Hi, I posted on this site for the first time recently and got great help with my dv cam prob, so firstly thank v.much TPFKAS, u da man/woman. Secondly I'd like to thank my parents.. Any way, I want an external dvd burner, multi format yadah yadah, all the bells and whistles but don't want to spend a shed load of cash( surprise surprise),I'm thinking about 60 or 70 english pounds. There are a few about but my main concern is the whole usb 2 thing. How do I know if my lap top is usb 2 compatable? I've heard a lot about transfer rates being 10 times faster than usb1 but if my laptop is not compatable wouldn't the quality of the dvd being ripped( I make no bones about it) be crap 'cos of the transfer rate. Also TPFKAS sorted my fire wire problem , but most of the external writers don't have firewire port,unless they just don't shout about them. And finally, just a bit of info on the usb thing, i have a 256mb usb 2.0 flash drive which works fine , so does that mean my lap top is complient with the usb2 shennanigans? Sorry about the length( I have to say that a lot)of the post but more is good...or summit.
check your device manager to see if have usb 2 root hub & advanced controller. check on the price of an usb2 enclosure, firewire enclosure, internal burner compared to an external usb2 or firewire burner.
uh..huh..check the what now? 'kay, when I get back from werk I'll do the deed, then check my device manager like you said. Thanks for the heads up. I'll probably be back with more questions v. soon. Till then... ta
Just checked my work computer, which has a usb 2.o capable message under the device manager bit but my laptop at home says standard usb. So, does this mean that the quality of recordings I make with an external dvd burner will be poor quality, or will it just take longer using my standard usb port on the laptop? Basically , am I better of getting a burner with firewire ports? Also my laptop is newer than my work pc, so why doesn't it have usb 2.0 enabled on it??
because it is newer doesn't mean it is upto date as the laptop could actually be older than the pc. is there any unknown or exclamation marks in device manager?? what is the make & model# of the laptop??
It's an acer aspire 1500 laptop. I've seen an lg external dvd burner going for about £60 which seems to have reasonable reviews and uses a firewire aswell as usb 2. I think I'll delve into that a bit further and take the option of usb2 and firewire just in case. Do you think that'll be a safe bet? Thanks for all the input by the way, appreciate it.
It's an acer, radeon 9600 graphix, 40 gb hard drive 512 mb.Amd 3ghz processor.Plays dvds divx etc fine...firewire fine with dv only usb compatability problem. That's about all I no. Is that any help?
you have usb2 on the laptop. Model Aspire 1500 Series Specifications Model PN CPU RAM HDD Optical LCD LAN OS AS1501LCi LX.A1605.038 AMD 64 3000+ 2*256 40 Combo 15 802.11g XP Home AS1501LMi LX.A1605.039 AMD 64 3000+ 2*256 60 Combo 15 802.11g XP Home Part Number See models above Processor / Speed AMD Athlon 64 3000+ or higher Core Logic Chipset VIA Apollo K8T800 System Bus Speed RAM / Max RAM 512MB / 2GB Video Subsystem ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 65MB DDR VRAM LCD Properties 14.1" XGA TFT - 1024 x 768 x 16.7 or 15.0" SXGA+ TFT - 1400 x 1050 x 16.7 (varies by model) Hard Disk Drive 30GB ATA/100 or higher (varies by model) Floppy Disk Drive 1.44MB 3.5" internal CD-ROM Drive 24x CD-ROM, 8x DVD-ROM, DVD-CDRW Combo, DVD-Dual (varies by model) Battery, Primary Lithium Ion Sound Subsystem Audio system with built-in speakers SoundBlaster Pro and MS-Sound compatible PCCard Support 1 Type III or 2 Type II PCCard slots Pointing Device Touchpad Peripheral Subsystem 4 USB 2.0, 1 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA, 1 Parallel, 1 FIR, 1 RJ-45, 1 RJ-11, 1 S-video/TV out 1 Microphone/Line-in, 1 Headphone/Speakers/Line-out Modem 56K ITU V.92 PPT approved data/fax Wake-on-Ring ready Ethernet 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Dimensions / Weight 326 x 290 x 38.6-42.9 mm 7.51 lbs (with primary battery and 15.0" LCD) AC Power 100-240V AC AutoSensing Adapter Environment Shock Operational/Non-Operational 5 G max. pulse / 40 G max. pulse Vibration Non-Operational 5-27HZ, 0.16" p-p, 2g peak, 27-500HZ Temperature Operational/Non-Operational +5ºC - +35ºC / -20ºC - +50ºC Humidity Operational/Non-Operational 10% - 90% / 10% - 90% Altitude Operational/Non-Operational 10,000 ft / 40,000 ft Operating System Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home (varies by model) Warranty Limited 1-year warranty Limited 1-year warranty on batteries and options
Here are some external DVD writer reviews: http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Home.aspx?ArticleTypeId=2&SubCategoryId=34
Well you know more specs than me about my machine, which shows how computer literate I am! It's an aspire 1501c ( I had to dig up the old box for that one) It still dosen't say usb2 enabled in device manager though and I don't understand why it says it on the machine in work and not the laptop if it is? Any way I think I'll get an external dvd burner with both firewire and usb ports, that way I should be okay. Do you know if the quality of the data is affected transfering through usb 1 or if it just takes longer?
just takes longer. do you have sp1 or 2 loaded because it appears you have a via chipset on the motherboard & to get usb2 installed besides being enabled in the bios is to have at least sp1 loaded than the via usb2 driver installed.
I tried to install some drivers previously,for my dv driver problem, and the message came up about needing sp2 installed, so using my fantastic deductive powers(which have proved pants so far..),I reckon I got sp1 on this machine. Also I'm on dial up and download time forsp2 for me is pretty astronomical.I tried to find the link to get sp2 sent out from microsoft but it was a dead end.
Hey ddp, I just looked into the device manager thingy after, I found on the usbman site, that if it lists 'enhanced' next to the host controller wording when you expand the usb manager then it is usb 2 complient.Apparently the 'enhanced'bit confirms it. So it looks like my machine is, like you said,usb2 compatable! Thanks for all the help, now I can get on getting on! I'll be back sooner rather than later when I find something else I don't unnerstan. Take it easy!
