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I'm a cd-r newbie and recently purchased the Buslink (Liteon) 52X24X52 internal burner that I'm planning to install in a USB 2.0 external case. I didn't really like any of the existing external burners on the market and thought that this would give me the flexibility to swap in/out any IDE drive that I wanted in the future. I've been looking at various enclosures with the kind assistance of others in this group (Ian, BuddhaTB, etc.) and have narrowed my choices down to 3 models that are all for sale on this website:

http://www.meritline.com/noname12.html

The ADS USBX-804 model says that it supports UDMA 33,66 or 100 and I understand that UDMA 33 is the standard that most burners use today. The Speedzter5 and the "All Aluminum Constructed" case say that they suppport ATA-66 and 100. I'm assuming that this is the same thing as "UDMA" 66, 100, but given my lack of knowledge of the terminology, I'm just not sure. In addition, these models do not specifically say that they support UDMA 33. Again, I would assume that if they do support UDMA 66 and 100, they would also support UDMA 33 because I thought I understood that UDMA 66 and 100 were simply faster UDMA modes, but I don't know for sure. Can anyone help assure me of this please? I just don't want to buy a case and then find that it is not the best choice for my drive.

Assuming that there are no problems with the standards supported, I like the Generic Aluminum case and the Speedzter5 as they both have cases that are made of aluminum and are also $30 less than the ADS version which has a case that is largely made of plastic. All have cooling fans as well. If anyone sees anything in the features that I may be missing that would make one case better than the other, I'd greatly appreciate any comments and input.

Finally, the ADS case says that it will do sustained data transfers of at least 35MBps, but the other cases do not have a rating for "sustained data transfers", only the theoretical "maximum data transfers" which are 60MBps under USB 2.0. Does this matter and is this something you would be worried about for CD-R burning which should only take about two and a half minutes anyway per cd with this burner?

Sorry for the very basic questions and thank you in advance for your assistance.

Mike
taxman150@hotmail.com

Didn't the responses to your previous thread provide you with enough information?

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=8290

Your response was very helpful and I appreciated it very much as I indicated. I'm assuming that UDMA33 and ATA33 are the same thing based on your response to my original post. My question then is whether the enclosures that say they support ATA 66 and 100 will support a CD-RW drive at ATA33. I would assume yes, but I just wanted to verify this before buying one.

I also was interested in hearing if anyone had any opinions on the merits of any of the 3 cases I'm looking at and whether "sustained data transfer" speed is relevant for a cd-rw burner as opposed to a hard drive for example. I thought that maybe someone has bought and used one of these enclosures and could offer their opinion on it.

I thought there was sufficient new content in my questions to post a message, but I apologize if you feel these questions were answered previously. Again, I am very new to all of this and am just trying to get set-up to start burning cd-r's so I will not have to bother anyone with these questions again.

Thanks,

Honestly, if you're looking for confirmation that this will work (I don't see why it wouldn't), give meritline a call and ask.

btw.. thats a good price on that aluminum usb 2.0 case. I might have to get myself one.

I have this ADS USB2.0 enclsure and I mounted an HP DVD200i on it and it works great.

taxman150 wrote:...they suppport ATA-66 and 100. I'm assuming that this is the same thing as "UDMA" 66, 100, but given my lack of knowledge of the terminology, I'm just not sure. In addition, these models do not specifically say that they support UDMA 33. Again, I would assume that if they do support UDMA 66 and 100, they would also support UDMA 33 because I thought I understood that UDMA 66 and 100 were simply faster UDMA modes, but I don't know for sure.

yes.
UDMA33=ATA33
UDMA66=ATA66
UDMA100=ATA100
all the UMDA/ATA modes are backwards compatible so if it supports UDMA66 it supports also UDMA33 and lower too.

there's a few threads in the FAQ forum, read up some there.
especially:
What are DMA and UDMA ?
and read up some of the references therein.

Just a quick thank you to everyone in the group who helped me with my questions regarding this process. I received my aluminum USB 2.0 enclosure yesterday from Meritline and installed my Buslink (Liteon) 52X drive inside it in a matter of minutes. It was immediately recognized by XP as a Liteon USB 2.0 device and my first few burns have been error free and just as fast as the ratings I've seen for the internals. I'm still trying to learn the inner workings of Nero and the various tools, CDspeed, etc. but so far so good.

Thank you again.

By the way, if you're interested in an enclosure this all aluminum one from Meritline is very nice (so far at least) for $59 and is the same one I believe as the one selling at CompUSA for $69.

Thats good to hear taxman150. I'm still thinking about picking up one of those cases. They look really nice and seem to be built well.

Taxman150, just to be clear for those of us who are a little slow on the uptake, this is the specific model you finally chose and are pleased with:

http://www.meritline.com/allalconusb2.html

True?

cfitz

It is a nice looking case and with the all aluminum casing and fan, the case stays completely cool. I've heard many good things about the ADS enclosures as well, but those have plastic exteriors and are $30 more at Meritline.

cfitz wrote:Taxman150, just to be clear for those of us who are a little slow on the uptake, this is the specific model you finally chose and are pleased with:

http://www.meritline.com/allalconusb2.html

True?

cfitz

I responded to Ian's post, before I saw the post from cfitz....

Yes, this is the one. I'm not sure if it mentions it on the website, but it comes with a driver disc, power cord and a USB 2.0 cable.

I only had limited time to try it out last night, but so far it works as well as I could hope and was easy for a non-technical person as myself to install and set-up.

I was also interested in the other aluminum enclosure they have on Meritline - the Speedzter5, but after talking with Meritline and the manufacturer I discovered that the USB 2.0 version of this enclosure does not have a fan as is advertised on the website. Maybe not a big deal for some, but for the same price I decided to buy the other one that has a fan.