Advantage to using laptop optical in desktop?

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 11:29 am

I recently came by this, which (as far as I can tell) allows slim-style optical drives to be used in a 5.25" slot. So this begs the question, is there any advantage (for those of us looking to reduce noise and vibration) to using a laptop optical drive over a desktop optical drive? And if so, why? Is it due to better design, construction, and firmware of laptop optical drives, or simply the fact that they have lower maximum rotation speeds?

mrochester · Post by **mrochester** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 12:07 pm

They have lower maximum rotational speeds. Although it's not a noise that is made during operation, laptop optical drives don't have a motor to eject the drawer, they just pop out and you have to fully open it yourself and push it shut yourself.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 1:06 pm

Well I've done that before in a SFF. Using those things is a pain.....and not all laptop drives are silent.

It might be easier to find an older optical drive.......say 12x maximum. That will be a bunch quieter than 52X.

darthan · Post by **darthan** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 1:17 pm

There are definitely quiet optical drives available. I know Asus made some and I've definitely had a 52X cdrom that sounded like it was running not faster than most 12X drives. I have also had good experience with a 48X Sony CD-RW drive not being too loud (although not quiet either).

Software exists that slows the speed of drives to make them quieter and this might be a more practical option for you. That way, you would have a decent speed drive (and you could get a drive that best fits your needs for functionality) for when you don't care about noise and the software would make it a quiet one when you do. Maybe combine this with a not too loud drive like a Sony and you could have a flexible, functional, and quiet system.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 8:30 pm

I was actually debating between the laptop optical drive and a desktop drive controlled with software. The laptop drive does sound appealing, but they are more expensive than desktop drives. The cheapest slim DVD-RW I'm seeing on eBay are still $100+, and then add to that another $30 in accessories just to make it fit in a 5.25" bay and plug into an IDE cable.

It's hard to justify the price when you consider that a high-end 5.25" burner can be had for a little more than half that, and with software, can probably be close to or as quiet as the laptop drive.

Thanks for all the helpful replies everyone. I'm still kind of on the fence, but I'm leaning toward just getting a standard-size drive. If anybody wants to add their $0.02, though, please do.

darthan · Post by **darthan** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 8:45 pm

I should add that laptop drives are not at all quiet in my experience. They generally try to be as fast as they can be (no ever sells silence...sigh) and so grind away horribly when you use them. Software controlled desktop drives are really going to be your best bet.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 8:56 pm

In that case, I'll probably just go with a desktop drive.

While we're on the subject, are there any quiet desktop DVD-RW drives that you would recommend?