I'm a newbie,and maybe I'm working along at all this a little backward,but I am gearing up to rip my CD collection (about 330 albums, probably 600 at some point). I have decided to gather the hardware to do a proper job of securely ripping everything to EAC or dbPowerampR12 very soon. This is a job that,when I get started,I want to work to complete in every bit of spare time(nights and weekends) until it is finished.

I have been doing as much homework on all of this as I can and I figured I would purchase the hardware items I need first,as I don't want to get started and look for another Optical drive,enclosure,etc. wait for the mailman or create distractions and delays as far as that goes,dealing with the setup and software will be enough.

I am doing all of this on a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop,with a 100gig internal hard drive (84gig available).It has two USB2 ports and one Firewire port. It has an optical drive,a Samsung SN-324,mounted internally. I am planning on hooking up 2 other drives via USB or Firewire,via an external enclosure. Maybe 3 drives is a little overkill for an "average user" such as myself,but I wanted to give myself the options if I run into any difficulties (or difficult discs).

I am planning on storing my music collection on an external hard drive,and make a backup drive I will keep at another location.This seems to be the smart way of archiving everything,as it seems that backup discs run the risk of deteriorating over time without notice,wasting money and work in the process. But,maybe others have a better opinion on this.

So here is the equipment I have purchased:

Plextor PX230a (drive)
LiteOn SHM165H6S (drive)
4 external enclosures, Plumax PM525C2-PTB see it here http://www.dealsonic.com/plpmsicousb2.html

Can anyone suggest the hard disc drives that I can mount in these enclosures that will be best suited and compatible for what I am trying to do? Any tips for storing the backup HDD? Is there other hardware that I need to consider?

Any 3.5" IDE drive up to 750GB will work. Seagate's website allows you to search for compatible models. I've had a fairly good experience with them so far.