External 3.5" HDD Enclosure

[milomak]

So what are the key things to look out for when buying one of these?

My mobo doesn't have USB3.0 but I guess I should consider that for future upgrades. The mobo does however have 1 External SATA. Is this the same as eSATA?

What other pitfalls are there?

 

[Yotch]

If you decide to choose a USB 3.0 enclosure choose something with an Asmedia ASM1051 controller rather than something using a JMicron one as this usually gives far fewer problems. Pinnacle used to sell a Sedna 3.5" enclosure for ~R150 using this controller but it might have been discontinued.
http://hardforum.com/archive/index.php/t-1693697.html
http://www.pinnacleafrica.co.za/Product/item.aspx?ID=33693

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

The 'e' in eSATA stands for 'external' so would definitely get one with that, is it a laptop with an eSATA and if it's a tower why not just stick an internal one in??

 

[agentrfr]

Stop, just get one of these. By far the best, especially if you want it for a drive on an NAS system.

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36&products_id=2202

It is easy to plug new drives in, and it even shows the read/write speed on the enclosure. How cool is that?!

 

[SouthBit]

Stop, just get one of these. By far the best, especially if you want it for a drive on an NAS system.

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36&products_id=2202

It is easy to plug new drives in, and it even shows the read/write speed on the enclosure. How cool is that?!

I use one of these. I often get well over 100MB/sec and the LCD indicating speed is very accurate. It's been dead reliable as well, highly recommended.

 

[SouthBit]

This is a common sight:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2k2c5k.jpg