rayb

Thanks, I'll take another look.

I did see that thanks. At first it looked ideal and then I looked at the reviews. A lot of complaints about it shutting down without warning and other strange things.

Yes, I've seen those but I don't want to lose the DVD drive, even though I have USB ones I can use. It also goes back to cost. I have a load of big 3.5" drives, I'd rather utilise these than buy a big 2.5".

It may come to that but it would be potentially more expensive and I'd like to separate data from OS.

I've just read the Amazon reviews. Perhaps it won't do. Has anyone any other suggestions please? I will be capturing video to it, so I don't want it shutting down on me.

This looks like it will do the job. IT735 USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure for 3.5" SATA HDD w/ USB3 Cable | eBay

So, I think I know what I'm looking for. A 3.5" powered caddy with a eSATA port, so that I can connect directly from the port on the laptop to the port on the caddy. It's just a question of finding one amongst the plethora of other stuff when I do a search.

Thanks Arthur. It just says eSATA and then the USB symbol (no + in between). Ideally, I want to be able to use 3.5" drives, as I have a load of them. So, I suspect I'm going to need an external power source. A caddy with an external eSATA port would be ideal.

I have just got hold of an HP laptop that has an external SATA data port. As the internal HDD is pretty small and I want to do video work on it, this port seems to be the answer. But what's the best way to power the external drive. I'm sure I had a caddy once with a port on it. Can anyone suggest a solution please?

Hi @Trapper I've just bought on DriveStation Duo on Ebay. It's an HD-W1.5lU2/R.AID0/1. Can you tell me if that means I'm limited to two 750GB drives or can I use larger ones? I want maximum capacity, so won't be using RAID. Just having two separate drives will be fine.

Until recently, I have swum competitively but started to get some rotator cuff problems. I laid off swimming for 6 weeks but kept up exercise, especially on the shoulder area. I went back in the pool this morning and my left arm was very painful around the area that my stripes would be if I were a Sergeant. I'm wondering if this is not associated with the rotator cuff but more down to me spending a lot more time on a laptop, possibly not sitting in the best position. Has anyone else experienced similar discomfort that might be attributed to typing? Thanks

The system they are going for has a 250w amp and 4 stands, each with two horns. That should annoy the neighbours.

Primarily voice announcements. We are in the Midlands. It looks like we are going to order from proaudiocentre.com.

This lot looks interesting https://www.proaudiocentre.com/shop/audio-equipment/pa-systems/100v-line-pa-systems/index.html

They won't be permanent. We do have a 400m track with the 100m track running along one side. We only realistically expect coverage along the 100m track. The kids are very noisy, so the PA has a lot of competition. There are no fixed structures, so it will go in a gazebo and be powered by a generator. I was anticipating weatherproof 100v horns. As the commentator will be in the same gazebo a wired mic. will be fine but we do have wireless mics we can use if necessary.