Recommendations on an External HD Caddy

Welshchris · 04-09-2011, 23:27

I have 2 x 320GB SATA II Maxtor Hard Disks im not using and i wish to place them in an External Caddy.

Could someone recommend a half decient one which has good cooling also as these drives have breathing holes on the top.

The Caddy has to be USB II.

Thanks

slowcoach · 07-09-2011, 03:39

You could consider a Docking Station.
I have been using a NewLink for some time now and I couldn’t live without it, it is both E-SATA and USB-2 but I have only used it with E-SATA, although mine only holds a single drive it is hot swappable. The drive runs cool and insertion and removal is nice and easy, there is a button which pushes the drive up for removal.
Here is a LINK for a USB-2 Docking Station for 2 drives which looks like it came from the same manufacturer as mine.

Welshchris · 07-09-2011, 04:05

Now i was warned off these docs a year ago.

A friend of mine who works in Maplins said they were having all theirs back because of data loss or they stop working and when i was looking on ebuyer at some of the docs a few reviews said the same thing about data loss or they stopped working.

DaiNasty · 07-09-2011, 06:09

Very strange. I've got one which I use on a regular basis for backups and recovering client data. It's never failed or given me any trouble at all.
Having said that I'd still choose a caddy for permanent use as the drive is more protected and convenient for use.

slowcoach · 07-09-2011, 06:18

I have had mine about 18 months and during that time I haven't had a single problem, having said that, I have only used the E-SATA connection and the performance is exactly the same as an internal drive, in fact the kit has performed much better than I thought it would do. I have used it a lot for keeping multiple backup's, in fact I have just finished restoring my backup files from it. Mine came with all the cables and a power supply and there are four USB-2 ports on it, I paid about £15 at the time.

Matth · 11-09-2011, 00:43

The only drive cases I've seen with fan cooling, are the ones that can take a 5 1/4" optical drive, and have mounting positions for a HD. The little tiny fan also generates more noise than air!