5.25 External Enclosure Questions

[Hounddog]

Hi, I am planning on buying a Pioneer 108, and placing it in an external enclosure. Right now I have an older PC ( USB 1 ) that I don't want to spend any more money on. In the very near future I will be buying my first Mac, a DP 1.8 G 5.

The enclosure I buy will need to have USB 2.0 and Firewire. I want to use the firewire with my Mac, and the USB for my PC. With my Mac, I want to do DVD backups, and with the PC, it will be mainly used for data file back ups, for my self and other PC users. I am hopeing help others, back up thier data, as well as help them when they upgrade to a new computer.

My question is : Which chip set do I want for the USB 2.0 side ? From what I have read, I want the Oxford 911 chip set for the Firewire side of the drive. I have seen a few diferent chip sets listed for the USB 2.0, but I don't know which is good or bad.

I am leaning toward the Bytecc ME 340 U2F, as it is an aluminum enclosure, This would help with heat build up as well as serve as shielding for the drive. But I don't know what chip set it has.

The Bytecc ME 340 U2F, is only a few more dollars than the plastic ME 320 USF enclosure.

I am not looking for the cheapest enclouse I can find, nor the most expensive. I am looking for the most practical. The ME 340 USF is around $58 shipped.

I am looking for any input on this unit or others ( Good or Bad ) or any info about the different chip sets for the USB side.

Thank You For Your Replies,

Hounddog

[ebenton]

I do not know for sure, but the Dealsonic.com website says that the ME 320 U2F enclosure uses the "Prolific chip set", which on another enclosure (EuroCom ME-350U2F Combo USB 2.0 & Firewire 1394 External Enclosure) , it describes as "Prolific Hi-Speed USB 2.0 & IEEE 1394 To IDE Bridge Controller Chipset (PL-3507)." It may be the same on the Bytecc ME 340.

[tlegion]

I have enclosures from all sorts of places, USB1, USB2, 1394, 1284 and I don't believe that the chip sets matter.

I've even managed to put removable racks into most of them.

[handyguy]

Yeah, you could call dealsonic.

[henry97]

Found this with Cypress/Oxford chips
http://www.pixelusa.com/detail.asp?id=AC-NSP-511UE

[ofbarea]

Note that in recent MAC systems the firmware of the Oxford 922 based cases must be upgraded to at least 1.05 version to prevent data corruption of firewire disk connected to MAC Panther systems. For more information visit this link: http://www.macmaps.com/firewirebug.html

For general info on how to upgrade the firmware of Oxford 911 or 922 based cases take a look at this post: https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=691487

[Capmaster]

I used to have a Panny LF-D311 in an external firewire enclosure.

It caused two bad things to happen:

1) I couldn't burn DVD-RAM. Only DVD-R.

2) I couldn't use DVDInfo Pro to read media IDs.

On the IDE bus it worked fine.

Just something to consider. I don't know if the newer drives have that limitation, as my Pioneer 107 is on an IDE bus now.