Any external enclosure for ultrabay-slim optical drive?

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etherealtml · #1 Post by **etherealtml** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 2:13 am

I just bought an ultrabay slim battery, and now I'm wondering what to do with my CD-RW/DVD drive. Does anyone know if there is some kind of external enclosure for this kind of drive? I did a search in the forums, and I could only find an enclosure for an ultrabay drive, but I could find nothing for an ultrabay-slim drive. tyia!

beq · #2 Post by **beq** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:06 pm

I'm also looking for the same thing. I want the smallest possible USB 2.0 enclosure for Ultrabay Slim drives, which can be bus-powered. Up to now I've been satisfied just carrying the UltraBase with my X40, but the X4 Dock for my upcoming X41 Tablet is too unwieldy to be carried along

I realize there's an old USB 1.1 enclosure for Ultrabay 2000 (which requires AC adapter and adapter for Ultrabay Slim), but it's just too big and slow and inconvenient.

I mean, if I'm not concerned about size, I would just use the Addonics MFR portable DVD burner drive I already have.

But I do like small accessories, such as a 60GB 1.8" hard drive (bought from NewEgg) used in the smallest possible 1.8" USB drive enclosure. (Also see the Targus)

#3 Post by **ZaZ** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:35 pm

Here is the one I have my NEC ND-6500A in:

http://www.centrix-intl.com/?DirectBuy= ... =EX-BLK-01

Works good and is USB powered. Good Luck.

beq · #4 Post by **beq** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:35 pm

Thanks for the tip Fred. Can I ask if you've had a chance to try this enclosure with an Ultrabay Slim drive?

From what I recall the Ultrabay Slim formfactor is 9.5mm in height, versus the 12.5mm height of the previous Ultrabay (2000?).

Yet the NEC ND-6500A seems to be a 12.5mm drive. So I assume a UB Slim drive would need to use the UB Slim - to - UB adapter in order to be used with this enclosure. That is, assuming the ThinkPad Ultrabay connector is compatible with this enclosure in the first place?

#5 Post by **ZaZ** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:48 pm

Sorry, my bad. Didn't quite get it. I haven't tried it with the TP drive. I'm guessing it is too big to be placed in there securely.

Ground Loop · #6 Post by **Ground Loop** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:16 pm

I would like to find the same thing. When I travel, I don't always need the CD-RW drive, but want to bring it along for those times I do. I always want the Ultrabay Slim battery, though.

Here's the thing.. The CD-RW drive is really fragile, so I prefer to tote it around (through air terminals and such) inside the T43, and not banging around in the bag next to it. The battery is more rugged.

So.. if there was a slim USB2 enclosure for the CD-RW, that would be ideal. Leave the battery in the laptop, carry the CD-RW with it protected and ready to use on the laptop or another machine.

rsramirez · #7 Post by **rsramirez** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 2:20 pm

I've been researching putting the ultrabay-slim burner (or HD, as I don't have the battery, but the ultrabay slim HD caddy) into a USB enclosure, and from this post, as well as this one where someone realized that the interface for the 9.5mm slims are different than standard slim drivers), I deduce it's a no go so far.

Wondering if anyone has tried the following:

1) Using the Ultrabay slim adapter for ultrabay 2000, then plugging it into something like FredGarvin used (a slimline enclosure for 12.5mm drives)

2) Trying the HP External Multibay II enclosure (scroll down for specs) for the IBM/Levono ultrabay slims. The HP uses 9.5mm optical drives - I would assume there's a standard 9.5mm interface, since more laptop manufacturers are starting to use 9.5mm optical drives. Bad thing, is that this enclosure requires an AC adapter.

Ideas?

beq · #8 Post by **beq** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 1:00 am

rsramirez wrote:I would assume there's a standard 9.5mm interface, since more laptop manufacturers are starting to use 9.5mm optical drives.

I've been wondering the same thing -- if there's a standard interface for the laptop 12.5mm and now 9.5mm optical drives?

I know the standard laptop hard drives use standard IDE connectors (at the same location)...

Please let us know if you do find a working solution (ie. a small USB enclosure for 9.5mm laptop optical drives that will work with the ThinkPad drives). I'd prefer not to have to use adapters to fit the Ultrabay Slim drives into a bigger enclosure, as that would be unwieldy and the enclosure would be bigger than necessary.

Anyways, so far I've bought three of the MultiBurner Plus Ultrabay Slim drives (for T43, UltraBase for X40, and X4 Dock for X41T), and I really want to be able to carry these as portable drives when necessary.

anthony · #9 Post by **anthony** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:23 pm

Just a bump.... Seeking same sorta.... I just want a protective carrier, so I don't have my DVD-R exposed when I'm using the battery. A really large CD jewel box would be nice. Being able to swap and charge via USB would be a plus. Any ideas?

beq · #10 Post by **beq** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 11:10 pm

I was wondering, I found an ATAPI-to-SATA adapter for laptop optical drives:

http://www.addonics.com/products/io/adsatapisa.asp

Now I'm trying to find a similar ATAPI-to-USB adapter. It would basically be a small outboard PCB that attaches to the back of the drive. So you'd just carry and use the Ultrabay Slim drive naked as is without an additional enclosure...

BTW my main question with the above product: is the ATAPI connector on that board compatible with the connector on IBM Ultrabay Slim optical drives?

If it is, I already have separate SATA-to-USB adapter, and I suppose I can try to daisy chain the adapters, hehe

Any external enclosure for ultrabay-slim optical drive?

Any external enclosure for ultrabay-slim optical drive?

Revisiting the Ultrabay-slim in USB scenario

Re: Revisiting the Ultrabay-slim in USB scenario

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