Sorry for this very stupid question. But I'm confused about when they describe the drive as an external enclosure, and some drives aren't described this way. "Enclosure" as opposed to what else? What other kind of external drive is there? For the record, I just bought an Iomega 40 gb usb external drive, and I can't remember if it specifically said enclosure, but fill me in on something, if it doesn't say enclosure, does this mean I'm supposed to buy something to put this in? Is it not safe to use it this way? From what I can tell from using it, its a stand alone Plug and Play unit, able to be used on any computer by simply plugging it in. Basically! - Its this talk of "case" and "enclosure" that just got me confused- leads me to believe that you can buy an external unit in its "raw form," with wires sticking out and stuff, whereas an enclosure is already assembled?? Thank you very much for any help, and you can expect a follow up question from me as I don't know very much ;)

Oops, I meant Iogear Ion, not Iomega.

All exteranl drives come inclosed in some way. An alternative is to buy an internal drive and then buy an enclure kit.