External HD enclosure advice

[NotMe]

I'm looking for advice on buying an external hard drive enclosure. I'd like
to add a 200 or 250gb hard drive to my pc.

Ultimately, I'd like to do a Firewire 800 (1394b) enclosure but the cheapest
that I'm finding is still around $100. Are they so expensive because they
are still new?

Alternately, I've read that regular Firewire is speedier than USB 2.0.

When looking for an enclosure, should you consider the chipset that it
contains (ie. Oxford, Prolific, etc)? I know it's important to take into
consideration how big of a hard drive it supports.

With an aluminum enclosure, is is still good to include a fan to keep the
drive cool? Are ball bearing fans a lot quieter?

Thanks for any & all advice!

 

[Arno Wagner]

I'm looking for advice on buying an external hard drive enclosure. I'd like
to add a 200 or 250gb hard drive to my pc.

Ultimately, I'd like to do a Firewire 800 (1394b) enclosure but the cheapest
that I'm finding is still around $100. Are they so expensive because they
are still new?

Alternately, I've read that regular Firewire is speedier than USB 2.0.

When looking for an enclosure, should you consider the chipset that it
contains (ie. Oxford, Prolific, etc)? I know it's important to take into
consideration how big of a hard drive it supports.

I have had very bad experiences with one Oxford chipset. Did not
work reliably in USB 2.0 or Firewire.

With an aluminum enclosure, is is still good to include a fan to keep the
drive cool? Are ball bearing fans a lot quieter?

Depends on usage pattern and enclosure. Ball bearing fans
are not necessarily quieter. The Best bearings to date
are Sintec by Papst. These are special sleeve bearings and
are significantly better than ball bearings.

Basically you need to check the datasheet of the fan to
find out noise levels and life-expectancy.

Arno