external 3.5" harddisc case proposition?!

[negrito]

i will switch from my pc to a g5. i thought it would be nice to buy a external harddisc case where i can put in one hd from my pc and then transfer the data from pc to mac. like this i also have an external harddisc that i can use very well.

my problem is that i don't know which case i should buy! any propositions? it should have firewire 400 at least but not be to expensive.

thanks for the help!

 

[gopher]

The problem is the Mac will only recognize PC formatted Zip disks and CDs (with ISO 9660) without networking. Networking Mac to PC via ethernet is fairly easy and probably the best way to transfer data between PC and Mac. Detto makes transferring files between PC and Mac fairly easy with their package Movetomac which you'll find on Apple's Switch page.

 

[idea_hamster]

Not entirely true!

My friend had his IBM ThinkPad self-destruct and was quite worried about losing all his law school papers and research. I took his hard drive out, put it into a FW enclosure, plugged it in, and
*voila*
it mounted up and everything was right there. I just copied everything he wanted to a HD partition and then burned him a CD of it all.

Janie Porche -- you got _nothin'_ on me!

So, while I don't know how your HD is formatted, I definately suggest trying the following steps:

1. put it in a FW enclosure
2. plug...it...in.
3. applaud yourself on your new choice of platform

I got my enclosure at Other World Computing (it was a 2.5", tho) -- and they seemed to have a fair selection up and down the price range.


Best of Luck!

 

[MacManDan]

Simply look around the internet for a while for a 3.5" firewire enclosure case. They're everywhere, and some are dirt cheap ($50 with shipping).

To clear things up, idea_hamster and gopher are both correct ..... to an extent. Macintosh computers can read FAT32 partitions, but NOT NTFS. If you have a Windows 2000 or XP computer on an NTFS partition, find another way to do it .. because the firewire enclosure won't help you.

Read this article for more help:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75320

And if you do decide to go Mac, welcome to the community!

[edit: OWC cases are great, although more expensive than others. usbgear.com has some more good cases (for less). The Oxford 911 chipset is the fastest chipset for firewire 400 enclosures, and if you want speed, look for an enclosure that specifically mentions that chipset]

 

[Makosuke]

As someone said, if your drive is NTFS formatted at the very least you're going to need extra software to read it. Networking might be an easier way to go about it.

As far as FireWire cases go, I recommend keeping an eye on DealMac (http://dealmac.com); they frequently list good buys on 3.5" FireWire cases. Personally, I bought one for about $45, and a 2-drive case for about $60. Both use the Oxford911 chipset and seem to work well enough, although you can get nicer ones (or FW 800) for a little more.

 

[Lanbrown]

This may interest you:
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/07/23/wiebetech/

 

[iShater]

How about this one?

Originally posted by Makosuke
As someone said, if your drive is NTFS formatted at the very least you're going to need extra software to read it. Networking might be an easier way to go about it.

As far as FireWire cases go, I recommend keeping an eye on DealMac (http://dealmac.com); they frequently list good buys on 3.5" FireWire cases. Personally, I bought one for about $45, and a 2-drive case for about $60. Both use the Oxford911 chipset and seem to work well enough, although you can get nicer ones (or FW 800) for a little more.

I went to dealmac.com and I found this:

COOLMAX 3.5" USB 2.0 / FIREWIRE ALUMINUM COMBO EXTERNAL HDD ENCLOSURE (CD-309-COMBO)

http://www.pcmicrostore.com/part-detail.asp?id=408313


Is this one of the enclosures you got? if so, do you like it? I am seriously thinking about getting this one.

Thanks.

 

[idea_hamster]

Just too lazy to search the forums, but...

...[W]asn't there a rumors forum about how Panther might support NTFS-formatted disks?

I'm not sure that it was truly full support, but even if it were read-only, that would probably allow you to copy your old NTFS-formatted disk files to your new HD.

Then add a 1/2 cup of Disk Copy,
2 Tsp. of Erase with HFS+ format,
let rise for a few moments
and
YUM!

If you're switching and can wait for your files until Panther comes out, then <optimism> you should be all set. </optimism>

 

[gopher]

The cheapest 3.5" cases I found are here:

Firewire/USB 2.0 case for $57:

http://www.aicmicro.com/productdetail.asp?id=13002

Firewire only for $44:

http://www.aicmicro.com/productdetail.asp?id=12751

 

[iShater]

Has anybody used any of the ones we just listed above? recommendations for them?

 

[Makosuke]

iShater: The cases I have are:

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=MAP-302F-01

Which is crude and comes with zero documentation, but has served me pretty well. I had a couple of problems with it, but I'm pretty sure they were caused by a dying IBM HD, not the case. Hard to say 100%, but it's been doing fine under heavy DV load for several weeks with new drives.

And a Firewire-only version of this case, also bought from ComputerGeeks (they don't sell it anymore):

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ME-720U2F

It takes a bit of work to get set up, but it looks ok and seems to work fine for me.

 

[iShater]

Originally posted by Makosuke
iShater: The cases I have are:

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=MAP-302F-01

Which is crude and comes with zero documentation, but has served me pretty well. I had a couple of problems with it, but I'm pretty sure they were caused by a dying IBM HD, not the case. Hard to say 100%, but it's been doing fine under heavy DV load for several weeks with new drives.

And a Firewire-only version of this case, also bought from ComputerGeeks (they don't sell it anymore):

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ME-720U2F

It takes a bit of work to get set up, but it looks ok and seems to work fine for me.

Thanks for the response Makosuke. I decided to go with the enclosure I listed above and a 200GB Westerdigital 7200RPM hard drive. I got the HD and I will get the enclosure on Thursday, hoping it will a fun and not too painful processing of putting together!

Oh, and I get to see if it will work better with my iBook or my friend's Dell

 

[idea_hamster]

Good luck, iShater -- and may the Force be with you

 

[ima_pseudonym]

Originally posted by iShater
Thanks for the response Makosuke. I decided to go with the enclosure I listed above and a 200GB Westerdigital 7200RPM hard drive. I got the HD and I will get the enclosure on Thursday, hoping it will a fun and not too painful processing of putting together!

Oh, and I get to see if it will work better with my iBook or my friend's Dell

I'm not sure about this, but I have a vague recollection of some firewire cases not supporting drives larger than 120gig. Was max drive size listed for the case you ordered?

 

[gopher]

Originally posted by ima_pseudonym
I'm not sure about this, but I have a vague recollection of some firewire cases not supporting drives larger than 120gig. Was max drive size listed for the case you ordered?

Those drives based on an ATA/100 bridge or slower won't go above 120 GB. Some ATA/100 bridges can do above 120 GB, all ATA/133 can.

 

[negrito]

as i am living in switzerland it is a little difficult to find online shops with good harddisc enclosures. with your suggestions in mind i was looking around computer stores in the region and found some really cheap and good enclosures.

i would really like to hear the opinion of people about the enclosure they bought.