. I use a Maxtor and a Samsung disk, the latter being
my main backup drive.

--
Greetings,
Andreas M.

Andreas M. wrote in
Am 18.10.2007 00:49 Folkert Rienstra wrote

Obviously. And that shiny aluminum will transfer the heat just fine.
So where did they stick that little heatpump to get the heat transfer
from the disk to the enclosure going?

They did not need to.

That's your opinion.

It has a "grid" at the back, near the PCB to the one side
and another "grid" is in the front of the mount frame,

creating air convection cooling.

Yes, but it's convection path is diagonal, more horizontal than vertical so
the effect isn't what it could be, and this only in the standing up position.
The better the convection the better the drive will tranfer the heat to the
aluminum case too.


I use this for approx 9 months now, without any problems so far.

A drive in a badly designed case would probably last that as well, so
that doesn't say much.

Also, it is for my backup disks so I do not run it every day for long times.

I am sure there are others but just today I was reading about one: Buffalo
has a unit which holds four drives, 1TB each.

"Fred Finisterre" wrote in message
...
Now that 1TB 3.5" drives are out, are any of the more reliable companies
using them in their external drives?

I hate my old Lacie 500GB drives that use 2x250GB in a metal case. They
weigh a ton and are huge.

Any my Formac 500GB is huge AND sounds like a helicopter.

Cheers,

Fred.