[megasad]

Hey ho. After a bit more testing, I've found that though the power supply may be dodgy, so is my FireWire external 3.5" enclosure. Basically, about one in every ten times you switch it on, it will work. The other nine, it will either not activate at all (no fan, just a red LED) or it will continuously power cycle the drive.

So! I need not just one but two enclosures, as the 60GB drive that had been sitting in that enclosure for the last two years is actually fine, it was just the enclosure messing me about.

I like the SmartDisk Crossfire enclosure the mostest, having a tiny little FireLite one already. Does anyone know of anywhere that might sell just the enclosure, minus the drive? Anyone have one where the drive has died and they'd like to sell me the enclosure?

[plexor]

Originally Posted by megasad

Hey ho. After a bit more testing, I've found that though the power supply may be dodgy, so is my FireWire external 3.5" enclosure. Basically, about one in every ten times you switch it on, it will work. The other nine, it will either not activate at all (no fan, just a red LED) or it will continuously power cycle the drive.

So! I need not just one but two enclosures, as the 60GB drive that had been sitting in that enclosure for the last two years is actually fine, it was just the enclosure messing me about.

I like the SmartDisk Crossfire enclosure the mostest, having a tiny little FireLite one already. Does anyone know of anywhere that might sell just the enclosure, minus the drive? Anyone have one where the drive has died and they'd like to sell me the enclosure?

I just purchased a very cool Bluetooth Mouse from a company called RadTech last week and I noticed that they sell very inexpensive enclosures as a stand alone product. They have some that are encrypted and others that are not. Here is the link: http://www.radtech.us/ Hope that helps and good luck.

Tech Chef

P.S. I am not sure about shipping to England, but my order arrived in three days via priority mail and I was only charged $ 4.95 for shipping!!!

[megasad]

Originally Posted by techchef

I just purchased a very cool Bluetooth Mouse from a company called RadTech last week and I noticed that they sell very inexpensive enclosures as a stand alone product. They have some that are encrypted and others that are not. Here is the link: http://www.radtech.us/ Hope that helps and good luck.

Tech Chef

P.S. I am not sure about shipping to England, but my order arrived in three days via priority mail and I was only charged $ 4.95 for shipping!!!

Thanks for that link. They do seem to sell an enclosure that is not utterly hideous, but at over £40 including postage, it's a little more than I'm willing to spend.

Oh well, I resort to asking eBay people if they will sell me just the enclosure, minus the drive.

[hickey]

megasad, have you checked www.newegg.com or http://www.outpost.com yet?

[megasad]

Originally Posted by hickey

megasad, have you checked www.newegg.com or http://www.outpost.com yet?

Sad Panda...

Newegg had an enclosure that I liked, I was all ready to buy it (it was even reasonably priced)... But they do not sell to England.

Outpost did not even have an enclosure that I liked.

It seems a fruitless task, to look for a FireWire enclosure that is any good. From reviews I read, no one uses the Oxford 911 chipset and apparently the Prolific chipset that all new ones use cannot boot a Mac and is powerful unreliable.

I can get a not-entirely-hideous enclosure for £15, but it is only USB 2.0. This will work for the extra 60GB drive, but not the 160GB one.

In future, I shall not bother with the separate drive and enclosure. It seems cheaper and easier to buy all-in-one.

[Chito]

How about this one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...g/MEFW911PLUS/
or this one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...puting/NP35FW/
or there's always this:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sabrent/ECSUFMC/
And finally my favorite for two drives:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...ng/MEFW912AL2/

[megasad]

Originally Posted by Chito

How about this one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...g/MEFW911PLUS/
or this one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...puting/NP35FW/
or there's always this:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sabrent/ECSUFMC/
And finally my favorite for two drives:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...ng/MEFW912AL2/

Powerful thanks! I was a little bit down in my last post, on account of the seeming no hope, but the OWC and Sabrient ones are pretty nice. Still over £40, but at least they are not poo.

However! I have come up with another plan; buy a 160GB CrossFire drive and sell the hard disk itself to my girlfriend's brother. (Makes the enclosure itself cost me £15-£20.) Take my 500GB disk and put that in the CrossFire enclosure, take my old 160GB drive and put that in my current working no-brand FireWire enclosure and buy a £15 USB 2.0 enclosure for the random extra 60GB drive. Should hopefully cost me no more than £35 and I get all my drives working! Hoo-hah!

Thank you to everyone who posted links and offered help. I shall keep Other World Computing in mind for the future.

[megasad]

I now done gone got myself a shiny new 160GB 500GB 465.8GB SmartDisk CrossFire hard drive:



Hoo-hah!

Um, anyone want a 160GB Samsung hard drive? They (160GB drives) generally cost around £50-£55, so if anyone wants it for £40, PM me; I'm in London.