Someplace to stash my stuff
with some peripheral goodies
Published on March 20, 2013 By starkers In Personal Computing

As the title suggests, I have begun upgrading again.  However, being that the guts of my rig perform more than satisfactorily and it's fast as well as reliable, I'm upgrading some addons to extend its use and/or make it more enjoyable.

First on the list is this.... a LG E2742V-BN 27" LED monitor.

I decided to replace the 32" TV I'm using as a monitor with this because i/we could use an extra TV upstairs and I don't want to sacrifice in screen size too much... and to get a 30" plus monitor is still up in the $1500 bracket and upwards.  This 27" beauty, regular RRP $445 AUD, cost me just $245 AUD on special.  Okay, so it's not top of the range, but with my old eyes [even with specs] I ain't gonna notice that.

The other thing I ordered is a  Vantec NexStar HX4R HDD Enclosure  a 4 bay SATA HHD Caddy so I can do away with a swag of external drives and all the cable clutter they come with...

This unit has all 10 Raid functions, plus JBOD and single HDD functions, as well as being hot-swappable so there is no need to reboot or use the Remove Hardware Safely function in Windows.  In replacing up to 10 external drives at a time with this, not only do I cut down on cable clutter, I save on electricity and time taken to copy or move files.  Before I could only copy or move to one external drive at a time, but with this I can copy to all four at once, thus saving hours on end, and when I'm done with the 1st four [sometimes multiple copies of home movies are required for extended family members], I can pop in another 4 and copy to them... it beats the hell out of having to copy up to 10 singularly. 

Again, I sniffed me out a bargain.  This unit is costing me $127 AUD on special... RRP $179 AUD.  I have seen it selling for up to $219 in places so I think I did alright, and it's a nice looking unit as well

It's all paid for and hopefully this all arrives on Friday morning.

 

 

 


Comments (Page 1)
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on Mar 20, 2013

That HardDrive Enclosure looks very nice.  I'm currently using two Dual HD Docking Stations, one USB 2.0 and one 3.0.  This would allow me to have my current three external drives hooked to 3.0.  May have to look into this. 

Thanks for posting the info starkers. 

on Mar 20, 2013

Philly0381

That HardDrive Enclosure looks very nice.  I'm currently using two Dual HD Docking Stations, one USB 2.0 and one 3.0.  This would allow me to have my current three external drives hooked to 3.0.  May have to look into this. 

Thanks for posting the info starkers. 

You're welcome, Philly. 

I don't know about pricing in your neck of the woods, but with just one power supply, as opposed to a couple of docks or several external power adapters, I think it would end up paying for itself from the power savings.  The thing I like about it is that the drives are hot-swappable and have tool-less installation, making them quick and easy to change when needed.  And yes, it is a very nice looking unit.  I did look at others but this one appealed more to me due to its convenience and dark, sleek appearance. There were a couple of others similarly priced, but they did not have the tool-less or hot-swap features, nor were they as aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  Yes, it would make a fine addition to any desktop, me thinks.

on Mar 20, 2013

I currently have two 23" monitors, but I always think about scrapping those and getting a nice 27", maybe even 30".

 

on Mar 20, 2013

I have 2 23s, and 2 20s. I would much rather have multiple monitors than one big one.

on Mar 20, 2013

Island Dog
I currently have two 23" monitors, but I always think about scrapping those and getting a nice 27", maybe even 30".

I was thinking about a 30" until I say the current prices... $1284 was the cheapest with my regular supplier, and from there they went up to S2799 for the top of the range model. They also have a 42" for $3199, but that's well out of my league.

RedneckDude
I have 2 23s, and 2 20s. I would much rather have multiple monitors than one big one.

Ah, but I could have the 27" in the centre and a 22" on either side if I wanted.  Or if i really wanted to go all out, I could go with the 27" in the centre; two 22"s either side; a 19" on a separate stand one side of my desk and the 32" TV on another the other side of my desk. 

In fact, I have one of those DVI splitters that allows up to 6 monitors off one output, so I could have up to 8 monitors/TV's all running from the graphics card if I wanted... would have to pinch Shaunna's 22" and a 19" from upstairs, but I could do it. 

Hmmm, what about I take the 55" TV from upstairs; the 42" TV from downstairs; two 32"s and my new 27" monitor and the two 22" monitors and hook 'em all up? 

Would Deskscapes run a different dream on each one? 

And who's helping with the power bill?

Nah, seriously, the 27" monitor for my main screen will be enough for my needs, though now that I won't have a TV connected, perhaps I could reinstall my TV tuner card and have a 22" on the side for TV shows I might want to keep an eye on.

on Mar 20, 2013

The Vantec enclosure looks interesting, however I already have two Ez4 hot-swap caddies with their quaint lcd displays etc. in the box...  

on Mar 20, 2013

I run with a 27"+22" right now... just isn't the same with dual 22"s at work.

 

on Mar 20, 2013


The Vantec enclosure looks interesting, however I already have two Ez4 hot-swap caddies with their quaint lcd displays etc. in the box...  

Yup, the Vantec enclosure sure is something, ain't it, and very reasonably priced compared to other I looked at. There was a Synology one for 500+ bucks, and it looks no better, does no more than the Vantec, so it was not a serious consideration. There were a few crappy looking ones, but most of those looked cheap, were priced higher and not as fully featured at the Vantec... no LED indicators or RAID, etc.

When you say "in the box", do you mean those front loading type caddies that sit in the 5.25 bays of your tower?  If so, I did look into those but decided against them as I do not have enough free 5.25 bays to accommodate 4 drives. I do have 4 bays but 3 of them are occupied with a Bluray ROM, a DVD ROM and the front panel of my sound card.  A 6 or 8 drive enclosure would have been nice, but none were in my price range... so 4 is the magic number, I guess.

While on my search I came across a number of other items that looked rather interesting.  For example, there were towers which hold a varying number of DVD or Bluray Rom drives [anything up to 15 or more] that can burn multiple discs of the same data.  It's not something that I'd never need, but there were others that act as NAS servers holding multiple drives. One thing that did get my attention, though, was an Ethernet splitter that allows up to 8 or more network devices. Now one of those would be quite handy as I have a few devices that would be better cabled... such as media players that can lose content continuity when streaming via wi.fi.  That'll be for another time, however.

If you're interested in some of the lesser seen, rarer PC items, take a look at http://www.techbuy.com.au/.  I'm sure you'll find something there to spruke your interest. 

 

on Mar 21, 2013

That'll be 'spruik' [perhaps - though not actually right....you probably are better off with 'spark']...

 

Yes, in the tower.  I have 4 bays...2 with the caddies and 2 with DVD burners.  [haven't got a blueray burner as I haven't got a blueray player either]..

 

on Mar 21, 2013

That'll be 'spruik' [perhaps - though not actually right....you probably are better off with 'spark'].

Spruke - Spruik... it's as near as what damn is to swearing, as my dear ol' granny used to say.

[haven't got a blueray burner as I haven't got a blueray player either].

I do have a bluray player and a few discs, but that's not the only reason I'm getting the Bluray ROM drive.  A Bluray disc holds swags more data than a DVD, so the idea is more to create hard copies of things such as skin libraries and the like, without using so many discs to clutter up the joint.  Mind you, once that's done I'll have a few redundant DVDs that'll either become coasters or frisbees.

on Mar 21, 2013

starkers
Spruke - Spruik... it's as near as what damn is to swearing, as my dear ol' granny used to say.

As she may have...however 'spruik' wasn't the word you were looking for, either...

on Mar 21, 2013

starkers
I do have a bluray player and a few discs, but that's not the only reason I'm getting the Bluray ROM drive. A Bluray disc holds swags more data than a DVD, so the idea is more to create hard copies of things such as skin libraries and the like, without using so many discs to clutter up the joint. Mind you, once that's done I'll have a few redundant DVDs that'll either become coasters or frisbees.

Haven't done the math....but isn't the odd HD platter or two still cheaper-by-the-gig than Blueray disks?

....and more durable?...

on Mar 21, 2013

That   Vantec NexStar is a beauty starkers!

I have been thinking about getting NAS, I'll have to check this Vantec out!

I have 2 WD 3TB hooked up to A WD Live Media Streamer and it takes forever to compile the library contents from both.

My Corsair 800D tower is full no more bays so can't install any more HDs.

Thanks for the info starkers!

 

on Mar 22, 2013

Haven't done the math....but isn't the odd HD platter or two still cheaper-by-the-gig than Blueray disks?

There may be a minimal price difference, but the idea is to be able to manage libraries on one single disc, rather than having to swap out 3, 4 or 5 DVDs to access data. And I have several backups on HDD, but sometimes those die and I want something a little more permanent. For me, the convenience outweighs the cost.

...and more durable?...

My burner supports M-Disc...   "uses a patent rock-like recording surface instead of organic dye to etch your data onto a disc. The M-DISC has been tested and proven to outlast standard DVDs currently on the market."

 According to what I've read, these M-Discs hold their data up to 10 times longer than standard DVD or Bluray discs... so for data I want to keep for a lifetime and longer [photos and things for my great, great, great grandchildren] I'd use these discs instead of the regular DVDs.
 
Quicksilver007

That   Vantec NexStar is a beauty starkers!

I have been thinking about getting NAS, I'll have to check this Vantec out!

I have 2 WD 3TB hooked up to A WD Live Media Streamer and it takes forever to compile the library contents from both.

My Corsair 800D tower is full no more bays so can't install any more HDs.

Thanks for the info starkers!

 
 
You're welcome.
 
The Vantec is a nice unit but it is not actually a NAS server as such... as in it is not network connected like the various Netgear and Western Digital ones. 
Here is a list of NAS enclosures... LINK to give you an idea of what is available [please note that it is an Australian site that may not ship OS].
 
Hehe, my Thermltake case has oodles of room for more stuff, but what I needed was something portable so I could move it between PC's... I have two upstairs as well and may want to connect these drive to those.  Besides, my case is heavy enough to lift already, and putting more in it could see me doing myself a mischief.
on Mar 22, 2013

Thanks for the link starkers!

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