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Thread ID: 138525 2014-12-13 04:39:00 USB HDD enclosure bk T (215) Press F1
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1390104 2014-12-13 04:39:00 I'm looking for a USB HDD enclosure and came across this from PB Tech (www.pbtech.co.nz)

The minimum system requirement says: USB 3.0 equipped Win XP /Vista/7/8

Does it mean that it won't work with older system with only USB 2.0?
bk T (215)
1390105 2014-12-13 19:49:00 I have one of those and it does work with USB 2.0 - usually. I lost the cable, or rather mixed it up with a lot of identical looking ones, and can't be sure I'm using the right one but mine will work on USB 2 on 1 computer but not the other.
It can also depend on the drive you install, USB 3.0 can supply more power than USB 2.0 (900mA vs 500mA) so a drive with higher power requirements might not work on USB 2.0. In theory all USB 3.0 devices should be backwards compatible as long as there is enough power available.

That said I'm about to throw mine away and can't recommend it, all that holds the drive and interface board in place are little bits of high density foam glued to the case and they don't work very well and tend to fall off after a while. When I try to assemble mine everything seems ok until I do up the screws and then the USB socket is pulled onto a slight angle which makes getting the cable in and out very difficult. My last attempt at fixing that has made it worse and now the socket is obscured by the case.

there's this one (I'm going to try it myself) www.pbtech.co.nz
or this one www.pbtech.co.nz but USB 2.0 does limit you to about 40 MB/s transfer rates
or if you have eSATA on your PC this one www.pbtech.co.nz

They have a lot of different ones listed actually.
dugimodo (138)
1390106 2014-12-13 20:29:00 Thanks dugimodo. bk T (215)
1390107 2014-12-13 20:47:00 Personally I'd go for the DIGITUS. I've got a couple of them, they are screwless and work good.

How they work ( hold the drive) is theres a slide switch on the rear, you slide it sideways, slide the top forward and it pops off, slide in the HDD, and put the top back on in the reverse order to taking off.

The only down side I have found is if you bump them about a lot :rolleyes: ( What ME!) the HDD inside can slide backwards slightly in the case and lose contact, but you pop off the top and push it back in. To stop the drive from moving backwards if you get to rough with it, you can put in a small piece of rubber or something inside at the rear. They are a snug fit on the side so cant move about. Mine get Hell :rolleyes:

They do have a USB3 as listed on PBtech www.pbtech.co.nz Slightly more expensive, but with a 5 year warranty (60 Months) its worth it, the other USB2 only has 1 year.
wainuitech (129)
1390108 2014-12-14 00:59:00 Well Wainui has convinced me, ordered the USB 3.0 version of the digitus he suggested. dugimodo (138)
1390109 2014-12-14 04:32:00 All wainuitech's links are only available on order. PB doesn't have physical stocks at the moment. I need it quite urgently, though. bk T (215)
1390110 2014-12-14 05:46:00 www.ascent.co.nz


The cheap one (USB2) works just as well, you need the computer to have USB 3 ports to take advantage of any faster speed.
wainuitech (129)
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