Best buy on FW Cases?

John_Luke · #1 02-13-2006, 02:17 PM

I was reviewing "Terabytes on the Cheap" from my seminar, and it seems to be a better buy to buy a 250GB 3-1/2" 7200rpm ATA drive and a FW400/USB2 case separately. The OWC packaged Mercury Elite FW400/USB2 250GB product runs $209, and I believe they use Hitachi drives.

I can get a Seagate 250GB Barracuda ATA drive for $117 dollars and an empty OWC Mercury Elite FW400/USB2 case for $72. Saves about $20 bucks, and the individual HD has a longer warranty. Any other leads for FW400/USB2 cases for a few bucks less?

John_Luke · #2 02-13-2006, 04:55 PM

I also saw G-Tech.
http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm

They also use Hitachi drives. They have an aluminum FW 400/USB2 combo unit with a 7200/250 GB for $199, and a FW 400/800/USB2 and eSATA for $269. That one would be great to expand into for when I buy my super duper tower. Any comments on the eSATA interface? It seems the money I spent on additional FW800 interfaces is down the tubes as I see that Apple is slowly dropping FW800 support, but what about eSATA? Is this the new ticket, or will it become the another FW800? Those combo units with eSATA in addition to the FW ports cost 80 bucks more. Must be because it has a SATA drive instead of an ATA drive, and the added cost of an extra port and those electronics as well. I just don't want to throw more money down the toilet.

Eric_Cable · #3 02-14-2006, 01:55 AM

I just bought two of these this morning. I have six of them already, they have all worked perfectly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16817173004R

John_Luke · #4 02-14-2006, 09:29 AM

I jut saw the Burly FW multi-drive enclosures from MacGurus. I am waiting from some responses from sales support, but it is fan cooled, and you can either buy a unit for two drives, or for fours drives. I just need two right now, but if I buy the four drive unit, I've two extra bays waiting for me when I expand. I found Hitachi 250GB ATA drives for around $100 bucks, so if I pop for the Burly 4 bay tower, I could theoretically make a 4 drive unit for $600.

http://www.macgurus.com/productpages...wenclosure.php

BillyJim · #5 02-14-2006, 09:40 AM

The 4-bay enclosures are typically much longer front to back than the 2-bay units.
I would almost opt for two 2-bays instead if I were going down this route.

John_Luke · #6 02-14-2006, 10:33 AM

Good tip- Thanks. I don't want to create a monster here.