Anyone know anything about this "IBM" USB DVD driv

[Edward Mendelson]

It seems that I'm going to need an external (USB) DVD drive if I want to be able to install Linux on a hard disk in a TP42 Second Hard Disk Adapter (either that or a Dock II, I suppose...). Does anyone know anything about this drive:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RK:MEWA:IT

which seems to be the same as this one, though with an IBM logo on it:

http://www.store.yahoo.com/netcomdirect ... xusb2.html

The eBay seller seems to be confused by the fact that the drive READS DVD-R/W disks, and says that it can write DVDs, but it clearly can't.

The IBM-logo-model seems to be Japan-only (the eBay picture shows Japanese documentation). If IBM is willing to sell this in Japan, then it may be worth having, and it seems a lot less expensive than other models.

Any information - or suggestions for a reliable external DVD for a TP42 - would be very welcome.

LATER: Additional edit:

Turns out I'm asking the same question as in this thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=8199

No answer there either...!