External drive with a front mounted LED

[Sussexlad]

Has anyone found/bought such an example? I actually mounted a prism, made out of square rod, on my current one but where I'd prefer to keep it now, that wont work. 500GB USB 3.0 would be fine.Thanks.

[bungeejumper]

LOL, I did a quick double-take there, because I've always quietly assumed that all external drives carry an LED? My WD Passport (750 gb) does, and better still, it only cost me a tenner because Sainsburys were clearing their shelves for a new range. My three year old Seagate Backup Plus (1 tb) has a white LED, but on the top near the back, not on the front.

BJ

[Slarti]

My Buffalo drives all have an LED at a front/side corner, though they are far from new.

Slarti

[Breelander]

I actually mounted a prism, made out of square rod, on my current one ...

Ingenious!

I have a number of different makes of small 2.5" external usb drive (the portable ones, self-powered by the usb cable). Only the WD has the led on the 'front', well, actually on the same end as the usb cable. All the others have the led on their largest side. The larger free standing 3.5" external-powered drives seem to either have a front panel led (eg WD) or an led on the top panel (Seagate).

As you said 500GB would be enough, then I assume you meant a portable 2.5" drive.

[Itsallaguess]

Has anyone found/bought such an example?

I actually mounted a prism, made out of square rod, on my current one but where I'd prefer to keep it now, that wont work. 500GB USB 3.0 would be fine.

I haven't got a specific solution to your problem, unfortunately, but thought I might propose a couple of things that might help you find one...

Whilst you might be looking for off-the-shelf solutions that have an activity-LED where you would prefer one, have you also considered that you might be able to widen the scope of your search considerably if you also include options for external USB hard drive cases, where you could then insert your own bare-drive?

I've just taken a quick look, and there are many options available in many different layout-configurations, so hopefully that might give you a new avenue for exploration.

Also, thinking longer-term, if you found a case you were happy with, you could then upgrade the internal drive at some future point if you wanted to refresh the hardware or simply wanted a larger-capacity drive.

Some examples via a quick Google image-search -

https://tinyurl.com/ycor8ows

Altenatively, or even in addition to the above solution, would using a fibre-optic light-pipe be easier and more flexible in terms of positioning than a hard-prism?

There's cheap 1.5mm and 2mm fibre-optic lengths available cheaply, which might well give you some flexibility over a hard-plastic prism solution if you want to try an alternative, and might get your access-light into a much better position for you, given the longer lengths of fibre available -

3m x 1mm (£4.99) - https://tinyurl.com/ycnrpf5g

2m x 1.5mm (£5.45) - https://tinyurl.com/ydd4dn2n

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Grumpsimus]

No need to mess about with DIY. I have a 2.5" external case made by i-tec with a bright white LED sitting on my desk. Sourced it on ebay, good quality, even comes with a screwdriver for fitting your own HD and USB3-c lead.

[Sussexlad]

I haven't got a specific solution to your problem, unfortunately, but thought I might propose a couple of things that might help you find one...

Whilst you might be looking for off-the-shelf solutions that have an activity-LED where you would prefer one, have you also considered that you might be able to widen the scope of your search considerably if you also include options for external USB hard drive cases, where you could then insert your own bare-drive?

I've just taken a quick look, and there are many options available in many different layout-configurations, so hopefully that might give you a new avenue for exploration.

Also, thinking longer-term, if you found a case you were happy with, you could then upgrade the internal drive at some future point if you wanted to refresh the hardware or simply wanted a larger-capacity drive.

Itsallaguess

Many thanks for all the new avenues of thought.

Also all other contributors, I think the case for my own drive is the way to go,

Cheers

[Stompa]

For what purpose do you need to see the LED? There are plenty of Windows utilities out there that will show disk activity (i.e. replicating the LED) in the system tray, perhaps that would be sufficient?

[Sussexlad]

For what purpose do you need to see the LED? There are plenty of Windows utilities out there that will show disk activity (i.e. replicating the LED) in the system tray, perhaps that would be sufficient?

Just for reassurance really. I use Linux but have settled on a replacement housing, an i-tec MYSAFE Advanced 3.5" USB 3.0.