kepo-ing Zz85

Just in case the title confuses anyone, following is just how I turn my internal dvd writer into an external one which I can bring around.

Items required:
1. DVD Writer
2. External 3.5″ Harddisk casing

You might have seen this idea in my previous post. I bought a black samsung 16x dvd writer for SG$85. Its a powerful combination, it can burn cdrws, and dvd+r/-r and dvdrws with DL(double layer) storing about 8.6GB on the dvd. you can buy 10 4.3 DVDs for about $9, which gives over 4GB per $1 spent, or 20cents for 1GB of storage. this makes it the cheapest storage IMHO, esp lessing the gaps if you are coping large files.

The idea came when I want to lend the drive to my brother but didnt like to hassle installing it(struggling with the pc, casings, screws, cables and confined space). Then the thought
“if I have a external burner”, followed by
“oh that would need extra power plug”, then
“that same disadvantage of my external 3.5″ hdd casing over 2.5″ hdd casing”
“oh wait.. dont the connectors of a 3.5″ hdd and a cd/dvd drive the same??”

TATA.

But an advice if you are trying this, you better have usb 2.0 connection. it seems that it likely to hang on a usb 1.1 connection. If hopefully it works,

USB 1.1: 12 Mbps which is 1.5MB/s which means a 10x on CDs, over 50mins for a full DVD
USB 2.0: 480 Mbps = 60MB/s == >52x on CDs, which should pose any problem at all.

Here are some photos.

Courtesy to Teddy Blue for loaning his PC for testing and photos.

Existing timestamp: December 04, 2005 @ 22:01