cheap external DVD burner (I know, I know)

[space-time]

I know you don't use DVD these days, but if you do need a burner/reader once in a while, here is a deal

https://slickdeals.net/f/9759179-asus-8x...newegg-com

And check your Amex account, you may be eligible for shoprunner.

[jdc]

LOL, $12 after rebate.

No idea how much or when my first CD burner was, they were too much $$$. might have waited until they were $350, which was barely bearable -- and it was a 2X pioneer? Then a 4X.

[testcase]

Writing 7+GB of data via a USB2 connection would be excruciating.

[space-time]

testcase wrote:
Writing 7+GB of data via a USB2 connection would be excruciating.

No, it wouldn't. Theoretically it should take only 2-3 minutes.

480 Mbits/s -> 60 MegaBytes/sec

with overhead comes down to say ~50 MB/sec

20 sec for 1 GB.

140 sec for 7 GB.

which is 2 minutes 20 sec



I just copied a user folder from one machine to another, it was about 7 GB and took about 15 min I think. I didn't pay attention, I started and it said 6 min, but took longer, 10-15, I doubt it took longer tan 15 min. And that was from a slow USB stick.

Here is an online calculator which confirms 2 minutes I estimated above. Burning time will be limited by the speed of the drive, not by USB 2.

USB 2 is not that slow as it seems. Only when you use TB of data it seems slow. For most other purposes, it is still fine.

[Buzz]

jdc wrote:
LOL, $12 after rebate.

No idea how much or when my first CD burner was, they were too much $$$. might have waited until they were $350, which was barely bearable -- and it was a 2X pioneer? Then a 4X.

and a real deal at $5/disk for 400K floppy disks to use in a $400 external floppy drive... to go along w/ killer $239/MB for 1MB SIMM's years before CD burners were viable for individual use. Tech prices have surely changed.

[jdc]

space-time wrote:
Burning time will be limited by the speed of the drive, not by USB 2.

USB 2 is not that slow as it seems. Only when you use TB of data it seems slow. For most other purposes, it is still fine.

100% agree on both accounts.

Ive said here before that USB 3 is great and all, but not the end all, be all -- unless you ARE transferring TBs of files back and forth daily, or maybe accessing large files all day.

Ive never put a stopwatch on my USB 2 transfers, but I would say anywhere from 45-60 seconds per GB depending on type of data. although "theortically" it should take less you need to factor in the overhead of how USB 2 works.

DVDs burn far, far slower than the max rate of USB 2. And a portable one like this, even slower than a nice desktop DVD.

[sekker]

We still use DVDs to share data amongst our music group.

Very cost effective.

[jdc]

Wouldnt dropbox be way easier?

[sekker]

jdc wrote:
Wouldnt dropbox be way easier?

They also have videos they make to share.

DVDs are easier to move >2GB data around.

[goodmanx]

i'm in for one. thanx!