external portable hard drive (lacie) or enclosure+HD?

[casioculture]

My young friend is considering this

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=267266
80GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive - Design by F.A. Porsche Price :
$86.95


Is this the best she can get for this price or can she get a better
deal by using an enclosure + regular hard drive?

I don't have much experience in this topic so I appreciate advice.
Also, she's a young student so it shouldn't exceed the price of the
above for a budget; either as much *reliable* storage as she can get
for 80GB, or 80GB for as little as she can get them. Also, she's using
it for a laptop, but from what she told me it's not meant to be that
mobile, mostly for backup and video.

 

[Tod]

My young friend is considering this

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=267266
80GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive - Design by F.A. Porsche Price :
$86.95


Is this the best she can get for this price or can she get a better
deal by using an enclosure + regular hard drive?

I don't have much experience in this topic so I appreciate advice.
Also, she's a young student so it shouldn't exceed the price of the
above for a budget; either as much *reliable* storage as she can get
for 80GB, or 80GB for as little as she can get them. Also, she's using
it for a laptop, but from what she told me it's not meant to be that
mobile, mostly for backup and video.

You can get an external USB 2.0 (empty) case
for $25.00, www.pricewatch.com
My local Fry's Electronics sells Hitachi 80GB bare drives for $35.00
but this is after mail in rebate.
But I would rather have Seagate or Western Digital.

 

[Kenneth J. Harris]

Check out this weeks CompUSA ad--80gb usb2 external drive $49.99 after
rebates. Also empty external usb2 enclosure $29.99 plusWD 80gb hard
drive for $29.99 after rebates. These are about as good as you can get
for this size drive.

Ken