UltraSlim USB CD/DVD External Enclosure for T4** T4**s T5**

[mpcook]

I recently purchased an UltraSlim USB 2.0 CD/DVD External Drive Case for T500 T410 T410s on Ebay. Warning if you are looking for this type of device - the item I received does not work. I tried two different drives in it, and tried them on five different Thinkpads with both XP and 7, and no luck. I would avoid this item on Ebay, it is very flimsy and not worth the risk. The seller did refund my money with no delay, which was the good news.

If anyone knows of a source for such an item, please let me know. I want to remove the drive and lighten the T400s just a bit more.

Thanks for looking.

Mike

[emeraldgirl08]

I got myself one of these since I had an extra T6x/T4x/Z6x slim drive. I have my ultrabay occupied by a hard drive these days so I hooked that USB enclosure to my dock. The enclosure even has an IBM logo printed on top and the exterior has a rubbery texture similar to the T-series lids

[Harryc]

I don't think I've ever run across an external enclosure for Serial Ultrabay Slim (not the same as Ultrabay Slim for T6X series) DVD drives. If anyone finds a working one I'd like to know about it as well. Serial Ultrabay Slim fits T400, T400s, T410, T410i, T410s, T410si, T500, W500, X200 UltraBase

[durmada]

At the end of 2009 I got an external DVD drive enclosure from ebay for my T400. It still perfectly works with my T410 DVD drive. Here it's one of those http://cgi.ebay.com/EXTERNAL-CASE-IBM-T ... 2a07a08215
It is not the same seller as I got it from but it should work.

[Harryc]

Thanks for the tip, I may order it. I am finding that some of these Chinese sellers don't know what they are talking about, so my confidence level is low. For example, in the EBay auction that you linked to, the seller describes the enclosure as working with T400 W500 W700 R400 's. Well, the R400 houses a Serial Ultrabay Enhanced drive, which is 12.5mm high, vs a Serial Ultrabay Slim drive which is 9.5mm. Now I really doubt a 12.5mm drive will work in this enclosure...and if the seller does not know that how confident should I be in their wares? I went through (2) or (3) sellers before I found a 2nd HDD adapter for my R400 that worked and had no gap.
http://cgi.ebay.com/SATA-2nd-HDD-Caddy- ... 45f6ace5e5

[mpcook]

At the end of 2009 I got an external DVD drive enclosure from ebay for my T400. It still perfectly works with my T410 DVD drive. Here it's one of those http://cgi.ebay.com/EXTERNAL-CASE-IBM-T ... 2a07a08215
It is not the same seller as I got it from but it should work.

This one does not mention T400s, T410s; not sure if that makes a difference but those machines are what I have. Also, this one says "Thinkpad A product of Lenovo" which I highly doubt. In fact, this unit looks identical to the one I got (different seller), but maybe I was just unlucky and got a lemon. I'll wait and see what else comes up.