Is the X3 media base really necessary?

[clayton.bigsby]

I'm about to get an X31, or I'm in the process of searching for one, and I'm wondering if I can forgo the base in order to save some money. I already have an external USB 2.0 CD burner. Can I just use that for OS installations and firmware/BIOS updates?

[Harryc]

The advantages to using an X3 ultrabase are the same as any other dock with an additional Ultrabay 2000 slot where you can install any UB2000 device including DVDs, CDRWs, combo drives, floppy drives, 2nd Hard disk adapters etc. As far as flashing the BIOS with a USB CD burner, if you can boot from it, it will work.

Here's a video description of the available ports -

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 44207.html