Great success Externalizing the Plextor 708A DVD Burner at DVinfo.net

Imran Zaidi · December 19th, 2003, 10:07 AM

Just bought myself a great holiday gift, and it works very well so I thought I'd share.

I went to newegg.com and picked up the Plextor 708A which has been getting great reviews. It's one of the very few DVD+R/-R burners that burns up to 8X (+R) while still burning regular CDs up to 40X. Plus the Plextor name's reputation speaks for itself.

Here's a review:
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...tml?i=1864&p=1

While I was there I also picked up an external Firewire case (I personally don't care much for USB 2 so I didn't get the combo). I got it the other day, took about 4 or 5 minutes to slap the drive into the case, and minutes later I was burning DVDs and CDs using the Roxio 6 software provided.

All told, it was $253 plus shipping, for a wonderfully portable, fast and reliable external firewire DVD Burner. Can't beat that with a stick.

Bogdan Vaglarov · December 19th, 2003, 01:07 PM

Imran,
What enclosure you use? Brand...

Gints Klimanis · December 19th, 2003, 01:40 PM

Hi,

I'm also interested in enclosure brands, but I'd rather go for
a 5.25"/3.5" case with both USB2.0 and Firewire connections.
My local store used to carry such a unit, but no longer.

Imran Zaidi · December 19th, 2003, 01:41 PM

Over time I've bought three different brands of enclosures from newegg.com, and never had any compatibility problems with any of them. One was for 3.5" drives USB 2/Firewire, one was a 5.25" USB 2/Firewire with a cooling fan, and then this one which is Firewire only for 5.25" and a cooling fan.

The one I am using for my DVD burner is on this page, under the category of "Generic". With enclosures, it all depends on the chip. All the newer ones are very compatible on multiple platforms.

http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactor...alog=92&DEPA=1

Gints Klimanis · December 19th, 2003, 01:59 PM

HI Imran,

Thanks for the information on the enclosures. Here's another source I just found:

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

Andrew Petrie · December 20th, 2003, 09:28 AM

You can get an excellent USB2 + 1394 enclosure for a lot less than NewEgg can offer. Check the link below, it's the exact same thing, only NCIX brands it under it's own name (nGear). $76 CDN vs $102 USD at NewEgg. Can't beat that.

www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=10574

This is where I do all of my computer shopping, both for the wide selection and price matching.

Andrew Petrie · December 20th, 2003, 09:33 AM

I do have a rather silly question since we're on the subject of external enclosures... Could I hook up a hard drive with an enclosure up to my XL1's DV out port and it would record on it?

I'm not sure if the camera is capable of writing to an external source. I would imagine it wouldn't without the external source handeling the reads/writes (like a FireStore or a PC would). The camera would have to be able to send file information (stops, starts, new file name, etc....) to the hard drive and I don't think that's possible with such an inexpensive solution.

Imran Zaidi · December 20th, 2003, 03:40 PM

Andrew, perhaps you were looking at the wrong site? That case is only 49.99 USD at Newegg, which I think is only $67 Canadian, which is cheaper than the site you mentioned. Not sure where you got $102 from...

It's usually very difficult to find a better legitimate(!) deal on computer hardware over Newegg. And if you look at their resellerratings.com rating, it's phenomenal. I daresay that their rating is higher than anyone on the net.

Also, no, you can't hook a case such as this directly up to your cam. You have to get something like a Firestore for something like that, or at the cheapest, Pyro (ADS Tech?) makes something like it around the 500-600 range for just a 30Gigger.

Bogdan Vaglarov · December 20th, 2003, 08:30 PM

The low price of this enclosures is phenomenal!

Cheapest I can get here is about 85 USD for the plastic and 100 for aluminum case - Ratoc has good reputation as maker.

What's worse is Japanese online shops keep the price unganged while the Yen/$ rate changed drastically.

Andrew Petrie · December 22nd, 2003, 09:33 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Imran Zaidi : Andrew, perhaps you were looking at the wrong site? That case is only 49.99 USD at Newegg, which I think is only $67 Canadian, which is cheaper than the site you mentioned. Not sure where you got $102 from... -->>>

I got the $102 from NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=1

This is the same one offered at NCIX, only NCIX is rebranded and cheaper. The cheaper NewEgg one you mention is a different model number altogether (5 series vs the 7 series I linked), while this one supports both FireWire and USB2. Personally I'd opt for the dual combo since not all computers have FireWire ports.

Imran Zaidi · December 22nd, 2003, 10:37 AM

Actually it does have both USB2 and Firewire.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=1

This one I mentioned is made for 5.25 drives as well as 3.5 internal drives. Looks like the more expensive one is more just for 3.5 drives and things that have an external face like Zip drives. And no cooling fan. Plus on Newegg it's rebranded under Bytecc, so pricing is probably the brand's doing, not Newegg. Such is the nature of rebranded OEMs.

For the purposes of this thread, externalizing a 5.25 DVD burner, I'd definitely go with the cheaper one at the link above.

December 19th, 2003, 10:07 AM	#1
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	Great success Externalizing the Plextor 708A DVD Burner Just bought myself a great holiday gift, and it works very well so I thought I'd share. I went to newegg.com and picked up the Plextor 708A which has been getting great reviews. It's one of the very few DVD+R/-R burners that burns up to 8X (+R) while still burning regular CDs up to 40X. Plus the Plextor name's reputation speaks for itself. Here's a review: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...tml?i=1864&p=1 While I was there I also picked up an external Firewire case (I personally don't care much for USB 2 so I didn't get the combo). I got it the other day, took about 4 or 5 minutes to slap the drive into the case, and minutes later I was burning DVDs and CDs using the Roxio 6 software provided. All told, it was $253 plus shipping, for a wonderfully portable, fast and reliable external firewire DVD Burner. Can't beat that with a stick.

December 20th, 2003, 09:28 AM	#6
Andrew Petrie Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 484	You can get an excellent USB2 + 1394 enclosure for a lot less than NewEgg can offer. Check the link below, it's the exact same thing, only NCIX brands it under it's own name (nGear). $76 CDN vs $102 USD at NewEgg. Can't beat that. www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=10574 This is where I do all of my computer shopping, both for the wide selection and price matching. __________________ Andrew \| Canon XL1s, ME66, Vinten Vision 3, GlideCam V16 (for sale!)

December 20th, 2003, 09:33 AM	#7
Andrew Petrie Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 484	I do have a rather silly question since we're on the subject of external enclosures... Could I hook up a hard drive with an enclosure up to my XL1's DV out port and it would record on it? I'm not sure if the camera is capable of writing to an external source. I would imagine it wouldn't without the external source handeling the reads/writes (like a FireStore or a PC would). The camera would have to be able to send file information (stops, starts, new file name, etc....) to the hard drive and I don't think that's possible with such an inexpensive solution. __________________ Andrew \| Canon XL1s, ME66, Vinten Vision 3, GlideCam V16 (for sale!)

December 22nd, 2003, 09:33 AM	#10
Andrew Petrie Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 484	<<<-- Originally posted by Imran Zaidi : Andrew, perhaps you were looking at the wrong site? That case is only 49.99 USD at Newegg, which I think is only $67 Canadian, which is cheaper than the site you mentioned. Not sure where you got $102 from... -->>> I got the $102 from NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=1 This is the same one offered at NCIX, only NCIX is rebranded and cheaper. The cheaper NewEgg one you mention is a different model number altogether (5 series vs the 7 series I linked), while this one supports both FireWire and USB2. Personally I'd opt for the dual combo since not all computers have FireWire ports. __________________ Andrew \| Canon XL1s, ME66, Vinten Vision 3, GlideCam V16 (for sale!)

December 19th, 2003, 01:07 PM	#2
Bogdan Vaglarov Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Yokohama, Japan Posts: 366	Imran, What enclosure you use? Brand...

December 19th, 2003, 01:40 PM	#3
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	Hi, I'm also interested in enclosure brands, but I'd rather go for a 5.25"/3.5" case with both USB2.0 and Firewire connections. My local store used to carry such a unit, but no longer.

December 19th, 2003, 01:41 PM	#4
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	Over time I've bought three different brands of enclosures from newegg.com, and never had any compatibility problems with any of them. One was for 3.5" drives USB 2/Firewire, one was a 5.25" USB 2/Firewire with a cooling fan, and then this one which is Firewire only for 5.25" and a cooling fan. The one I am using for my DVD burner is on this page, under the category of "Generic". With enclosures, it all depends on the chip. All the newer ones are very compatible on multiple platforms. http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactor...alog=92&DEPA=1

December 19th, 2003, 01:59 PM	#5
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	HI Imran, Thanks for the information on the enclosures. Here's another source I just found: http://www.meritline.com/firusben.html

December 20th, 2003, 03:40 PM	#8
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	Andrew, perhaps you were looking at the wrong site? That case is only 49.99 USD at Newegg, which I think is only $67 Canadian, which is cheaper than the site you mentioned. Not sure where you got $102 from... It's usually very difficult to find a better legitimate(!) deal on computer hardware over Newegg. And if you look at their resellerratings.com rating, it's phenomenal. I daresay that their rating is higher than anyone on the net. Also, no, you can't hook a case such as this directly up to your cam. You have to get something like a Firestore for something like that, or at the cheapest, Pyro (ADS Tech?) makes something like it around the 500-600 range for just a 30Gigger.

December 20th, 2003, 08:30 PM	#9
Bogdan Vaglarov Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Yokohama, Japan Posts: 366	The low price of this enclosures is phenomenal! Cheapest I can get here is about 85 USD for the plastic and 100 for aluminum case - Ratoc has good reputation as maker. What's worse is Japanese online shops keep the price unganged while the Yen/$ rate changed drastically.

December 22nd, 2003, 10:37 AM	#11
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	Actually it does have both USB2 and Firewire. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=1 This one I mentioned is made for 5.25 drives as well as 3.5 internal drives. Looks like the more expensive one is more just for 3.5 drives and things that have an external face like Zip drives. And no cooling fan. Plus on Newegg it's rebranded under Bytecc, so pricing is probably the brand's doing, not Newegg. Such is the nature of rebranded OEMs. For the purposes of this thread, externalizing a 5.25 DVD burner, I'd definitely go with the cheaper one at the link above.