Looking for 1.5tb capable usb 3.5 sata Enclosure

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I’m looking for some advice as to what 3.5 sata/300 enclosure would be best for me and is capable of the 1.5TB.and is reliable not to overheat.
I’m going to buy a WD TV Live set top box to watch my movies off the usb 2.0 enclosure. I want to store my DVDs and cds and use this external drive as my semi-portable media drive. Just media storage to be played back.

Specs: Western Digital
WD15EADS series Caviar Green 3.5 SATA/300 3.0Gb/s drive 1.5TB capacity Bulk OEM Desktop Bare Drive
32MB Cache and between 5400 and 7200 RPM it has something called IntelliPower technologies managing the RPM
The RPM is set to use less energy so it can be as high as 7200 RPM or as low as 5400 RPM

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An aluminium enclosure will dissipate the heat better than a plastic enclosure, but either would be OK if the location is well ventilated. If the disk is tucked in with the cables, covered in dust, nothing will prevent it overheating.

cheers, Paul

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Thank you for responding. I was thinking about a mesh enclosure. I kind of thought I might need it to have a fan. I really don’t know what brands are good. I look at amazon or newegg and read customer ratings and all the enclosures either break immediately or there are no ratings at all.

Do you know any specific brands I can trust? I never bought an external enclosure before and with this being a heavy 1.5 tb drive it looks like I might need a capable and reliable unit.

Thanks for the info, I really thought the fan matter based on so many bad reviews of enclosures without fans.
Either way I’ll have good air flow by mine.

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Why not just buy a USB drive already built, they are reasonable in price and they work.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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I figured I would get a better deal on buying more storage for a lower price by buying the drive and enclosure separate. So when I saw the 1.5 Tb Wd drive for 90 dollars it seemed best to buy them separate.

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Based on my years of experience with Antec products, I’d buy the Antec MX-100 external enclosure (87% four or five eggs rating) and the 1.5GB WD Green HDD. Only $140 at NewEgg right now with free shipping. The cheapest 1.5GB built externals are $139. The biggest complaint I see about the MX-100 is that the power cord is too short. I would think that the aluminum case would conduct more heat to the surrounding air than would a plastic case. I’ve used Antec PC cases exclusively since I began building PCs in 1998 – home/personal use for myself, family and a few select friends.

I’d be interested to hear your opion of the WD TV live unit after you get it setup. I’m thinking about getting one to burn to and play my 250+ DVD movie collection, after I get my tax refund this spring.

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I appreciate your response as well. Finding a capable enclosure has been a little bit of a hassle. I already bought the drive for a reasonable 90 dollars for the cyber Monday sale.
Last night I ordered what looked good for a long term enclosure on Amazon. It is a little larger than most. It is the

”Thermaltake N0012USU Max 4 Active Cooling 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 eSATA Hard Drive Enclosure”.

I picked it up from Amazon for about $55 with shipping. The reviews read pretty well overall 4.5 satisfaction, and I read that the 80mm fan seems to be easily replaceable.

I will let you how the wd tv live works out. It is the next purchase after I get this drive enclosed. I should have the drive next week, and then go to Best Buy for the WD TV Live for a $119 dollar price. I read today that the WD TV Live doesn’t allow full access to the DVD content, just the movie. Still that would work for me. I also read of a Homebrew society for the WD TV Live creating nicely designed additional features.

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That looks like a good enclosure. 80mm fan plus ESATA connection. I’ll definitely add that to my list! Thanks.

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I bought the Wd TV Live and the enclosure and the Western Digital drive. All is well, the wdtv live box plays almost all of my needs in video. It is perfect for playing backed up dvds. The enclosure is for the drive is running great. A large 80mm silent fan inside, can easily be replaced if needed. I am thinking about getting a wireless internet usb for the wd tv live. The wd tv live can handle a network connection to pull video from a networked pc. So far I’ve watched youtube on the wd tv live box and it runs great. There is even the forum for update firmware for the wd tv live that offers some really great features, still a little advanced fro me, like ftp and torrent downloads from the set top box. If interested in what is offered check out:

http://b-rad.cc/1095…xtv-live-0-3-2/, or Google B-rad and Wd tv live firmware

That is the site of a firmware developer that is working in knowledge of the wd tv live company on add ons for the official firmware.
If anyone can make sense of all the additional features he’s added let me know. I installed his firmware with no negative affects, just a cleaner better looking, stale user interface.

I recommend the WD 1.5 TB drive, the enclosure by thermaltake, and the wdtv live.
The drive had to be formatted when I got it, didn’t read on my pc, but through right clicking my computer and clicking manage and then in computer management clicking on storage. I was able to see the drive and format it properly. Unfortunately the drive only shows 1.36 TB available of 1.5 Tb. I am taking the sacrifice for the working function. If anyone knows how to get the full or close to it storage of the drive let me know. I formatted it in NTFS.

Cheers

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Unfortunately the drive only shows 1.36 TB available of 1.5 Tb. I am taking the sacrifice for the working function. If anyone knows how to get the full or close to it storage of the drive let me know. I formatted it in NTFS.

This is normal. Manufacturers count 1 KB = 1,000 bytes, 1MB = 1,000,000 bytes, 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes and 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes.
If you calculate using the accurate formula 1 TB = 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, then 1.5 manufacturer TB = 1,500,000,000,000 / 1,099,511,627,776 = 1.364 real TB.

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Thank you, I was wondering if I formatted the drive wrong. I appreciate your help.

Cheers

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