Legit Reviews

ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U External DVD-RW USB 2.0 Slim Drive

The ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U Diamond slim USB DVD was created as a stylish accessory to the innovative ASUS Eee Top. With its vertical mount and small footprint, it can fit almost anywhere and helps to prevent a cluttered workspace. Read on to see if it performs as well as it looks!

The ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U offers consumers and professionals a complete DVD portable design burning solution. The stylish and attractive DVD burner utilizes the high-speed USB 2.0 interface with the ability to record on 8X DVD+R, 8X DVD+RW, 6X DVD-R and 5X DVD-RAM and access 8X DVD-ROM and 5X DVD-RAM formats.

Article Title: ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U External DVD-RW USB 2.0 Slim Drive
Article URL: http://legitreviews.com/article/932/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $64.99 shipped

Isn't the second connector on the y-connector only used if one USB port can't provide enough power? I have a similar one in addition to external 2.5" HDD enclosures and I only need to use the y-connectors on my really old laptop (8+ years) because the USB spec back then didn't provide the same current that today's spec calls for. One connector is power+data and the other one is just (additional) power. So this should work with only one USB connection on practically all new machines, right? Or am I mistaken?

gwolfman wrote:Isn't the second connector on the y-connector only used if one USB port can't provide enough power? I have a similar one in addition to external 2.5" HDD enclosures and I only need to use the y-connectors on my really old laptop (8+ years) because the USB spec back then didn't provide the same current that today's spec calls for. One connector is power+data and the other one is just (additional) power. So this should work with only one USB connection on practically all new machines, right? Or am I mistaken?

According to the Quick Installation Guide that ASUS includes with the SDRW-08D1S-U External DVD-RW drive,

The bundled USB Y cable comes with two USB connectors and one mini-USB connector. We recommend that you connect both USB connectors to two USB ports on your computer for sufficient power supply. For some computers that cannot provide sufficient power, you may need an extension cable. The extension cable is purchased separately.

Since you brought it up, for curiosity's sake I pulled the drive out of the box and hooked it up to my 3-year old HP Pavillion dv6000 with just one USB connector and put in the movie 300. Yes, it worked just fine.

Amy wrote:

gwolfman wrote:Isn't the second connector on the y-connector only used if one USB port can't provide enough power? I have a similar one in addition to external 2.5" HDD enclosures and I only need to use the y-connectors on my really old laptop (8+ years) because the USB spec back then didn't provide the same current that today's spec calls for. One connector is power+data and the other one is just (additional) power. So this should work with only one USB connection on practically all new machines, right? Or am I mistaken?

According to the Quick Installation Guide that ASUS includes with the SDRW-08D1S-U External DVD-RW drive,

The bundled USB Y cable comes with two USB connectors and one mini-USB connector. We recommend that you connect both USB connectors to two USB ports on your computer for sufficient power supply. For some computers that cannot provide sufficient power, you may need an extension cable. The extension cable is purchased separately.

Since you brought it up, for curiosity's sake I pulled the drive out of the box and hooked it up to my 3-year old HP Pavillion dv6000 with just one USB connector and put in the movie 300. Yes, it worked just fine.

Thanks for the follow up. That's what makes this site so great. Responses are greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work!

$65! You can buy a 22X burner and an IDE to USB adapter for half that price.

Major_A wrote:$65! You can buy a 22X burner and an IDE to USB adapter for half that price.

True. Very true. But if you needed to carry one along for your netbook, that would be bigger than the netbook itself. Kind of defeats the purpose.

It's not expensive for a slim DVD burner. I remember the internal Samsung burner I bought cost me $55. An extra $10 for the enclosure doesn't sound bad at all.

hnzw_rui wrote:It's not expensive for a slim DVD burner. I remember the internal Samsung burner I bought cost me $55. An extra $10 for the enclosure doesn't sound bad at all.

Good point

gwolfman wrote:

Major_A wrote:$65! You can buy a 22X burner and an IDE to USB adapter for half that price.

True. Very true. But if you needed to carry one along for your netbook, that would be bigger than the netbook itself. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Well I carry mine around in a backpack so it's not that big of a deal. If you are going to be using a netbook/laptop for any length of time you will need to plug it into the wall anyway. Maybe I look at function over form, or I'm just cheap.

Plus yours would work a whole lot faster than these laptop ones.