[B Gallagher]

Hey all,

I've got a couple of drives I want to take out of my PC, and take them with me overseas, where I will buy a PowerBook. One's an 80GB HDD, and the other's an optical drive.

I figure I need two external cases (USB's fine for me). One which is 5.25" (for the optical drive), and one which is 3.5" (for the HDD).

Aside from this, is there anything else that I'll need, or anything else you can recommend about doing this?

Thanks.

[ghporter]

Look for robust cases; I like the aluminum ones for that reason because they're light and strong. Also look for cases that have their own power adapters; either or both of those drives will need 12VDC, which USB simply can't provide. A good choice is a case that offers both an external power adapter and a battery option, but those are relatively hard to find.

[italiano]

I have 2 external HD's and 1 external DVD Burner - all homemade and all FIREWIRE - much better than USB in my opinion - FW has always been better on the Mac than USB 2.0

[B Gallagher]

Thanks for the replies guys. The HDD case will be most likely a once-off use, just to get all my files, then probably onsell it. So I've gone with a USB Aluminium case for that (with its own power adaptor), but for the CD/DVD drive I'll try to get FW 400.

Thanks!