SPCR

I bought a Vantec Nexstar 3, the fancy new ones that come in 4 different colours, for portability.

I put in the 30 gig deathstar 75 gxp drive that was loud both seek wise, and vibration buzzing and whining motor into it.

It got much much quieter. I was kind of shocked.

I guess 18 gauge or whatever the thickness of the aluminum they use is, works pretty damn well at muffling sound plus the different size/shape/slightly decoupled method of attachment they use (you attach the bracket to the hd and then slide the thing into the shell) reduces resonance vibration.

One caveat, it doesn't ground itself 100% unless it's plugged in completely.. if you have the USB cable unplugged it generates this electrical hum I can hear with my cochlear implant if I touch it with my hand. Similiar to a roll bar on a tv set. All USB enclosures might be like this, except for the 2.5 drive ones which are powered off USB cables.. I wouldn't know because I have never tried any other.

I also learned the hard way that Windows XP cannot boot off a USB drive, but other OSes can.

Good timing for me

What are the hdd temps?

Thanks!

It's the vibration that's a killer for most of these enclosures. The oem manufacturers rarely think about it and either provide poor stands or inadequate base 'feet'.