Thinkpads Forum

I have an A30 and I'd like to put in an UltraBay2000 or UltraBayPlus DVD burner at a reasonable or competitive price. Does anyone have one? Specs, price, pertinent info?

TIA, Jerry C.

I doubt if you'll be able to find one that matches your wish for the price to be competitive.

An external drive connected to a USB2.0 PC card in your A30 will be faster, cheaper and have more capability than any of the internal IBM Ultrabay drives.

Regards,

James

I have already encountered an IBM MultiBurner for $314 (from IBM) and a Toshiba writer for $245 that had an UltraBay adaption made (from a private party across the country), the LaCie external DVD double-layer burner, and the Sony external DVD double-layer burner. Competitive for me would have been $200-$230. I have just eliminated the modified Toshiba from the private party and was wondering if these were all my alternatives. James, your post is helpful and you probably know more than most. Thanks,

Jerry C.

Thanks Jerry, I owe it all to my magic 8 ball!

Sadly, when discussing some accessories for Thinkpads, such as multi-burners, as soon as the name IBM comes up most parts automatically go up by 50% or more.

External 8x DVD-/+RW burners are available for as little as $150 and combo USB2.0/Firewire PC cards can be had for as little as $14. IIRC the Ultrabay Enhanced multi-burner is -RW only and 2X speed.

I'll probably eventually get an internal multi-burner for my T40, more for the novelty of it than for any real practical use. In the interim I'll just keep using the $75 Pioneer 8X -/+RW burner in my desktop.

Regards,

James

JHEM wrote:Sadly, when discussing some accessories for Thinkpads, such as multi-burners, as soon as the name IBM comes up most parts automatically go up by 50% or more.

See http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=1850 for a have-your-cake-eat-it-too solution

I just picked up a new Ultrabay 2000 multi-burner for $150 on eBay for my A31, in an un-opened box complete with software. I had to be patient for a couple of months and wait for one to come along at the right price, but it is possible to find one.

hausman wrote:See http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=1850 for a have-your-cake-eat-it-too solution

Thanks Dorian, but I'm more than familiar with the concept of swapping bare drives into the Thinkpad caddy. I was one of the first to upgrade a 600 with an after market burner many years ago.

But you have to understand that I'm basically cheap and want a lot more for my money than is offered by any current T4X sized internal DVD burner.

I will admit that I've been eyeballing this drive http://www.bananapc.com/products/produc ... t_id=12684 for my earlier T series machines with an Ultrabay 2000.

Regards,

James

The header says 4X, the text says 2X

I don't know who makes that drive, but the faceplate may not be readily replaceable, in which case you would need to alter it by cutting out the corner. Fine for personal use, no good for re-sale

scosgt1 wrote:The header says 4X, the text says 2X

"4X speed DVD+R writing, 2.4X speed DVD+RW writing, 2X speed DVD-R writing, 2X speed DVD-RW writing, 8X speed DVD-ROM reading, 16X speed CD-R writing, 10X speed CD-RW writing and 24X speed CD-ROM reading capabilities."

scosgt1 wrote:I don't know who makes that drive, but the faceplate may not be readily replaceable, in which case you would need to alter it by cutting out the corner. Fine for personal use, no good for re-sale.

No problem Sarge, I'll just touch it up with my Dremel tool.

Regards,

James