USB to IDE kit.........$59

[TimeKeeper]

Tigerdirect has couple USB-to-IDE, Firewire-to-IDE external kits that convert any internal IDE device into external USB or Firewire.

Most places sold these kits for around $85.

Translucent style

Sony Expressa style (this one is slim-line for IDE HD)

didn't you guys got couple of those 40GB HD for $40 somewhere?


RandyL, here is your firewire-to-IDE

As for those who has TigerDiect.com's 2001 Catalog, it is on page 51, Page 53 and page 58. (three different manufacture)

 

[cantstop]

Data transfer rate up to 1.5 MB/s

Too slow for that new Plextor / TDK / Iomega CDRW. Although with Burnproof it would still work, but it'll slow down yer drive...

 

[wasssup]

i want one of these...just tried searching at outpost.com, they have a 3.5" version for $89.

 

[SLEEPER5555]

so you can only burn cd's at 10x with this, that is still cool.

 

[cantstop]

Nah, you can burn at 12x with Burnproof...
The max is 1.5MB/sec so who knows what your effective speed will be. Plextor / TDK / Iomega CDRW wants to run with DMA enabled, so I'm thinkin' your effective rate is gonna be a lot slower than 10x.
12x with DMA (16MB/sec burst) versus ??? with USB (1.5MB/sec)

Still pretty cool if you want to hook your burner up to a laptop though.

 

[RandyL]

How about a link to the firewire type? I looked around and even did a search on firewire + ide and can't find them. TIA.

 

[MagisterLudi]

Be careful on these enclosures. We picked one up that looks quite similiar (there's an OEM that does a bunch of them), and it didn't work with drives over 32GB. That was USB->IDE.

Make sure the enclosure works with your size drive.

 

[DieselMan]

Do you need to install specific USB drivers for your burner with these kits? How will your o/s recognize the drive? I am a bit puzzled...

 

[immortalis]

These USB speeds do limit any activity to 6x, be it read or write. And it will have those speeds only if no other device is on that "root".
So you could burn with 12x, but the total time it will take will be below 6x.
That will change with USB 2.
And yes, you must install a special driver PRIOR to plugging in the device for the first time.

The Part II unit is nice and not at all as heavy as the Sony Espressa.

 

[DieselMan]

immortalis, thanks for the info.

Now, does anyone happen to have a link to these products' drivers & manuals? Or are these just OEM with bundled drivers? In any case, how can we make sure that these kits will work fine with different burner brands/models?

 

[wasssup]

If the effective burning speed is 6x, as someone stated, it's a moot point installing a 12x burner that way. If it were $20 i'd pick one up in a heartbeat, but i'll probably pass at this price.

 

[DrFatal]

Any one knows where I can find something similar for a network???
Instead of the USB, you can plug it on hub and it'll show as share drive..
More like the MaxAttach from Maxtor..

 

[cantstop]

It's not moot to hook up your 12x burner to this. I haven't seen Burnproof on anything slower than 12x <and you'll need it!>

Even with a throughput of say 6x, you're more likely to get a good burn and less coasters than a slower CD-R without Burnproof.

Just my $0.02

 

[juiio]

http://www.resellerratings.com/vendone.cgi?TigerDirect

Tiger Direct still has a terrible reseller rating. 2.9/7.0. Buyer beware.

 

[jbaj007]

I've had one for a while. Very, very convenient. Not all burners are compatable; the older burners seem to be the ones that work. Slooow. If it is 6X, I'd be surprised. My new Plextor does not work with it, but my old Acer does(go figure). Drivers are a must for any machine you switch it to and the drivers are not great with these generic boxes. Manufacturer/distributor is probably these guys and some drivers are available there. They are a nice thing to have but they have real limitations.

 

[TimeKeeper]

canstop,
Apparently we all know the data bandwidth of USB. However, if you insist on having your 12X CDR as external device, you could always invest in firewire (IEEE1394) card and Firewire-to-IDE.

 

[DieselMan]

jbaj007, thank you for your comments/info. Very much appreciated Still trying to decide if I should invest in one... oh well!

 

[easystreet]

www.h45.com
Device info,drivers etc