I’m thinking of buying the 314GB PiDrive. I’d appreciate anyone’s feedback on the 3 different enclosures provided by WD. Is each enclosure optimized for any particular purpose? I’m building a media center and am using a USB TV Tuner, so any case needs to provide access to the RPi 3 USB ports.
I have seen some comments on the black curved case – that it’s kind of flimsy, no screws to hold it together, no top. And that WDLabs intended it as a temporary place for tinkerers to store the Pi and drive (for easy access for tinkering). Has anyone used the 4" or 6" square enclosures? Are they more rugged or ‘permanent’ in their design.
I’m sure some of the guys with personal experience with one or more of the enclosures will post their feedback here.
Meanwhile you can check out the other topics in the WDLabs sub and see what other people are saying about the enclosures as there are many topics where some experience is shared.
Most people that use the Pi have their units laying on the table or somewhere temporary. The plastic standup enclosure is just a simple way to attach the drive and board without making the attachment permanent. In this way it would also offer the same type of shock that just laying it on the table would provide but give it a more finished look and uses less space. It’s also appealing to many users that they would still “see” their project so there isn’t a top cover. This give it that DIY look but is also easy to remove the items so they can modified, changed. I like this enclosure because I take it apart a lot and will add/remove things or change things around and I don’t have to unscrew anything.
The other enclosures are a more permanent solution if you have a ready project and only need to place the Pi in an enclosure and simply start using it.
Let me know if I can provide any additional information
That would be a good choice. It should suffice for the purpose of a home media center/PVR.
The enclosure should come with everything needed to assemble your media center quickly (the enclosure itself, HDMI adapter able, Phillips and Torx screws as well as a screwdriver and rubber feet for the enclosure.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Also, post back some photos with the ready project and some feedback on how it is performing.
