[slimpy]

I need an external firewire CD-RW...would really like a Plextor 16/10/40 or 12/10/40 mechanism, but only QPS uses them - and I'm scared of their lack of customer support. Do you know of any other reliable brands that use Plextor drives?

These are some of the drives I've been considering:

1) Lacie 16/10/40 Firewire - concerned about Sanyo's lack of mac firmware - but otherwise seems like an amazing drive
2) Lacie 8/4/32 Firewire - A bit slow, not Burnproof , but uses Plextor mech.
3) Sony CRX1600L-A2 - Fast enough, sounds reliable, not burnproof , questions about firmware (see below)
Is the Sony i.Link CRX1600L-A2 CD-RW have upgradable firmware? Is it possible to upgrade it on a mac?
4) TDK veloCD 16/10/40 external firewire (advertised in Macworld May 2001 issue - but not on TDK's website yet) Might be promising...anybody know more info about it?

Thanks for your help

[cube-dude]

This belongs in the Peripherals forum. Transfering there.

[zigzag]

Originally posted by slimpy:
Is the Sony i.Link CRX1600L-A2 CD-RW have upgradable firmware? Is it possible to upgrade it on a mac?

Someone posted somewhere a few months ago (here or on xlr8yourmac.com) that their Sony had to go to the factory for a firmware upgrade. I think it was posted here - try doing a search. Of course, I don't know if it's still true.

Haven't seen that many Que complaints for a while - maybe they've cleaned up their act.

[slimpy]

What do you think about Firewire case kits and adding your own drive? The new Granite Digital case with the Oxford chipset on it's bridgeboard sounds like the fastest option available (40MB per sec sustained transfer). Is there a greater chance of having problems with a firewire case kit than purchasing a brand name firewire drive?

[zigzag]

Originally posted by slimpy:
What do you think about Firewire case kits and adding your own drive? The new Granite Digital case with the Oxford chipset on it's bridgeboard sounds like the fastest option available (40MB per sec sustained transfer). Is there a greater chance of having problems with a firewire case kit than purchasing a brand name firewire drive?

It's my understanding that existing Firewire bridges are already much faster than the CD-RW drives themselves, so there would be no advantage to getting an Oxford bridge unless you use it for a hard drive.