External Case for an Internal CD-RW???

[nooch]

A buddy of mine bought a Plextor 12x10x32 CD-RW before realizing he doesn't have space for it in his existing PC (only one 5.25 slot and that's already occupied by a CD-ROM). He's not interested in buying a new PC case (I don't think he trusts me to to do it for him) so I suggested he buy an external case to house one of the drives, and thread the IDE and power cable through the back of the case to connect it.

What do you think? Will this work? Does he even need an external case? If so, where can he buy one cheap? I did a quick search but most of them have stuff he wouldn't need like power supplies, etc. Also wondering if power extension cables are available. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated. Nooch

 

[jsbush]

As long as the IDE cable isn't longer then 24" it should be fine. Don't get a parallel or USB case for the cd-rw cus there speed well for usb anyways would be limited to 6x.

Anyways good luck! And it would be a pain having that out side of your case, and it might even be cheaper for him to get a new case.

 

[nooch]

I was thinking the same thing that parallel/USB cases are no good. Why couldn't he use an IDE cable longer than 24"? Does the signal degrade too much? I've seen some 36" IDEs for sale so I thought that might be OK to use. Thanks, Nooch

 

[Viperoni]

There's no external case the supports IDE, only those USB -> IDE convertors built into cases.....
Which you may have to go into.
I haven't heard of this 6x limit though.
BTW: You could rip out the cdrom and put in the burner as a source/burner.

 

[nooch]

Viperoni, he wants to keep the cdrom to burn cds on the fly.
If I can rig a long enough power connector and IDE cable, would he be OK without a case? I know it'll be a bit unsightly but I don't think he cares as long as it does the job. Nooch

 

[bigbootydaddy]

just leave it sitting one somehitn like a pice of alum, open case, and tape it down!!

haha it would work!

 

[ZeroBurn]

you do not need a case at all. in fact you could just have it sitting out there on the table, or on top of the case (just make sure it doesn't slip and fall off ! use some tape, etc). i'd run a PSU cable and ide cable out of the case and to writer, and just have it sitting there. you just need to be careful you don't bang it up- if he's in a limited work environment that could be some trouble. could consider mounting it to the top of the case, wrap it down w/ tape or whatnot ;P

on a side note i'd suggest swapping the CD-RW and the CD-ROM so that the CD-ROM sits on the outside and the plextor on the inside- it has a lower risk of getting damanged that way (and i'm sure the brand new plextor is worth more then his old cd-rom).

i'd just be uncomfortable having my plextor sit out in the open like that, especially since i'd like it in a spot more immobile since it's going to be writing and not just reading.

 

[Viperoni]

Actually, strapped to the top of his comp would probably be the best, but the length of the IDE cable would probably be a bit long.
You may want to use a udma66 cable, just for the greater signal clarity.
I'm pretty sure you can find 36-48inchers out there.

 

[ZeroBurn]

might be a bit pricey for the extended ata/66 cable. i don't know how the case is designed but if a regular IDE cable will reach (maybe you have the side off? ) then that would be fine. if you do have to use an extended cable though then i'd definitely use a higher quality cable especially since it's a burner

 

[Tonec]

I have one and it burns just fine on a non burnproof 8x. All of the external cases have to have their own ps because usb can't provide enough power to a cdrw.