External Hard Drive help

[Xyiitol]

Well, recently I have been trying to find a good laptop and I have been failing. So I decided to choose other components and then decide.

The problem now is that I can't seem to choose between choosing an enclosure or an external hard drive. I hear from a lot of people that an enclosure is not as reliable as an external hard drive and that they fail pretty easily. But looking for external hard drives is just as hard. There are way too many and I can't seem to choose between brands and such i.e. Brand A is faster or less reliable than Brand B. I'm going by word of mouth because I have never bought an external hard drive before and I'm not really sure what to look for.

If I do get a pre-made external hard drive I'd like it to be at least 1tb and not get very hot or stop functioning due to falling easily.
Recently someone told me to get this enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198004
but I have no idea how I would set it up.
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-Serial-ATA-300-Internal/dp/B001FEVDH4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1255938001&sr=8-2
My current hard drive is this kind.

 

[nocheese]

An "External drive" is nothing more than a regular drive pre-installed in an external enclosure, and usually at a lowered/bundled price. You are probably better off getting one of these bundles rather than "roll your own" (by buying the 2 items you link to). By going with the bundle, it is pre-installed, probably pre-tested and should you have any issues a single point of contact for warranty service/support rather than 2 vendors "finger-pointing".

The bundle will save you money as well. Add the 2 items you link above and you're over $140.

Something like this...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148405
...is $99.

 

[Xyiitol]

Thanks for the tip, I was kinda confused for a while. I'll try and find a bundle suitable for my tastes.