Can you recommend a 2.5" Sata case for my old PS3 hard drive ?

AlanBryant · 03-01-2009, 5:08 PM

Having just swapped my old 40GB hard drive in my PS3 for a 320GB one, i now want to get hold of a case for it so i can use it externally.

I have searched about the different places that sell these but there are so many on offer.Ranging from the cheap ones on Ebay, to the more expensive ones on Amazon etc.

Can anyone recommend one that you have baught ?.

Oh and am i right in thinking they all come with a lead with 2 USB ends.So one is used to power the drive and the other deals with the transfers ?.Or can you get cases that just has 1 USB end ?.

Houghsx · 03-01-2009, 5:56 PM

Just this minute ordered this from scan with some memory:

Dynamode USB-HD25SI 2.5" External USB2 Enclosure takes IDE & or SATA HDD Host and Powered PC/Mac - Scan.co.uk

£9.14

Review here:

PC Pro: Product Reviews: Dynamode USB-HD2.5SI

Dont forget any orders over £20 get free delivery

HimIndoors · 03-01-2009, 6:04 PM

I'd be interested to hear what others say on this as I'll be hopefully buying one too in the next couple of weeks with birthday cash. I've been keeping my eye on this one

Icy Box Hard Drive Enclosure For 2.5" Sata Hard Drive: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

I think it'd look pretty cool and would get the

from heroutdoors (the missus lets me buy av stuff providing it is all colour co-ordinated

)

*cols* · 03-01-2009, 6:20 PM

I use an omata one with the 40gb i took out of my ps3, it works fine, is shockproof, nice and solid, and comes with a soft case to protect it further, i'd recommend it to anyone - amazon have them too.

russd1978 · 03-01-2009, 6:34 PM

Quality of the Icybox is fantastic - much better than the cheap £10 ebay ones.

AlanBryant · 03-01-2009, 9:13 PM

Thanks for the replys

AlanBryant · 04-01-2009, 10:38 AM

Well i just orderd this one as per colspark's recommendation

.

MY-Link Omata Luxury USB 2.0 2.5" Enclosure SATA Hard: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Looks great, built strong and has very good reviews

.And for the price of £13.99 aswell.

paulflee · 04-01-2009, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanBryant

Well i just orderd this one as per colspark's recommendation

.

MY-Link Omata Luxury USB 2.0 2.5" Enclosure SATA Hard: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Looks great, built strong and has very good reviews

.And for the price of £13.99 aswell.

Good stuff just ordered one myself!!

*cols* · 04-01-2009, 1:39 PM

Couple of tips - don't panic if your pc doesn't see the drive at first. There's some things you'll need to do first (method may be slightly different depending what os you're using)

after you've put the old hdd in, you'll need to initialise the drive, in order to be able to view it. You do this in computer management.

You'll then need to format it - "create new simple volume" - just use any file structure. This is just so you can see it in file manager etc.

Lastly you'll want to format it fat32 - windows won't let you as it's over 32gb - use something like fat32format.exe which is free and lets you format from command prompt.

Google "ridgecrop consultants fat32 format", top result is a link to a free download of the tool, and simple instructions.

AlanBryant · 04-01-2009, 2:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colspark

Couple of tips - don't panic if your pc doesn't see the drive at first. There's some things you'll need to do first (method may be slightly different depending what os you're using)

after you've put the old hdd in, you'll need to initialise the drive, in order to be able to view it. You do this in computer management.

You'll then need to format it - "create new simple volume" - just use any file structure. This is just so you can see it in file manager etc.

Lastly you'll want to format it fat32 - windows won't let you as it's over 32gb - use something like fat32format.exe which is free and lets you format from command prompt.

Google "ridgecrop consultants fat32 format", top result is a link to a free download of the tool, and simple instructions.

Thanks for all that

cheaney · 05-01-2009, 6:14 PM

Guys just a note to remember.

I upgraded my HDD a while ago and brought the

MY-Link Omata Luxury USB 2.0 2.5" Enclosure SATA Hard: for my 40GB

I had a few problems with the HDD being seen by the PS3 and PC for some reason the HDD would stop spinning. So i've been taking the HDD out of the casing a few times, now some of the screws fall out because the threads are knackered.

AlanBryant · 07-01-2009, 8:34 PM

I got my Omata case today

.Great looking case it is too

.

I did the initialise part, but my PC still couldn't see it.So i read all about using 'swissknife'.Instaled it and ran it and hey presto the hard drive is up and running

.

Just transferd a simple Mpeg-4 film onto the drive(which transferd fast), and it worked great on my PS3.

I am very happy it

*cols* · 07-01-2009, 9:16 PM

Good stuff mate, happy to have helped.

Incidentally, after initialising it, all you needed to then do was right click (i think) and "create new simple volume" - this would format it and assign it a drive letter.

You'd then use the fat32format.exe tool to format it via the command prompt- "format f fat32" (if you called it drive f) from c drive (if you saved the tool to your c drive).

That barely makes sense to me... But it's how i managed to format my 40gb drive as fat32 in the enclosure anyway!

AlanBryant · 07-01-2009, 9:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colspark

Good stuff mate, happy to have helped.

Incidentally, after initialising it, all you needed to then do was right click (i think) and "create new simple volume" - this would format it and assign it a drive letter.

You'd then use the fat32format.exe tool to format it via the command prompt- "format f fat32" (if you called it drive f) from c drive (if you saved the tool to your c drive).

That barely makes sense to me... But it's how i managed to format my 40gb drive as fat32 in the enclosure anyway!

Yeah sorry i did try your way, but the stuff you wrote wasn't there on my screen ?.I spect i did something wrong lol.

With the swissknife it alicates the drive for you, then does the format to the Fat32.After closing down the program then clicking on my computer it was there

.

Thanks for your help anyway

.And thanks for the recommendation regards the case

*cols* · 07-01-2009, 10:36 PM

Aha, well you got there in the end - just via a different route!

paulflee · 08-01-2009, 9:45 AM

Got mine yesterday no problems at all. Plugged into my Mac Book and the option came up to initialize. Formatted fine.

I now have a 80gig external hard drive for my Itunes and a 320gig ps3! Happy days!

swbono · 24-03-2009, 3:51 PM

Are there any required specs for enclosures .
usb connection wise ?.
does the printer connector type work ok ?.
or does it have to be standard usb to usb?.
just checking as i have a 160gb hdd in a artek enclosure that wont work with the ps3,it has the printer type connection on the enclosure .
just trying to find why it wont work.
cheers
steve