External sata/usb 3.0 enclosure

I have a new Lenova Flex 15 with a 128gb ssd. Windows 8 + 8.1 upgrade took more space than I anticipated, about 50% with all the bloat that came with the lap top. I want to add a external drive and have two 2.5" drives on hand. Looking online I see the low cost (cheap) enclosures from China, most have good feed back from users. I like the a Rockfish unit I saw on Amazon but reading feed back it has a flimsy usb port, needs two ports for power and some have reported it's not compatible with Win 8. What are you all using for a 2.5" enclosure? Needs to be usb 3.0 and prefer a single port model.

Are you looking for an actual enclosure or a dock? An enclosure more or less permanently encases the drive. A dock is a fixture that one can easily plug and unplug the drive in and out of. People often use the term enclosure when they mean a dock, hence the query.

An example of an enclosure (the HDD fits inside):



(Btw, I do not recommend this enclosure. I have one but don't use it because the USB3.0 B connector on the enclosure is a bit fiddly and the HDD kept dropping out on me.)

Example of a dock:



Docks come in different types. I have a couple of cute little USB 2.0 powered docks that hold one 2.5" HDD. The cable that comes with it has two USB connectors on the computer end. One is for power only and the other is for both power and the USB buss. This is because many older computers, especially laptops, etc. didn't have enough power on each USB ports. Newer computers tend to have more power. I use the docks with the little 15" Lenovo G570 and they are capable of running a 7200 rpm 2.5" HDD on just one port.

Most docks, such as the one illustrated here (it was the first picture I found) will take both 2.5" and 3.5" drives. Those have to have a power supply to power them so only one USB port would be needed to connect. Docks can also hold more than one drive. those also need a power supply but also need only one USB connection. E-SATA is also use to connect docks to computers.

I also prefer docks, especially internal (I use my internal docks several times a week), but people have different needs and preferences which I presented several options.

I hadn't considered a dock but that may be a better solution for me. I have a ide/sata hdd connector to usb for working with drives, sort of like a dock without a enclosure.

I was concerned about not seeing Win8/8.1 listed as compatible with these external devises. Read about the system dropping external drives and found the work around, a small registry hack. I was concerned about the fact most these external housings do not have external power but relies on the usb port for powering the hdd. I see most new 2.5"drives run on 500Ma and usb 3 supplies up to 900Ma, so I should be gtg.

Lady F, thanks for planting the "docking" idea. That may be a more versatile piece of kit.

Glad to help.

I think I'll order a Toshiba usb drive, 1tb is $50 at Newegg, 3 year warranty. A quality aluminum enclosure is $30 or so, might as well get a drive for another $20.