[OT] Does a multi-drive USB external hard disk rack exist?

[Liam Proven]

On 6 September 2010 16:27, ms <devicerandom at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 06/09/10 00:08, Liam Proven wrote:
>> [Shrug] Your mileage clearly varies. I wouldn't spend money on such a
>> thing; it would seem to me to be an egregious waste of cash to buy
>> lots of storage that you can't access at more than a quarter of its
>> full speed.
>
> Well, to me all what counts is the storage. Of course fast access would
> be a plus, but 1)I can't do anything else apart from changing computer
> 2)It can turn out useful when I will do that
>
>>> Thanks a lot for the advice. It seems I haven't both of them (it's an
>>> Asus Eee 1201n), unfortunately.
>>
>> Ah. That is *not* a laptop; it is a netbook. They're not the same
>> thing, although the lines are becoming blurred.
>
> Well, sorry. I frankly do not know what is the formal definition of
> netbook, so I tend to lump both things together. My netbook works and
> feels much like a small laptop.

Well, as I said, the lines are blurred. Netbooks are the smallest,
cheapest laptops. Generally they have tiny screens (7" - 10"), low
resolution (typically 1024*600 or so), an Atom or occasionally VIA
processor, only 1 or 2GB of RAM maximum, and smallish hard disks (80
to 160GB, often 1.8") or SSDs. They tend to have no expansion, no
optical drive, reduced-size keyboards and be small and cheap (£300 or
under).

Overlapping are the slimline lightweight "exective" laptops, with VGA
or better screens (1024*768 or more), full-spec processors (Core 2 Duo
or better, albeit sometimes an Ultra Low Voltage - ULV - version), a
higher RAM ceiling (4GB+ for modern, 64-bit machines), a 2.5" hard
disk (250GB or more these days), some expansion (Firewire, Cardbus or
NewCard slot, DVI port).

But lightweight executive laptops are twice to 4X the price new. Cheap
ones are £750 and dear ones £1500-£2000.

So what I do is, I buy last years' model or the one before that. :¬)

>> Personally, I would be very reluctant to buy anything much with an
>> Atom chip in it - they're sluggish, crippled little things. My
>> notebook cost me £200 new (OK, refurbished), is only slightly bigger
>> than a netbook and dramatically more powerful. It's an IBM Thinkpad
>> X31 from www.sterlingxs.co.uk.
>
> This seems a very good advice, thanks a lot!
> I bought the Asus in a great hurry when my previous Gentoo-powered
> Macbook broke, planning to buy a "true" laptop later, but I still didn't
> after more than six months.

Easily done!

>> If you have the money to consider some fairly serious storage such as
>> you're asking about, you might also consider replacing your netbook
>> with an actual notebook PC with high-speed storage interfaces (e.g.
>> Firewire) and an expansion slot or two. Just a thought.
>
> Could be an idea. But well, having the money for one of these things
> doesn't mean I have the money for two :)

Ahhh. I am familiar with that problem.

Well, ways around it might include selling the netbook, or looking for
2nd hand or surplus stock storage. I use places like
www.morgancomputers.co.uk and www.sterlingxs.co.uk a lot, but there
are others and I am sure such places exist in other countries as well.

-- 
Liam Proven • Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven
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