My music back-up files from cd's and dvd's are building up space on my notebook hard drive. I would like to keep the music files for playback on my media player. So here's the deal, should i buy a pre-made external hard drive, like Seagate or Maxtor. Or should i just buy the External Casing/Closure itself and the hard drive seperately to build. My laptop both supports Firewire and USB 2.0. Either would be fine, im not too concerned with speeds... or should i be?

I'm a big fan of external USB 2.0 HDDs and have made 4 of them using enclosures and purchased one built by Maxtor. They work well and I've read that USB 2.0 is a little faster than firewire.

That sounds fun. Can you guide me on how to do this? I know there's different sizes for enclosues (2.5,3.5). I'm oblivious on how to get started by choosing the right size and hard drive to put in. Also is there a need to get a fan or type of material the enclosure to get (ie. aluminum)

I would get an external enclosure and buy a hard drive that is more than capable for your backup needs. If in the future, you want to add larger disk space, you can always buy a larger oem hard drive. That is what I have done. At one time 40 GB of external storage was more than adequate. I just upgraded to 250 GB's adn the cost of the drive was less than 100. Tony AMD Athlonxp 3200+ OC Asus A7N8x-deluxe-E ATI AIW 9600pro 2x WD SATA raptors/raid0 Corsair XMS3200 16x Lite-on DVD 12x DVD-R 48x Lite-on CDRW Aspire Super Alien Case

>> I know there's different sizes for enclosues (2.5,3.5). << 3.5" is the standard size off hard disk for desktops. 2.5" is for laptops. You obviously have to be an enclosure equivalent to the size of disk you want. You do have more choice with 3.5" drives and they do tend to be cheaper because the demand is greater. You won't need external cooling with the drive. A well designed enclosure will have adequate ventilation. Hard disks out side of the main computer case wont run that hot. Stuart

This is a GREAT enclosure: http://www.trittontechnologies.com/products/TRIXHD352.htm This is a good enclosure: http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4089952?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG This is a good HDD: http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4089952?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG Using the Seagate HDD and NexStar enclosure, you can be up and running for $70 plus shipping.

Granted USB2.0 is theoretically speedier, but you the best performance in terms of all out sustained throughput from a firewire interface because of it's peer-to-peer architecture as opposed to USB2.0's Master-Slave arcitecture. Most likely, you'll end up getting an enclosure that offers both interface since you probably have a PC that's equipped with a couple of firewire ports as well as standard USB ports. I agree; computing.net does need an edit button.