Thinkpads Forum

I am looking for a USB DVD burner for my X61 Tablet. Preferably it would be slim and powered from USB.

Thanks for all recommendations.

David

Lenovo has a portable DVD burner that looks only a bit larger than their Ultrabay drives. It looks much more practical than having to lug around an Ultrabase when you need to use an optical drive.

That looks perfect. A bit pricey at $250, but otherwise perfect. It even burns labels for LightScribe disks. Does anyone use LightScribe disks?

$250! Wow. Just go to newegg.com and sort by price. I got an IOMagic one for $40 and it can't be any bigger than the lenovo one. No Lightscribe, but it burns dual-layer DVDs.

Aphex -- Thanks, looks good, especially at $70.

Mazzer -- I couldn't find IOMagic drives at Newegg. IOMagic's site lists a drive at $150.

I just realized I got mine not from Newegg, but from ConsumerDepot. They are an overstock company, so things go in and out of stock.

In my opinion, these drives are pretty interchangeable and often have the same guts inside. Watch newegg or pricegrabber and grab one when they go below $50.

I bought this one from eBay: $71.98 shipped

It is slightly cheaper than the other one linked in this thread.

It came with a short USB cable, USB->DC cable, and an AC/DC adapter. I have burned a DVD with ONLY the USB cable attached with my X61s. The enclosure is solid. I can recommend it.

Thanks, Jackboot. I might get that one, but they're in HK. It could take weeks to get here. I need the USB drive soon so I can wipe out Vista and install XP.

DavidNY wrote:Thanks, Jackboot. I might get that one, but they're in HK. It could take weeks to get here. I need the USB drive soon so I can wipe out Vista and install XP.

In my case it took just over a week to arrive in Canada. YMMV.

I can't wait a week.

Vista needs to go. Now.

First it wouldn't recognize an external hard drive (Maxtor) that XP loves. Now, after a week of playing nice with some other external hard drives (WDs) it won't recognize them either. Vista is nice eye-candy wise but is obnoxious in the real world.

Maybe when SP1 comes out I'll give Vista another try but it is definitely not yet ready for prime time.

There was another thread on this topic with a few more links. But from what I saw they all seemed to be about the same. You might want to try buying the enclosure and the drive separately - that way you can choose what drive you get.

Antioch wrote:There was another thread on this topic with a few more links. But from what I saw they all seemed to be about the same. You might want to try buying the enclosure and the drive separately - that way you can choose what drive you get.

I actually bought both an external DVD+/-RW/case combo (linked above) from one seller and just the external case (no drive) from another. They are nearly identical but are clearly not the same enclosure - both enclosures are *very* well built and not just for the price. I think it is a great idea to just buy the enclosure ($9 plus $7 shipping in my case) and stick your own drive in it.

Any known issues with the Plextor PX-608 (connected to an X61 or X61T) ? Seems like a really small, if not the smallest, USB-powered DVD burner.

I am very happy with my cheapy slim USB DVDRW drive I got from eBay, from one of the sellers in Hong Kong.

It can burn DVDs just fine when plugged into the two USB ports on the right side.

I took Aphex's advice and bought the Centrix (a box containing a Pioneer DVR-K05 drive). It works very well, thanks much.

I'm not necessarily anti-HK sellers but the last time I went that route, when I ordered a 2.5" HD sleeve to USB, I received an IBM logoed (but clearly not an OEM part) box that wouldn't work. I did buy stuff from HK that did work but didn't want to chance it this time.

Aphex, do you work for the tape manufacturer? I recall Aphex made some good tape back in the day but thought they stopped producing tape.

no, just a former aphex twin fan

DavidNY wrote:I'm not necessarily anti-HK sellers but the last time I went that route, when I ordered a 2.5" HD sleeve to USB, I received an IBM logoed (but clearly not an OEM part) box that wouldn't work. I did buy stuff from HK that did work but didn't want to chance it this time.

Was that one from eBay or one of the Asia-based parts/electronics sites?

Aphex -- Cool

Tholek -- That was off eBay for the good and the DOA stuff.