External DVD recorder - is USB2 required ?

[stoogedog]

hi, i purchased a maddog duallayer external dvd recorder to connect to my computer. when i connect it, i get a message that says it would run faster on a 2.0 usb. when i open up the listing for the usb ports, it has a statement that says this computer doesn't have any 2.0 host connectors. does that mean that i am not going to be able to use this recorder with my computer? please any info is greatly appreciated. lmk. thanks stoogedog

[padre2]

How old is the computer? Older computers only have USB 1.1 ports built-in. If it is old, you can get a USB 2.0 interface card, which will give you some 2.0 ports.

[padre2]

Also, are you hooking it straight into the computer, or to some sort of external USB hub?

[stoogedog]

hi, the computer is about 5 years old. i am hooking it directly to the usb hub on the front of the cpu. thanks stoogedog

[padre2]

5 years old probably means it's a USB 1.1 port.

[mrwhitethc]

I think you should be able to use the burner, you would be best to test burning at 12x and then lowering it from there to see how fast you can actually transfer without getting any buffer underruns. If you use Nero you can see this while you burn, it is typically the small bar beneath the 2 larger bars. If that small bar keeps dropping to zero a lot it would be time to lower the speed, you can also test your media to see how well you are burning, use nero cd/dvd speed for that.

[wheezer210]

You can always get a usb 2.0 PCI adapter card to put in it.

I purchased a Belkin with 3 usb 2.0 and 2 firewire ports for about $20.00.

[lordsmurf]

You can't really burn with USB v1. I suggest an ADAPTEC brand USB2 PCI card. A lot of cheap USB2 cards are crap, and Adaptec is THE COMPANY to buy connectivity supplies from (SCSI, USB, FireWire, etc).

Two here: http://www.legendmicro.com/store/product_search.asp