3.5" drive bay insert w/ firewire/2 usb/headphone/mic-in/serial port - thoughts?

[lookin4dlz]

Lowest price shipped $24.28 here Text

I don't want to take up a 5.25 bay. Has anyone seen a better (more functional) 3.5 insert than this? Thanks.

 

[fatbaby]

3.5 would be a little too small for a more functional panel...

buy a kingwin

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

The disadvantage is that you have to run cables through to the back of the comp in order to connect the ports. That = ugly to some. $24 is a good price though and, as fatbaby stated, it'll be harder to find something more functional for a 3.5"

Good Luck

 

[lookin4dlz]

Yeah, you're right that's about as much as could be crammed in there Just wondered if anyone had seen a 3.5 from multimedia bay with something other than the serial port in front, which I doubt I'll use.

Another thing I wonder is whether the connection can be modded to plug directly into the motherboard usb/firewire header...

 

[EXman]

looks cool 2 me

 

[WetWilly]

I've got one of these and it's pretty much the only game in town for a 3.5" model. The only thing about this one like PowerMac4Ever stated is the cables running through the back are a bit messy. BTW, there's another version of this with an optical SPDIF out and two on/off switches instead of the serial port over at CompGeeks. Not sure what or how the switches operate.

Another thing I wonder is whether the connection can be modded to plug directly into the motherboard usb/firewire header...

No. The one I got had USB A connectors for each of the USB ports. To attach it to the system board headers I removed the USB cable/ports from the system board's extra USB bracket, plugged them into the system board and attached them to the drive bay ports. It's a bit easier if you have a USB/FireWire card with internal ports.