Any tips for the best (i.e., reliable) external USB drives (at least 100GB).
I read that overheating/ventilation were the biggest problems they all
shared. I know that is what killed my Western Digital USB Drive after only
about seventy two hours of service. Do any manufacturers get it right?

Thanks.

> Any tips for the best (i.e., reliable) external USB drives (at least
100GB).
> I read that overheating/ventilation were the biggest problems they all
> shared. I know that is what killed my Western Digital USB Drive after
only
> about seventy two hours of service. Do any manufacturers get it right?

Or, does any vendor put a thermal protection on external drive/enclosure?
One can always throw a jacket over an external drive and start editing some
long videos...

Neil W <neilw@_netlib_.com> wrote:

> Any tips for the best (i.e., reliable) external USB drives (at least 100GB).
> I read that overheating/ventilation were the biggest problems they all
> shared. I know that is what killed my Western Digital USB Drive after only
> about seventy two hours of service. Do any manufacturers get it right?

The recent trend in external drive enclosures has been toward fanless
designs. This is good from the noise standpoint, but it's not so good
for the drives, especially if the enclosure is a plastic case with no
ventilation holes.

The better fanless enclosures come with ventilation holes, FireWire
ports, and higher price tags. For example
<http://www.addlogix.com/firewire/embed.asp?stuff=se_fxu2_eb_body.html>.

> Neil Wwrote:
Any tips for the best (i.e., reliable) external USB drives (at least
100GB).
> I read that overheating/ventilation were the biggest problems they
all
> shared. I know that is what killed my Western Digital USB Drive
after only
> about seventy two hours of service. Do any manufacturers get it
right?
>
> Thanks.

I believe Tiger Direct is selling some that have cooling fans in them.
It's all about the enclosure. If you find a good enclosure that
doesn't come with a drive built in, just go buy the drive
separately.

You know, I run four drives in my machine and know all about the heat
issues involved. I always wondered why they don't melt down in
sealed enclosures.. I knew I was right and have argued over it.

Thanks for letting me know that.

Previously dannysdailys <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> Neil Wwrote:
> Any tips for the best (i.e., reliable) external USB drives (at least
> 100GB).
>> I read that overheating/ventilation were the biggest problems they
> all
>> shared. I know that is what killed my Western Digital USB Drive
> after only
>> about seventy two hours of service. Do any manufacturers get it
> right?
>>
>> Thanks.

> I believe Tiger Direct is selling some that have cooling fans in them.
> It's all about the enclosure. If you find a good enclosure that
> doesn't come with a drive built in, just go buy the drive
> separately.

I completely agree on this.

> You know, I run four drives in my machine and know all about the heat
> issues involved. I always wondered why they don't melt down in
> sealed enclosures..

Well, in the original sense of a "melt down" (or "China-syndrom"
as the press sometimes called it) being the worst possible thing
to happen, drives do "melt down" in external enclosures when under
high load...

Arno

"Neil W" <neilw@_netlib_.com> wrote:
>Any tips for the best (i.e., reliable) external USB drives (at least 100GB).
>I read that overheating/ventilation were the biggest problems they all
>shared. I know that is what killed my Western Digital USB Drive after only
>about seventy two hours of service. Do any manufacturers get it right?
>
>Thanks.

One very popular USB enclosure (with fan) at Newegg.com is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817145656

I don't have any personal experience with this one, but it seems to be
the "readers choice" with many good ratings.