Firewire or USB2 DVD drive enclosure ??

Firewire or USB2 DVD drive enclosure ??

Iam just looking to put my DVD burner on the outside of my case. And
have it portable as well.


My Audigy 2 Zs has a firewire port and was thinking i could use that.
Which would be btter Firewire or USB 2 enclosure. And any brands and
or reviews or recomendations would be great.

I know firewirea int that popular, so i think USB 2 would be the best
bet. But if Firewire is faster and better i might do that and use the
port on the card. Might as well.

 

Firewire has better real-world performance with sustained transfers.
Both are probably adequate for a DVD burner, but given the choice, I'd
go with a Firewire enclosure. (Actually, I'd spend an extra few
dollars and get one with *both* ports, so I can plug it into pretty
much any computer. You never know when that might come in handy.)

 

Okies. Sounds like a good idea. never knew that was possible. Will
look uinto it.

Recomend any enclosures ?

 

I haven't bought one in a while, so I can't vouch for anything
specifically. I was looking at what Meritline had a little while ago,
and they've got a few that looked interesting.

This one's $18; it's pretty basic (and plastic), but a hell of a price:
<http://www.meritline.com/tdk-5-25-usb2-0-firewire-combo-enclosure1.html>

For something sturdier with a fan, this one's $33:
<http://www.meritline.com/firewire-usb-external-enclosure-5-25-cd-dvd-dr
ive-hdd.html>


They had several others, but those two looked like a good deal. You
might also explore supermediastore.com to see what they have to offer
at the moment. (Just be sure it's one that can take an optical drive
-- some are meant to be sealed up, and are just for hard drives. The
specs will tell you.)

Good luck.

 

Check with www.directron.com. I live about 8 miles from their Houston
facility and can vouch for the people who run it.

http://www.directron.com/dualenclosures.html

Does anyone have a comparison among the three methods of transfer:

* UDMA on IDE (standard connector to the motherboard)
* USB 2.0
* Firewire 1394

I am looking for sustained rates in MB/sec, not burst rates.

IOW, if I want to move a 1 GB file on a hard disk, how long would it
take for those three methods of transfer? It takes about 30 seconds to
transfer a 1 GB file with UDMA IDE on my computer under Win2K.





--

--

In Hillary Clinton's new book "Living History," Hillary details what
it was like meeting Bill Clinton, falling in love with him, getting
married, and living a passionate, wonderful life as husband and wife.
Then on page two, the trouble starts.

 

Paul C wrote:
|| Firewire or USB2 DVD drive enclosure ??
||
|| Iam just looking to put my DVD burner on the outside of my case. And
|| have it portable as well.
||
||
|| My Audigy 2 Zs has a firewire port and was thinking i could use that.
|| Which would be btter Firewire or USB 2 enclosure. And any brands and
|| or reviews or recomendations would be great.
||
|| I know firewirea int that popular, so i think USB 2 would be the best
|| bet. But if Firewire is faster and better i might do that and use the
|| port on the card. Might as well.

I've never used anything but USB2.0 - both to the external writer and to the
external HD with the files on it. The only failures I've had have been the
very occasional faulty blank disc.

I'm not particularly techie, but I suspect that the question might be moot,
because the speed of data transfer involved in writing a DVD doesn't get
anywhere near the speed that either USB2.0 or Firewire can offer.

Certainly no harm in getting an external drive with both options, but I'd be
inclined to just be led by the price, if I were buying another case...

paul

 

Go for one with it's own mains power, don't depend on the USB port supplying
enough.
Also get one with a cooling fan in it since they appear to heat up a lot. I
had a drive in an uncooled one of these fail recently and have heard of
others.
Power it off when not in use, it helps keep it cooler.

 

Just curious Bob, you assure their morality because they are 8 miles
from home or because you know them personally and admire their ethics?

<snip>

 

I have done business with Directron for nearly a decade and I know
some of the people who were there when the company started. Judging
from the size of the facility and the number of customers who are
there at any one time, I believe it's safe to say that the integrator
community feels similarly.

Directron is not Best Buy. It is a wholesaler that does business at
retail. I have had good dealings with them because they trust me not
to jack them around. If I have any questions, I ask first.

I have no personal relationship with any of them and I have no
experience of any morality issues.