External 5.25" USB 2.0 enclosure.

[unclesam]

Hi,

I want to purchase an external 5.25" USB 2.0 enclosure to connect an ATA DVD burner with my laptop. Can anyone give me some suggestions for which brands are reliable? I have Windows XP, and I want a drive that will be automatically recognized by XP without needing a special driver. I also have all the latest and best DVD authoring/burning software, so that is not a consideration. I don't even care how it looks. I just want something that is no frills and cheap, although I will pay a little more if I get a better warranty or something.

 

[akira34]

Look on newegg for the enclosure. Read ALL the comments/ratings on each one and then decide. It might be a new concept to you, but this is called 'homework'...

 

[unclesam]

I am doing that, but I value the comments from AnandTech forum members more that comments form newegg buyers. Basically I want to know if I am looking for the right features, and if anyone on the forums has had a particularly good or bad experience with any brand. The Newegg reviews are written on the first day the product is used, while my priority is to know if the product will work after a year (i.e., no burnt logic boards, dead fans, assembly coming loose, etc.), which only forum members can tell me.

 

[akira34]

If you're looking for something that's going to last, don't build your own. Get one from a company with a reputation for making good products. Someone like LaCie... We have many optical, and hard, drives from LaCie where I work and I don't know of any going bad, or giving issues. We have had reports of the few WD external drives being royal pains in the balls... Considering how far down the prices of the drives have come in recent months, getting one from a company that does this all the time is not a bad idea. Another benefit from getting one from LaCie is they cover the entire unit. If you build one, and the drive fails, you have to RMA (if still able) or get a warranty replacement (also if still able). If it turns out it's really the enclosure, then you have to try and return that or get a replacement. All of that means MORE down time then you'd get with getting one made by a company.

I've had a couple of LaCie burners (selling the old versions to get the new, nothing wrong with them) and I can tell you they are built very well. The enclosures are full metal, and solid. Same thing with their hard drives. Plus, you can get your choice of interfaces so it will connect to whatever you want. Right now, I have their 16x Dual Layer burner with both FireWire (400) and USB2 connections on the back. I have one of the FireWire versions on my system at work (requested the same as I have at home, but the a$$hole that placed the order didn't give a sheit and ordered the wrong drive without checking first).

Personally, I won't build an external optical drive rig, ever. I will put together hard drives, since I know what brands work well there (from experience).

 

[unclesam]

This is just what I was looking for. Thanks for the info.