External 2.5" dive or enclosure with power switch?

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:15 pm

Anyone know of a 2.5" external drive or enclosure (SATA) that has a power switch?

There's the Icy Box IB-250 enclosure but it's ugly compared to the likes of the WD Passport, which I don't believe has a power switch...

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:05 am

Anyone?

RoGuE · Post by **RoGuE** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 4:51 am

the reason they don't have power switches is becasue most of them are powered by 1 or 2 USB ports. If you cut power from the USB's you also lose your connection (and potentially lose things that are write cached), so a power switch is useless.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 6:05 am

Not really. You could disconnect the USB cable at any point if you wanted to, what's the difference between doing that and using a power switch? The difference for me is ease of doing this because I have it connected to a desktop PC, which sits under my desk. A power switch means the device wouldn't come on every time with the PC and spin up. One of these on my desk is much louder than my PC.

My Akasa one has a power switch but it's ugly and PATA only. So although it comes in SATA form with a power switch, I'd ideally like to find another one with one. If I can't then I'll just get the Asaka.

Post by **MikeC** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:16 am

What's wrong with that icybox 2.5" enclosure? It looks like the only 2.5" enclosure with an on/off switch -- only one I've even heard of -- and it has much lower power demand than any 3.5". Also, I don't understand why you put the externad HDD on the desktop. I stick mine under/behind the desk on the floor on soft foam as far away from me as possible. Then it can be left powered on and I don't hear it. The closest an external HDD gets to me is on the top of the PC under my desk.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 3:18 am

I keep it on the desk to access the power switch

I only switch it on once every fortnight or so to perform a back-up. It's also useful to have easy access in case I need to take it with me.

I guess I'll just have to get this one in SATA form... it's just ugly compared to the likes of the sleek WD Passport.

RoGuE · Post by **RoGuE** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 4:58 am

Mike, you're forgetting a main reason a lot of people own ext HDDs...trading! When I used to own one before it crapped out, I would bring it over a friends house often and trade music/movies back and forth. Having it under/behind the desk would make this an arduous task.

I see your point, but I just wanted to offer a reason someone would keep it up and easy to access. The noise was a problem for me..so I layed the thing down on bubble wrap and called it a day. it was still kinda noisy..but the convienence was more important to me.

back to the original topic, is it too complicated to just wire in a toggle switch on the enclosure? I feel like I could do that with a few simple tools, and still make it look good on a 2.5in enclosure.