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FireWire 400 Hard Drive Enclosure


a cost effective housing that is extremely portable

The External FireWire 400 Hard Drive Enclosure is great looking and it comes with everything you need to create a fully functional external hard drive for nearly any purpose. If you'd seen my previous review of OWC's external FireWire 7200rpm hard drive, this is the box it came in.

Not only is this great for people who have upgraded their internal hard drives on their Powerbooks and iBooks, but a really reasonably priced way to add a storage drive (and OWC has some great options for this enclosure WITH a variety of drives). They provide a simply, sturdy carrying case, FireWire cable, power supply (as needed in multiple drive configurations since it it will receive bus power) and mounting screws. Surprisingly easy to put it all together as well.

How does this product compare?

I compared the OWC to WiebeTech's FireWire enclosure and the only real differences are in aesthetics. Where OWC has opted for a clear Lucite housing and blue LED, Wiebe has gone with brushed aluminum and black exterior. OWC has one nice option in that their newer models have multiple ports allowing connections via USB 2.0, FireWire 400 6 and 4 pin cables and, of course, the newer FireWire 800 options are out there as well.

Who might enjoy this product?
      As OWC will tell you on their web site, this is a great enclosure if you've just upgraded your internal hard drive...and it is! Make your old drive new again by popping it into a nice little enclosure like this one.

If you have the need, this is your frame to house that drive you have or one you want to create. If you are a procrastinator when it comes to backing up your files, this is a great way to make the time needed short. If you have a .Mac account and a copy of Backup2 or any other great disk copying utility, set it and forget it so you'll be able have your files when you need them. In fact, I would recommend upgrading your internal hard drive if you have nearly any stock Powerbook and/or iBook if you need the speed.

External FireWire 400

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CREDITS:
Daniel East is the founder and president of The Mid-Atlantic Macintosh User Groups Team (MaMUGs); a member of The Apple Consultants Network (ACN); a member of The Apple Developer Connection (ACN); a panelist on "PC Talk Radio;" a live speaker/presenter and a freelance columnist for several Mac publications. This review may be reproduced with proper attribution. Please notify author of placement and provide a copy/URL for reference. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. (c) 2004 Daniel M. East for The Mid-Atlantic Macintosh User Groups Team (MaMUGs)

 

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