Silent external HDD/enclosure recommendation?

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ist.martin
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Location: Vancouver, B.C.

Silent external HDD/enclosure recommendation?

Post by ist.martin » Mon Jun 14, 2004 7:36 am

I am in need of an extra external HDD for a small footprint system that I will only need to be spinning about 15% of the time. But I would still like it to be REALLY, REALLY quiet, as my system is currently 0 db with no moving parts and no hum/whine from anywhere.

I probably only need 2-4 GB. So the smallest sized current drive would be fine.

Any suggestions for external enclosure + drive combos? USB 2.0 or Firewire would work.


Thanks.

ist.martin
Posts: 220
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2003 11:59 am
Location: Vancouver, B.C.

2.5 dBA 160 GB external Seagate drive?

Post by ist.martin » Mon Jun 14, 2004 9:14 am

Here's one I found:

"Falling in line with silent computing, this external hard drive will produce less than 2.5dBA while in operation."

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/ ... agate_usb/

Is that credible? Has anyone ever heard one of these things? How can it be so much quieter than the drives ever were by themselves?

shathal
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Location: Reading, UK

Post by shathal » Mon Jun 14, 2004 9:24 am

2.5 dBA ...?

How'd they measure that? Is that still humanly audible?

trinitrotoluene
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Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 2:27 pm

Post by trinitrotoluene » Mon Jun 14, 2004 12:47 pm

Newegg has the Bytecc 2.5" USB 2.0 enclosure for $20. They had it for $18 a little while back and I picked one up for a 10 gig laptop HD i had laying around. The enclosure does nothing to cause noise, so if you can get a quiet laptop HD, just get one of those enclosures. It might be cheaper than buying a pre-made external HD.

RaNDoMMAI
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Post by RaNDoMMAI » Mon Jun 14, 2004 1:49 pm

I had the bytecc one and it sucked. had so many problems with it.

My plumax i got from dealsonic is much more stable.

It is not silent, but i bet if i switch out the fan with the adda fan ppl over at sudhian use for sff psu switch then it would be quiet.

I would rather have my data stable and safe then loud.

~RaNDoM

efcoins
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Post by efcoins » Tue Jun 15, 2004 3:56 am

Use a notebook HD, they are much quieter

icancam
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DISC DRIVE LEADER SEAGATE INCREASES PC HARD DRIVE CAPACITIES

Post by icancam » Tue Jun 15, 2004 4:20 am

I'm guessing that the reviewer got confused between bels and dBA ratings. A sound level of 2.5 bels makes a lot more sense than 2.5 dBA.

Seasonic is quoting 2.0 bels at idle for its latest 120GB HDD.

"The Seagate USB2 Pocket Hard Drive is the world's first external hard drive small enough for consumers to fit in their pockets or throw in a backpack. Safely encased in its sleek round shell, its robust design and high shock tolerance enables mobility and makes it as convenient as a USB thumb drive, while offering an incredible 2.5GB or 5GB of storage for transporting or temporarily backing up a huge amount of data."

All that and more in Seasonic's latest announcement.
http://www.seagate.com/cda/newsinfo/new ... 70,00.html

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