External Hard Drives

fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
edited September 2006 in Hardware
Hey everyone, got another hard drive question. Bit of a strange situation:

I'm going to Japan for almost a whole year to study at Waseda University in Tokyo. I'll be taking my puny dell x200 laptop with me, which will have to function as my main computer for my stay there. I have a new 80gb hard drive in the laptop, but I don't think that'll be enough, especially if I'll be taking as many photos as I expect to.

So I've been shopping around for external drives, but I have a few concerns:

1)I'm probably going with an enclosure for an internal drive; it's cheaper and I have the ability to switch things out if the enclosure goes bad.

2) I have a 250gb Lacie drive, but it uses the power connector that looks like an s-video plug, which I have had to replace once already because of a broken pin (from just taking it to a friend's house, nevermind international travel). I am not sure how available this type of connector would be in Japan. I would prefer not to get an external enclosure with this kind of connector, which seems to reduce my options.

3) Japan uses 2-prong, unpolarized power outlets. The only enclosure I've found thus far that used a compatible power connector like this was this one, which seems to have lackluster reviews in terms of build quality and noise.

4) My laptop only has USB 1.1, but has firewire. A combo drive would be preferable, but if it only supports firewire, that would be fine.

So, I would like to get the hard drive before I leave so I can stuff backups of my documents on it, but I'm thinking I might have better luck getting the enclosure once I get there, considering the slim pickings I've come up with so far. What do you all think?

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    This?
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    The power cord looks right, but isn't that USB-only? I need firewire. And also, I'd rather get the hard drive and enclosure separately.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    And theeeeeen?
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    I'd something a little sleeker for better portability, or perhaps one that isn't so ugly :P but the features and reviews look good enough.

    As long as the plug isn't polarized (looks good from here), I might go with this one.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    fuxor wrote:
    I'd something a little sleeker for better portability, or perhaps one that isn't so ugly :P but the features and reviews look good enough.

    As long as the plug isn't polarized (looks good from here), I might go with this one.

    You're killin' me, smalls... ;D
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited September 2006
    Well, I got the ugly one (and a nice 250gb seagate to go into it). It's actually not all that bad looking, the photos online just made it look really fat and oddly-shaped. It's pretty sleek in person. I'm especially happy that it doesn't have anything stupid etched into the side, like some of the other enclosures...

    Internal build-quality leaves a bit to be desired, but it's pretty solid, with a thick aluminum housing. The only thing is... the plug is polarized, which means that I'll still have to find an adapter to fit it into a Japanese socket (unless I can find a suitable replacement cord to run to the power supply).

    Performance is just fine, and the adapter is a minor inconvenience. Thanks for your help, Thrax, it's been good talkin to you again!
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