Vantec NexStar 3 External USB 2.0 Enclosure
 

“External Hard Drives are usually much more expensive than their counterparts, and even if you do opt for one from a drive manufacturer, they tend to not focus on overall aesthetics and usually are quite unappealing in design. Chances are, a majority of PC users have an extra internal drive lying around that can be put to good use. That's where external exclosures can be an inexpensive solution to portable storage. The new Vantec NexStar 3 touches on overall design as well as function. With its sleek, low-profile styling, this hot-swappable enclosure will appeal to users looking for style, quality and overall functionality.

Direct Link: http://www.extrememhz.com/nexstar3-p1.shtml

I already 2x250 GB Firewire B Unibrain externals and they are quickly getting full.

My cousin had 4 internal drives (RAID) at some time but after a major crash and a total loss of data (luckily for him, most of which I had!), I taught him how to "externalize" :gay:

He bought 3 of those external enclosures, placed 3 of the internal drives there leaving one for Windows inside the PC. Then I showed him how to move his documents folder outside the system drive, and voila!

No data loss ever since and his case temps have dropped too!

How about an external drives roundup?

how exactly does using an external HDD in an enclosure prevent data loss? those drives have same failrate but have the disadvantage of not being able to be put in RAID-1, using them for writing is slower, you have higher CPU usage (40%+) with USB2.0 and only with FireWire do you have "average" performance with smaller files.

I don't see the point to use an external HDD if you don't have to take the data with you

But I do! I want to enlarge my MP3 collection, so I take it with me at friends and firends' friends and exchange several GBs of MP3 and other data.

I use 1394b on my machine.

you're repeating what I said;)

Yes, devious :grin: aren't I?