Slim DVD-Multi drive on T23 with ultrabay 2000 adapter

[Penultimate]

Well, for some reason I cannot post any pics to this forum, but if anyone is interested, the newer, faster 'Slim' multi drive seems to work fine on a T23, using the Ultrabay 2000 adapter.

The adapter is only plastic for the most part, and not even very sturdy plastic at that.. but I got my 8x dvd multi drive in the mail today, slid it right into the adapter, and popped it into the drive bay in the T23.

The T23 found it immediately and required no other action on my part. I was able to play a homemade DVD-RW on the drive/computer, even with only the 256mb ram the laptop came installed with.

I have not tried to burn a DVD yet using the adapter/multi drive yet because I dont have any media on hand to do so at the moment, but 'NeroBurning' does show the drive at the full 8x speed in the T23. I dont know if the T23 will be able to support the full speed, but I will give it a shot when I pick up some more media

[rkawakami]

This forum does not host any images. In order to post photos you'll need to upload them to a photo sharing site or your own FTP/web site server. Inline images should be <50KB in size and you should also post a note in the original subject line to that effect; i.e., append *PIC* to the subject. Some people here still access the forum via dialup and/or smartphone/tablet, where size does matter .

I'd be interested in seeing how that adapter works. I've never tried that method. All of the DVD writers I use in the T2x series have come by way of swapping the IDE/Ultrabay 2000 connector at the back end of the drive and the side rails (as detailed in my previous PM to you).

[RealBlackStuff]

I'd never before heard of or seen such an adapter! It has IBM P/N 62P4557.
Link to Oz eBay item with pix:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-ThinkPad-Sl ... 1224233934
Link to US eBay with pix and cheaper price:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-ThinkPad-Sl ... 0837582163

[rkawakami]

The Ultrabay Slim Drive Adapter for Ultrabay 2000 has been in the ThinkWiki Ultrabay compatibility matrix table for as long as I've been a member here:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraBay
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Ultrabay_ ... rabay_2000

It was pointed out to me a few hours ago, that there are links at the bottom of the adapter page (under Vendor Documentation) that describes the adapter in detail. Frankly, I had never considered using one as the slim (9.5mm) optical drives were generally more expensive than the 12.7mm drives. It's also less expensive (in my experience) to buy a dead Ultrabay 2000 drive and scavenge the rails/connector from it, than it is to buy the Slim-to-2000 adapter.

[Penultimate]

I'd never before heard of or seen such an adapter! It has IBM P/N 62P4557.
Link to Oz eBay item with pix:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-ThinkPad-Sl ... 1224233934
Link to US eBay with pix and cheaper price:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-ThinkPad-Sl ... 0837582163

yes.. the second link is they guy I got it from.
I was not sure if we could post seller links in here, but that is the right guy.

[Penultimate]

Frankly, I had never considered using one as the slim (9.5mm) optical drives were generally more expensive than the 12.7mm drives. It's also less expensive (in my experience) to buy a dead Ultrabay 2000 drive and scavenge the rails/connector from it, than it is to buy the Slim-to-2000 adapter.

I had zero knowledge of this particular series of laptop (except that it had a pent III) processor label and a WinXp license on the bottom) until I came across it in a stack of VCR's, but when I went on Ebay looking for a faster, DVD burning capable drive, I found that the Ultrabay2000 Multi drives are all 2x, (at least all the ones I could find) which might be OK for CD-RW but it would take over a hour for a complete 4.7 gig DVD, so its not suitable.

Also, all the orig Utrabay2000 drives currently go for at least $55 and up to close to $70 on Ebay,whereas there are dozens of buy it now auctions for 'slim' thinkpad 8x multi drives that are all from $12-$20 each.

I took a bunch of pics to show the items and their installation, but unfortunately i dont have any pic hosting website to host them.

It might be that the corporate life-cycle of the computers using the slim drives is coming to a end now, or a lot are being retired at this point, so a lot of the 'slim' drives are flooding the market now while the older Ultrabay2000 multi drives were made in lesser #'s due to DVD burning being relatively new at the time that product was released.

[cadillacmike68]

Well with the prices like that I can kiss off getting anything for my non burner DVD drives or the DVDs with only CDRW

Part #s: I have both the slim and enhanced adapters. They basically just convert the connector. My PNs are slightly different:

Type Assy PN FRU PN
Adapter for Enhanced DVD To 2000 13N5114 13N5113
Adapter for Slim DVD to 2000 62P4555 62P4556

I broke the enhanced adapter (there's almost nothing to it - no bottom, only the back and 2 sides). . The slim adapter at least has a bottom.

It still works, and I'll try to glue the cracked off side back when i get home.

[Penultimate]

Well with the prices like that I can kiss off getting anything for my non burner DVD drives or the DVDs with only CDRW
Part #s: I have both the slim and enhanced adapters. They basically just convert the connector. My PNs are slightly different:
Type Assy PN FRU PN
Adapter for Enhanced DVD To 2000 13N5114 13N5113
Adapter for Slim DVD to 2000 62P4555 62P4556

Yeah, the DVD-ROM drives and CDRW ultrabay 2000 drives seem to be had all day long on ebay for 10 bucks. Some optimistic sellers price them at more, but given that there are only so many people like me who pick up a T2x randomly and then buy a budget drive for it, I dont see anyone getting much more than the occasional $10 for the non-multi drives.

[cadillacmike68]

Well, with the amount I have even at $10 each I can get a couple hundred, if I try...

They work in T30s as well. That was the last T series to use the UltraBay 2000