DVD-Rom drives running vertically?

[Ticien]

Once my tax return shows up in my bank account, I am going to attempt to start my first mod. (Ive never modded a thing in my life)... Anyway, I am pretty sure I already know the answer but I want to be 100% before I waste the money on it. Ive been planning on getting this slot loading drive from Plextor

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1238965&sku=P67-1126

(Ive seen it a little cheaper but its the same drive so you can get an idea)

and I have plans to mount it in such a way that it will be sitting vertically in the case, with the slot running up/down. Are there any problems I should be aware of with the drive working incorrectly due to this orientation?

(First post by the way...pre-emptive thanks for being a great community and especially to Crimson for helping me with my registration issue)

[Mitternacht]

Welcome to TBCS.

Vertically-mounted slot loading DVD drives? Forget about it, as in, it having any trouble working. That's exactly what the Wii has, and that's exactly how it's designed. So yes it'll work perfectly.

Edit: O yea, 600 posts.

[Ticien]

Cool Beans...I thought itd be OK, since yes, the Wii, and the PS3 both have those drives, but for 150 bones I needed to be sure..

+rep for the extremely fast reply too...I havent even left work yet!

[xRyokenx]

Looks like a good drive to me...

So the little holes in the drive is the "emergency eject" button? Hnh, if only I'd known that sooner... that would've been quite helpful in many situations...

[Ticien]

LOL yeah, apparently that's what it is...

(Dont feel bad, I found out what the hole was for like 2 weeks ago when I asked for a paperclip to pry a drive open and when my lady brought it to me she poked it in the little hole instead...then when I said "Huh..." she looked at me and replied "You didn't know about that? What were you going to use it for?" :D)

[Nagoshi]

I found it out about 2 months ago, when I repaired an old CD drive I had around. Since new drives can't be opened by force... I have an old drive that is not mechanically complex (there's no emergency hole, it can be opened by using your nail just under the CD dray and pulling it) and it'S marvelous when a CD is stuck in it, or when you don'T want to power up the whole computer for a single CD. :)

[Mitternacht]

I knew about that for a looong time.

[Omega]

I knew about that for a looong time.

Same here. About 8 years or so. I remember getting UT99 CD's stuck in my drive and getting them out.

[d_stilgar]

In the age of floppies that hole was my savior. Dumb macs were too annoying to wait for. It took a million years before the computer would recognize the drive as not being busy anymore.

[Omega]

In the age of floppies that hole was my savior. Dumb macs were too annoying to wait for. It took a million years before the computer would recognize the drive as not being busy anymore.

...rofl. I remember using Macs in third grade complaining about the optical drives.

[Daruvian]

Hey Ticien you gotta let me know how that verital drive runs. I have one on the way myself for a mod I'm about to get started on. Just kinda curious if it'll have any little quirks sitting vertically... It shouldn't as far as I can tell... The laser's always perpendicular to the disk... So it shouldn't really hurt... But let me know how it turns out...

[Ticien]

Ill make sure i post the details. Once I get the drive I think im going to just hook it up and set it sideways to see what happens before i go through the trouble of mounting it in the case. Wont have it for another week or so though.

[Airbozo]

lmao! I remember using computers in 3rd grade that didn't even have a GUI. It was DOS baby.. 66mhz MONSTERS they were. Played a lot of "Gizmos and Gadgets" in that class. :D

The next ones were Macs but they had no opticals. just floppies.

-Jeremy

My "first" case mod was on a ibm dos system used for data acquisition at McDonnel Douglas Aircraft. We made an add on board with a Motorola 68xx proc (because the 68xx's had better input/output support at the time), with _many_ digital to analog converters on board. The add on card was so huge, we had to cut a hole in the top of the case for it to fit.

I have worked on systems with optical drives, floppies AND Flopticals...(in sgi systems)

http://library.n0i.net/miscellanea/ul-pcbuy/ch14/222-225.html <--Bottom of page

[intergalacticman]

are you really going to dump out 160$ on a slot loaded drive??
sounds like a ripoff to me

[intergalacticman]

i like preserving old tech
so i still actively use 250MB tape drives, Zip drives and 5 1/4 drives
on my p2 comp (dads old work comp from 1994)

[Ticien]

It IS expensive. However!

1. My current drive is a POS, and isnt a burner
2. I am so freaking tired of dealing with the little tray
3. It is important for my mod
4. if you know where I can get one cheaper PLEASE link it to me, I have only been able to find this one, and some slim drives that I didnt like very much.

[Guardian]

DVD ROM slot loading drives are cheaper, But thats you're best Option for DVD burners. I Heard those die after about 8 months or so.

[Mitternacht]

lmao! I remember using computers in 3rd grade that didn't even have a GUI. It was DOS baby.. 66mhz MONSTERS they were. Played a lot of "Gizmos and Gadgets" in that class. :D

The next ones were Macs but they had no opticals. just floppies.

-Jeremy

My first computer was DOS. I had Windows 3.11, some coloring game Chadwick (accessed it through DOS) and The 7th Guest. (also accessed via DOS) The 7th Guest is the best puzzle game, EVER!!

[intergalacticman]

this is a nice thin one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106031
and here is one for like 20$ cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827131352
the thin one woud be a good idea for space restrictions

[intergalacticman]

oh sorry the second one is the same drive
man, thats the only one on the market i think!
no wonder its 150$ they have a monopoly over the normal sized slot loaded drives

[Ticien]

LOL same problem ive been having...i keep finding the same one

(7th guest was an awesome game)

[Ticien]

Thanks Jai, if you found 2 then youve found more than me...not much of an e-bayer and i didnt even think to look there...checking it out. I wonder if the mac drive would work...I originally got the idea from my wii and ps3. The slot loading drives just look so much cleaner and nicer..

[Daruvian]

I didn't even bother looking at the full sized drives... I just picked up a notebook one for my case... Can't do anything with it though until my new dremel gets here so I can get to work on this thing... But the one I got, I got from newegg for about $50...

[Ticien]

Do the thin ones work as well? The Plextor one seemed nice (well for 150 it better), but I havent heard many things about the slim drives, and what I have heard has been things like "cheap" "breaks a lot" "flimsy" and such. Does anyone have experience with them and could give a good synapsis?

[intergalacticman]

well obviously they are more flimsy and weak due to their size
and it would be necessary to make a custom mount since it is made for laptops

[Ticien]

Right, I am going to end up making a custom mount anyway due to the orientation I have planned for it. A notebook drive might work...I wil have to review my plans but if i can use it it should save me some money. Thanks all for your input, think I got this one now :)

[Daruvian]

Any time.... And just an update, Ticien... I have had no problems with mine sitting vertically...

[Ticien]

good deal, I will definitely go through with my plan then, but like it says in my "ideas" post, its on hold now until the summer.

[Daruvian]

Yea... Mine's currently on hold thanks to the United States Postal Service being nice and slow... My LCD screen supposedly shipped on the 8th of March... Still haven't seen it...

[Ticien]

Gotta love snail mail...Move date was pushed up from June to 2 weeks from now, so I might get started on this earlier than I had hoped