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Hard to find 5.25 HD enclosures

3K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  colinpeddle 
#1 ·
I've been searching for two or a double-bay 5.25 IDE/SATA USB 3.0 enclosures [not optical] and it appears there are none available. I will be up-grading to a 'new' iMac when/if they become available, this year. I now use 2 - 3GB drives w/FireWire connections.
If they can be 'daisy-chained' I will use Thunderbolt connection, or more probably a TB hub with extra USB 3.0 slots.

If anyone feels like commenting on any aspect of this plan, please do.

Thanks
 
#5 ·
@ExRobotGuy, I ask because another solution may be cheaper and better. 3GB 5.25" drives are obsolete which explains the lack of drive cases. IMO, spending $100 on two drive cases for obsolete drives would be a colossal waste of money. A new external drive might be cheaper than cases. Even an 8GB flash drive may be faster and would definitely be much cheaper than new cases. I hope you have the data on those drives backed up.
 
#6 ·
Thank you

Thanks, ExDilbert, that was the sort of critical response I was looking for. I keep forgetting the size/cost of flash drives. I even have some 16 gig cards plus USB thumb drives. I will now back-up to those, and look to the future.

Please tell me the limitations of this method. Right now my ports are only USB 2.0 and whatever transfer speeds SD card readers are in my early 2011 iMac. I assume operating with my present HD on FW 800 is preferable until I get a new mac, then work out what storage options are available, then and populate with my Flash back-ups.

I can't thank you enough for this bit of wisdom. I could see the forest for the trees!
 
#8 ·
The two biggest limitations of USB flash drives are speed and longevity. Newer USB3 flash drives are significantly faster than legacy USB2 drives, even when plugged into a USB2 port. Longevity is also better with newer USB3 flash drives.

All drives will fail, it's a matter of when, not if. USB flash drive lifespan is only an issue if large numbers of drive writes are performed on a daily basis. It's not an issue for reads. For things like making regular backups of personal files it should not be an issue. The risk can be mitigated by alternating between two drives.
 
#11 ·
I have 2 - 3 terabyte drives.
They would be 3.5" drives as well. There are lots of 3.5" drive enclosures available. Be aware that some are much better than others. I've tried a couple of Vantec Nexstar USB3 drive cases and they turned out to be absolute garbage. Ended up going back to USB2. A small NAS may be a better bet and it would be available to all local devices on the network.
 
#12 ·
I just found a 'Seagate Backup Plus 5TB USB 3.0 3.5" Desktop External Drive' for $189, @ Canada Computers, so the price for new is not too bad. Data transfer might be a problem though.

Any ideas that don't involve a paid transfer w/ the ports I have or a purchased hub that might serve me w/ new computer as well?

Thanks,
again
 
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