Which External Enclosure?

[RussianCarl]

I am in the market for a new external enclosure after my WD My Book 500gb (SATA) died on me. The drive is fine, but I'd like something better than the garbage plastic case it was housed in. There aren't too many reviews or comparison sites out there for External HDD Enclosures so I thought I would ask here.

I would like something that stays cool... a fan would be preferable but I know sometimes they are horrible and do worse than aluminum heatsinks. Cooling is very important since I plan on using this drive extensively; I really just don't want something that will die on me again like this.

This is what I saw so far... it is cheap, has a fan, and both eSATA and USB 2.0. However, New Egg reviews aren't so kind. Thoughts or suggestions?

KINGWIN JT-35EU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121021

 

[Grebuloner]

I'd recommend the Thermaltake Max 4. There's a model with fan and one without. I've owned the one without for awhile. It's got USB and eSATA and a few other features. The beauty of it is that the case is designed to be the heatsink for the drive (it'll get warm, of course). It also powered down the drive when the system was turned off. Never caused me problems and even though the front and back are just grills for airflow, the drive wasn't noticeable over ambient fan noise.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145029

 

[assasin32]

I personally been using the AMS external enclosures or this style for my DVD burner and my HD and been quite impressed, I had the HD one for about 2 years and the dvd enclosure for I'd say at least a year.


This is the newer USB 2.0/eSata version, I have the older USB 2.0 one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817332012

I have only have one very small complaint about it, there is not screws to hold the HD in place so if you abuse it you can hear the HD hitting the side of the case, since its only held in by the connector. I'm not saying its held in loosely im just saying if you use this one as a emergency bludgeon weapon you should check the connection before your done. Unlike the 5.25 enclosure which is screwed in, it will not move one bit no matter what I do or hit with it.