need HDD enclosure, which chipset is best?

Question

Level 1

37 points

need HDD enclosure, which chipset is best?

I have a 2.5" 80GB HDD that i want to use mostly for a backup using time machine. I am looking at a few different enclosures on ebay, and I see they have different chipsets. I saw on an old post somewhere that osx 10.3 had issues with the Genesys GL711 Chipset, which is the enclosure i was looking at most. There is another enclosure that uses OXFORD 911 chipset. Can anybody tell me which one might be better, or if one has known issues with leopard or tiger?
Thanks for any info.

Black 2ghz CoreDuo Macbook Superdrive, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Feb 27, 2008 6:01 PM

Reply

Answer 1

blakegeee Author

Level 1

37 points

Feb 28, 2008 4:13 PM in response to blakegeee

bump

Reply

Answer 2

DonH49

Level 6

16,716 points

Feb 28, 2008 4:22 PM in response to blakegeee

surf to Vantec and look at their Nexstar sx model. I have two of these and they work very well with Leopard and powerbook, mac pro and macbook pro. Microcenter has them for $14.95

Reply

Answer 3

blakegeee Author

Level 1

37 points

Feb 28, 2008 7:16 PM in response to DonH49

The only thing I don't like about that one is that it doesn't have firewire. I could handle USB if neccesary but I'd rather use firewire if I can find a dependable one. Funny, I can't find what chipset this one uses. Is it fairly fast using the USB. I only have an 80GB HD so I guess it doesn't need to be that fast anyways.

Reply

Answer 4

bdkjones

Level 4

1,335 points

Feb 28, 2008 8:06 PM in response to blakegeee

I really don't think you'll have a problem with any of them.

OS X Panther (10.3) was from four years ago! I would choose the case that has the features you want. I would not choose the case based on an article that said one chipset didn't work with Panther.

Reply

Answer 5

blakegeee Author

Level 1

37 points

Feb 28, 2008 8:26 PM in response to bdkjones

ok, thanks for the advice guys. I just don't want to waste my money buying one that is known to be problems with Leopard. Can anybody recommend a reasonably priced enclosure with USB and Firewire that is friendly with Leopard/Macbook?

Reply

Answer 6

Feb 28, 2008 8:41 PM in response to blakegeee

*"Can anybody recommend a reasonably priced enclosure with USB and Firewire that is friendly with Leopard/Macbook?"*

Look at macsales.com and cooldrives.com

Reply

Answer 7

Feb 29, 2008 1:09 AM in response to Templeton Peck

I have a MacAlly PHR-S250CC and I have enjoyed it very much (USB 2 and FW400). Kinda heavy, but definitely sturdy and is a nice package. A bit pricier than some, but comparable with most USB/FW enclosures. I have had good luck with it on a 12" PB and Tiger and my MacBook and Leopard as well as with a number of Mac desktops (I've used it as a utility drive with a PPC build and an Intel build of Tiger on it booting a number of computers, PPC and Intel, from the drive via FW).

Reply

Answer 8

etresoft

Level 9

56,692 points

Feb 29, 2008 8:56 AM in response to Templeton Peck

Templeton Peck wrote:
Look at macsales.com and cooldrives.com

I second that. OWC (AKA macsales.com) will list all the enclosures and describe all the interfaces and chipsets. Everything is guaranteed to work on a Mac. If you were shopping for a 3.5" enclosure at OWC, you can literally design the enclosure to your own specifications. You don't have quite as many options with the 2.5" enclosures.

Reply

Answer 9

blakegeee Author

Level 1

37 points

Mar 1, 2008 8:41 PM in response to etresoft

ya OWC is a little pricey. The cheapest one with FW is $40 plus $22 shipping to Canada. I can get them on ebay for $30 shipped. But does anybody know if these cheap ones work well with the macs? They "claim" to be Mac compatible?

Reply

Answer 10

Mar 2, 2008 12:03 AM in response to blakegeee

I know it's a bit of a bummer, but my gut says even paying twice as much, it's worth it to get a product that has known good reputation and history and has support if anything were to go wrong.

$30 sounds good, but I could see hours and hours lost from frustration if your drive connection is flaky.

I'd go for the known good product with support.

Good luck!

Reply

Answer 11

blakegeee Author

Level 1

37 points

Mar 2, 2008 6:47 AM in response to jegdart98

its looks like the chipset is the important factor in there right? So i think i am going to keep looking for a cheaper drive that has the Oxford chipset. It seems to be recommmended whereas the Genesys one seems to be more flakey from what I read.

Reply

Answer 12

blakegeee Author

Level 1

37 points

Mar 2, 2008 8:46 AM in response to blakegeee

Ok i just ordered the Macally PHR-250CC for my IDE 80gb seagate HDD. It seems to be basically the same as the one recommended above but for IDE instead of SATA, and the only difference in the model name is an "S" right in the middle of the SATA model name. I read reviews and it is bootable and recommended by several mac users. It seems like many of these are not bootable so its good i did my homework. It was only $40.78 total including tax (Ontario, Canada), and there was free "budget" shipping on this item. Seems like a good option for Canadian buyers, not sure how it would work out for US buyers. In any case, thanks for the info and recommendations everybody.

Reply

Answer 13

Mar 2, 2008 3:31 PM in response to blakegeee

blakegeee,

My bad. My enclosure is also a PHR-250CC. I checked the Macally site for the model originally and failed to notice the distinction.
You should enjoy the enclosure and have no trouble booting PPC or Intel Macs from it via FW (and I hear Intel Macs should be able to boot from USB as well, though I haven't tried it...)

Best.

Reply