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Juli Valley

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My computer is a bit old, but since I just got a mkII, I don't feel like I can invest in a new computer yet. Is it possible to get an exterior DVD writer that will work with a USB that is not USB2? I don't think mine is the 2 type. My 80Gig is full and I need to backup some images to disk and make some room. I have a CD burner but one can get so many more on a DVD.
--
I keep trying to find an artist's eye in the B & H catalog.

http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

 
i would dare to say that most external usb 2.0 devices will work with older (usb 1) systems but i would really buy an usb 2.0 high speed pci adapter (or whatever bus system you have in your box). you should be able to get one for $30, plus 4.5 GB over a 12Mb/s takes a long time.

i recently got an onlite ldw-851s 8x internal drive for a bit over $100 and i'm really happy with it - i have been only burning 4x so far, the 8x media is expensive and i've read folks have problems with them also.
hth,
hans
Juli Valley said:
My computer is a bit old, but since I just got a mkII, I don't feel
like I can invest in a new computer yet. Is it possible to get an
exterior DVD writer that will work with a USB that is not USB2? I
don't think mine is the 2 type. My 80Gig is full and I need to
backup some images to disk and make some room. I have a CD burner
but one can get so many more on a DVD.
--
I keep trying to find an artist's eye in the B & H catalog.

http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
 
Juli, get a USB 2.0 adapter if you are going for an external DVD writer or just replace your internal CD writer with a DVD writer. You don't want to do external with USB 1.1. I would recommend you get a Plextor 4X DVD Burner for an older machine. Plextor writers are consistently rated the highest. I have an 8X for a relatively fast machine and it outperforms my SONY writer.

John W
 
hans l said:
Juli Valley said:
My computer is a bit old, but since I just got a mkII, I don't feel
like I can invest in a new computer yet. Is it possible to get an
exterior DVD writer that will work with a USB that is not USB2? I
don't think mine is the 2 type. My 80Gig is full and I need to
backup some images to disk and make some room. I have a CD burner
but one can get so many more on a DVD.
--
I keep trying to find an artist's eye in the B & H catalog.

http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
Click to expand...
hans, sure hope that is not the case.

juli, I just purchased a Sony DVD writer to connect to firewire since my relatively new computer is only USB 1.1. Good ole Dell. However, USB is the more common interface. I have been told that USB 2.0 devices will run on USB 1.1 machines but a lot slower.

A couple of options are (1) you could buy a CDRW which will also do the job for you. Or (2) perhaps you could have a card installed in your computer which will allow USB 2.0. My Sony DVD writer is external and works great.

I guess I don't have to worry too much about whether DVD is "safe" because all of my efforts so far with the MKII are just awful. LOL

Bev

--
http://www.pbase.com/bas1/fl_2004&page=all
 
Thanks for the advice. My computer is a HP with only 933MHz performance. It also doesn't have enough RAM to work well multi-tasking with C 1 and PS CS. It's driving me nuts. I'll check with the local shop about installing a DVD burner in place of the CD. Maybe that's the best route to take. I wish I could afford to get a fast new computer with all of that built in, but right now, it's a stretch.
 
20 bucks to install the drive!!!

Its really not very hard. Also if you want a DVD burner check out site like essencompu.com newegg.com and zipzoomfly.com.

I've dealt with them all and they are all excellent and well priced!

Scott

P.S. you can also install it your self its not that hard.
Juli Valley said:
Thanks for the advice. My computer is a HP with only 933MHz
performance. It also doesn't have enough RAM to work well
multi-tasking with C 1 and PS CS. It's driving me nuts. I'll
check with the local shop about installing a DVD burner in place of
the CD. Maybe that's the best route to take. I wish I could
afford to get a fast new computer with all of that built in, but
right now, it's a stretch.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/sjhugoose
 
Juli Valley said:
Thanks for the advice. My computer is a HP with only 933MHz
performance. It also doesn't have enough RAM to work well
multi-tasking with C 1 and PS CS. It's driving me nuts. I'll
check with the local shop about installing a DVD burner in place of
the CD. Maybe that's the best route to take. I wish I could
afford to get a fast new computer with all of that built in, but
right now, it's a stretch.
Click to expand...
--

It is my understanding that you could also purchase more SDRAM which is what I plan to do for my laptop. I also hear that it is not really that expensive, having come down a lot in price.

http://www.pbase.com/bas1/fl_2004&page=all
 
I bought a Mad Dog (NEC2500A) that writes to DVD+R, -R, +RW and -RW at speeds up to 8X, put it in my little HP (a 933MHz, like yours) and it's been great!

I got mine at CompUSA, where they'll install it for you for a fee. I installed my own, though. Thought it'd be a nightmare, but it was easy as pie.

(The hardest part was getting into HP's weird case, but the drive itself was easy!)

Check out any of the little mom-and-pop PC stores in your area. Most here have better prices than the national chains and one has an area where they'll help you install your own computer upgrades.
 
There is something wrong with my machine. The manufacturer specifies a higher RAM quantity than it will accept. We added one chip, but it wouldn't take the second. I had a guy who repairs computers for the IRS who is a friend try and then I took it to a computer shop. Neither could add the last chip to make it get to capacity. Gremlins. It's a HP Pentium III machine, but it's slow 933 MHz.
 
Juli Valley said:
My computer is a bit old, but since I just got a mkII, I don't feel
like I can invest in a new computer yet. Is it possible to get an
exterior DVD writer that will work with a USB that is not USB2? I
don't think mine is the 2 type. My 80Gig is full and I need to
backup some images to disk and make some room. I have a CD burner
but one can get so many more on a DVD.
--
I keep trying to find an artist's eye in the B & H catalog.

http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
--It is true that you can get a lot on a dvd, but if it gets corrupted, you lose a lot. I asked a similar question and someone suggested that cd-r's are real cheap, about 10cents each and can hold 650 mgb's. I write on them with a sharpie the contents and they are easy to stack. Just a thought.
Steve L.
 
Juli Valley said:
My computer is a bit old, but since I just got a mkII, I don't feel
like I can invest in a new computer yet. Is it possible to get an
exterior DVD writer that will work with a USB that is not USB2? I
don't think mine is the 2 type. My 80Gig is full and I need to
backup some images to disk and make some room. I have a CD burner
but one can get so many more on a DVD.
--
Click to expand...
Hello again Juli,

Yes the new USB2 external drives and DVDRs will work with your old USB 1 port, but slower, right at 4 times as slow. As some posters have advised you can buy an enexpensive PCI card that will give you a USB2 port, some will provide a firewire port as well.

If you do go that route, be aware that there are two different standards for DVD recording, DVD+R and DVD-R a little research may be in order to insure compatability with what ever you may buy in the future.

Another option that I have not seen mentioned, and, as you're going to be inside the computer case any way, would be to add another hard drive. It's not difficult, all the cables needed are allready in place, and you could have 200 - 250 Gig of fast access storage for just a few hundred dollars.

BCC
 
I've got a big collection of CDRs right now that I need to fill to unload my crowded HD. I'll probably keep doing that for now. I might be better off getting a new computer in the long run.
 
Un fortunately my computer is a home edition HP with no extra slots. I guess I could replace the CD writer with a DVD tho. I'm talking with a friend who does this work for the IRS. Maybe he can figure out a solution for me, but he's really encouraging me to get a new machine.
 
...don't play all that well together in any event. I have a gig of RAM in a 2.6 GHz machine (I think) and it's still pretty slow, especially to get PS to start up from cold. And ImageReady won't start up at all with C1 running unless I remember to rename my Plug-Ins folder so that IR doesn't churn forever trying to start up the plug-ins.

Anyway, back on topic and FWIW, I've been really pleased with my external Sony DVD writer. It'll connect either USB2 or firewire. As others have observed, you don't want to be writing DVDs via USB1.1, you'll be up all night. I got a $15 firewire card that has worked great with the DVD writer and my Lexar CF reader (you need one of those too). My Mark II doesn't seem to like though -- I haven't been able to connect to set my PFs. ;-(

And don't miss Archive Creator. It's a great app for writing your images to CD/DVD.

http://www.pictureflow.com/products/archive_creator/index.html

Nill
~~
http://www.toulme.net
Juli Valley said:
Thanks for the advice. My computer is a HP with only 933MHz
performance. It also doesn't have enough RAM to work well
multi-tasking with C 1 and PS CS. It's driving me nuts. I'll
check with the local shop about installing a DVD burner in place of
the CD. Maybe that's the best route to take. I wish I could
afford to get a fast new computer with all of that built in, but
right now, it's a stretch.
Click to expand...
 
As long as we're spending your money... ;-)

With the larger CR2 files you're likely to find yourself wanting something faster (and with more disk space!) soon anyway. Most new machines come with DVD writers now, so that's a consideration.

Whatever you do, remember redundancy! When I offload my files to DVD, I make two copies and keep one at home, one at the office.

Nill
~~
http://www.toulme.net
Juli Valley said:
Un fortunately my computer is a home edition HP with no extra
slots. I guess I could replace the CD writer with a DVD tho. I'm
talking with a friend who does this work for the IRS. Maybe he
can figure out a solution for me, but he's really encouraging me to
get a new machine.
Click to expand...
 
I bought the Plextor 708-A and its really awesome. Its a little more expensive up front but I heard the cheaper ones wouldn't burn as well or accurately causing future compatability issues. Also use a decent media. One thing I have enjoyed is being able to make slideshows that play on my home dvd player and tv. They are in a movie format so the images can't be stolen if you won't to give it to someone or lend it to them.

My computer guy said there was less issues with the internal ones than external. You won't really need your cd burner since the DVD writer will do both.
John R.
 
1. replace your CDRW with an internal DVD burner. Get an 8x one that does + -. I recently got a Memorex from Fry's for about $170 (or less, I don't remember). You can burn CDs or DVDs in the same unit. The 8x burns at 2x the rate of the cheaper ones, but once you get over wallet shock, you'll appreciate the performance boost (1hr burn time vs 2).

2. Get yourself a USB2/Firewire combo card. Less than $30. You'll appreciate the faster xfer times from CF cards, or whatever. You may need a new CF USB2 rated reader.

3. Consider in the near future (when you can afrord it) getting an external hard drive. The MII is a storage hog.

4. I assume the RAM you want to add is properly matched to the existing RAM (absolutely essential). If it is, try bank swapping. The old RAM would be in Bank0. The empty slots would be bank1, etc. There's no reason (assuming functioning motherboard) why you shouldn't be able to fully populate the RAM banks. If this still fails, consider dumping the old RAM and replacing it with larger units of new.

BTW, I happened to price one of the bottom of the line Dells recently. A 2.8G P4 with an 80g HD, 512 Mb RAM it was only $629. There's no reason why you couldn't install your existing HD and CDRW in the new unit, etc. and Dells are easy to work on (unlike HPs which require dissasembly by Hobbits or elves).

This hobby/profession of ours is not for the light of wallet!!!

Sadja
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I have a small external HD now 40Gig. I can remember when we thought a 30 Meg was big and we could never fill it. LOL. The good old 1980s days.

I think my choices are to buy a new machine without monitor, etc. or get a friend to install an internal DVD for now. I'm working at unloading photos to CDs now to make some room.
 
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