Compatible USB enclosure for hard disk from a 15-inch Aluminum Powerbook

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Level 1

9 points

Compatible USB enclosure for hard disk from a 15-inch Aluminum Powerbook

My old Powerbook finally bit the dust, so I dismantled it and removed the hard disk. I want to get an enclosure to use it as a USB drive, but do not know what size or type of enclosure to purchase.

I tried to guess, and ended up buying:
Connectland CL-ENC25005 2.5-Inch Light Weight USB 2.0 Interface SATA HDD External Enclosure
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028Y4D9U/ref=oxya_ohproduct

When I got it, the connector in the enclosure was too small for the number of pins on the hard drive. Can somebody recommend an appropriate USB enclosure to use with an old Powerbook hard disk?

80GB Ultra ATA/100 at 5400 rpm

Posted on Jul 28, 2009 9:37 AM

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Answer 1

eww

Level 9

53,052 points

Jul 28, 2009 3:01 PM in response to jakshale

Hi, jakshale, and welcome to Apple Discussions. Your Serial ATA (SATA) enclosure isn't what you need, as you've guessed; your drive is a Parallel ATA (PATA, also called IDE) unit and needs an enclosure designed for that interface. Any enclosure intended for 2.5" ATA/IDE/PATA notebook drives will work. Here's one that's almost as dirt cheap as the one you bought:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817106093

Note that if you intend to use the newly-repackaged drive with a Powerbook, a USB-only enclosure isn't a good choice unless you get one that can use its own AC adapter. This is because most Powerbooks don't supply enough power through their USB ports to power an external drive. The same Powerbooks do supply sufficient power through their FireWire ports, so an enclosure that can be connected via FireWire is a better choice. If you're going to use the drive with a desktop Mac or an Intel MacBook instead of a Powerbook, a USB enclosure should be fine.

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Answer 2

BGreg

Level 6

17,558 points

Jul 28, 2009 3:18 PM in response to jakshale

Welcome to the Apple discussions.

Another choice would be http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MOTGFWU2/ and they offer a power supply, if it will be used with another Powerbook via USB (as noted by eww, not needed if using the Firewire connection with a Powerbook or using it via USB on one of the Intel-based notebooks): http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=4140&Item=OWCMOTGPWR

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Answer 3

kmac1036

Level 4

2,370 points

Jul 29, 2009 7:48 AM in response to BGreg

overall, the OWC cases aren't too bad. The USB bus on the PB isn't strong enough as Greg mentioned. The FW800 models work great for me on my MBP & MB with the supplied adapter cable.

watch their clearance pg, sometimes there's an open return that's a bit cheaper 😉

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/bargains/

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Answer 4

ljb0655

Level 1

0 points

Sep 8, 2009 12:47 PM in response to jakshale

my 12 inch powerbook laptop body was no good, but the hard drive was. I had a powermac g4 tower with a bad harddrive. After researching, I found this site and I mounted the laptop harddrive into the desktop and boom! my old laptop drive booted up on the desktop powermac. here is the link. a 3 yr old can install this it is way too easy, plus it cost 99 Cents. way cheaper than buying an enclosure.
http://www.b2cshop24.com/en/hard-drive-ide-25-to-35-adapter-converter-for-laptop .html

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