Is it possible to pull an internal SATA from an external USB drive?

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by richlevy

I'm seeing a lot of sales on external 2TB drives, but I want an internal drive. The problem is that the externals are discounted to be sometimes cheaper than a 'bare bones' internal.

Are all of the externals out there SATA drives? Can I just pull one from the housing and have a drive I can use as an internal or an external or are some connections soldered?

I would expect they're SATA drives in a housing. No guarantees, and there are probably some stupid exceptions, but that just makes the most sense from a manufacturing standpoint.

The problem, of course, is that you void your warranty to find out something else is the case.

[gvidas]

I'll second the "probably."

I recently went the other direction -- bought a SSD for my laptop, and an external enclosure for the HD that it replaced.

I can't remember ever taking apart an external drive and not finding a standard internal drive inside, but I haven't done it that much.

It seems like something you should be able to find on the manufacturer's spec sheet.