If it is a concern that the USB flash has limited write cycles, is the 1.8" micro hard drive a good alternative? Currently, the 20GB Toshiba drive is selling for $20 at Ben's Outlet: http://bensoutlet.com/products/toshiba-20gb. Not sure about its quality and power consumptions, though.

I had an old 1,8" Ipod drive (also a Toshiba) on my Router.

Pro:
-Quiet
-needs less Power than a 2,5" drive
-Swap does no damage to it

Cons:
-expensive if you compare price/capacity against a 2,5"
-low transfer rates, at least for mine max. 17MB/s at USB2.0

Considering the current price ($20 in US), it looks like a perfect match for Dockstar.

Good find!

I believe these 20GB drives are 4200 rpm.

The 4200 rpm is not intended to be a pejorative. I have a swamp of Dockstars with 2.5" drives--ranging from 4200 rpm 20GB Hitachi IC25N020's to 5400 rpm 250 GB WD WD2500BEVs--running a dog's breakfast of operating systems--FreeBSD 8.1, Linux 2.6.35.1, OPENWRT (of unknown pedigree), etc.. I have a difficult time detecting speed differences between the various drives for my Dockstar applications. For me, small, cheap, low-power 20GB drives are optimal.

That was I was thinking about. I will get one anyway. Thanks for confirmation.

I have a 1.8in Cirago 30gig in my dockstar and it works fantastically. Got it for $17 shipped from a company I'd never heard of. They are out of them now though.

Would an SSD with USB2 adapter work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Super-Talent-512GB-SSD-FTM12G225H-New-Sealed-/270656490367?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f04624b7f

It would work but would be a total waste of money. Because of the USB 2.0 interface it could not run at its max speed.

My two $20.00 1.8 inch 20GB Toshiba drives arrived yesterday. I was surprised by their small size--about that of a business card. A drive fits nicely on the Dockstar's back ledge.

As a quick test, I used dd to copy a Dockstar FreeBSD 8.1 system from a 2.5 inch 20GB Hitachi to one of the Toshiba's. The new Toshiba boots fine on the Dockstar. I don't see any performance differences between it and my old Hitachi's.

DavidP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a 1.8in Cirago 30gig in my dockstar and it
> works fantastically. Got it for $17 shipped from
> a company I'd never heard of. They are out of
> them now though.

Thanks for the tip - I found a couple of CST3030-BLK online for $12.95/ea.

Fingers crossed they ship :-)

-PG

hello,

I'm looking for a 1.8" HDD for my dockstar.

if you have good website with great bargain :) link will appreciate :)

thanks a lot!


regards

ice

iceman2k Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hello,
>
> I'm looking for a 1.8" HDD for my dockstar.
>
> if you have good website with great bargain :)
> link will appreciate :)

1.8in external drives are hard to find at a decent price. Best deals right now tend to be 2.5in (i.e. 120Gb for $19.99) and are faster with more capacity.

-PG

It is also out of stock at Ben's Outlet (http://bensoutlet.com/products/toshiba-20gb). They might come back though.

twinclouds Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is also out of stock at Ben's Outlet
> (http://bensoutlet.com/products/toshiba-20gb).
> They might come back though.

Thats where I got my dockstars! :-) they still have some for $20+ship

But IMHO $20 ($15+ship) for a 20Gb 4200RPM 1.8in drive doesn't seem great when you can get a 5400RPM 120Gb 2.5in drive for the same price.

-PG

Hi!

thanks a lot guys!

I was looking up for a low energy solution, so is why i was thinking about a 1.8" disk.

bensoutlet get good bargain, but they don't ship overseas in europe :( have to found a way to get item send back in europe !!!