External CD R/W - is USB 2.0 necessary/advisable?

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jsuebersax · #1 Post by **jsuebersax** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:15 pm

For my TP 600 2645-450. I'm considering buying an external CD/DVD drive--mainly for data backup, but making music CDs is also a possibility.

Questions:

1. Is USB 2.0 necessary (or a very good idea)?

2. If so, what's the best way to proceed? Are there
pcmcia cards that have USB 2.0 ports on them?

Thanks in advance.

John U.

#2 Post by **rkawakami** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:40 pm

Answers:

1. Probably.
Naturally the fastest transfer speeds are going to be with USB 2.0. This will help you avoid any buffer underruns.

2. Yes.
I have one by Apricorn (EZUSB2CB) and I saw others last night at Fry's that were a combination of USB 2.0 and Firewire. I don't believe that there is any other way to get 2.0 on your 600 other than a PCMCIA adapter. I selected the Apricorn because it only uses a single slot, but of course, that means it requires a dongle.

Website · #3 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:31 pm

Just curious, is there a specific reason that you are going for an external CDRW, instead of an internal?

The reason that I ask, is that external through USB 1.1 will be quite slow...atleast slower than using an internal drive. An internal drive would be much faster.

An internal drive is more expensive than the external, BUT, if you want fast, the price would even out by the time you buy a USB 2.0 card or something to be able to connect the external drive for a faster connection.

An internal CDRW would also be a space saver.

cmarti · #4 Post by **cmarti** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:56 pm

Here is a internal drive and it'scheap

#5 Post by **rkawakami** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 2:42 am

Ouch! $80 for a bare combo drive? I've purchased from this seller a couple of times several years ago and the drives worked great. That was before I found out that buying an Ultrabay 2000 drive and swapping caddies was cheaper. Yeah, okay, doing that means the face plate doesn't match the lines of the 600's UltraSlimBay (UltraslimBay? Ultraslimbay? Ultraslim Bay?, whatever

) opening. But I'm buying for function, not fit. Besides, I'm cheap (but not easy!).

jsuebersax · #6 Post by **jsuebersax** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:18 am

tfflivemb2 wrote:Just curious, is there a specific reason that you are going for an external CDRW, instead of an internal?

Two reasons:

1. At the moment, I'm not in the U.S. You might be surprised how much harder it is to order parts even within EU countries! Prices are also much higher. (Which doesn't exaclty make sense, since all the stuff is probably coming from China, Japan, Thailand...)

I can buy an external CDRW at any local dept. store.

2. If I put together an inexpensive desktop, I can use the CDRW.

External CD R/W - is USB 2.0 necessary/advisable?

External CD R/W - is USB 2.0 necessary/advisable?

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