Thinkpads Forum

I fill both of my T61's drive bays with hard drives, but occasionally I need to read a DVD or CD. Since I usually have open files on the 2nd drive, it's not easy to hot-swap the drive with the DVD drive that came with the laptop. So I'm looking to buy an external DVD drive for those occasions. Lenovo makes one that looks pretty good:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-USB-Super- ... B000NWDB7E

They claim it can be powered with USB 2.0 on some thinkpads including the X series. With other computers, the power adapter is required. Does anyone know if the T61 is supported without having to use the power adapter? If not, I'd probably go with the Targus (or similar) model which uses two USB ports to power the drive.

I wish Lenovo would make an external sleeve for ultrabay devices.

Thx

you can use it without the ac adapter but you wont get full speeds. The X series has been beefed up with extra power going to it's USB ports just for those devices. SO you can burn at 8X just from the USB port. Other devices which have normal power (500ma MAX) will be stuck at 4x i think or lower. Just like some HDs now in USB 2.0 cages, it will power some but some like the 7200RPM ones you need an extra USB attachment to provide enough power to spin the drive.

awesome, thanks! I can live with slower speeds.. ordering one now!

of course you can use it,just buy it