PowerBook Slot-Load Drive ?

[berkleeboy210]

Hi Gang,

Quick Question about my PowerBooks Slot Load Drive. - I have a DVD Camcorder that records on to the small 3 inch DVDs. If I put that DVD in my PowerBook will it read it and will it not get jammed in the drive?

Thanks.

 

[zach]

Not without a special adaptor to increase the width of the disk, which then often messes up the drive..

I've heard of some people who developed a technique to flick the disk in the slot onto the spindle, but I wouldn't recommend this... You miss, and your drive is probably toast.

Just get a cheap external drive that is tray loading.

 

[Duff-Man]

Duff-Man says....the answer is in the manual that came with the Powerbook...slot loading drives only support standard 12cm disks...smaller and irregular shaped disks are not supported and may become lodged in the drive...oh yeah!

 

[PlaceofDis]

definitely do not, it won't work, and if anything damage your drive, sorry

this is one of the weaknesses of the slot-loading drives, although there are very few of 'em

 

[cfd]

Have someone at school with a tray loading Mac copy the disc to a regular size disc for you. Putting it in a slot loading drive WILL kill it.

 

[mkrishnan]

Although it is a lil' annoying, if your DVD cam also has FW, you can always go back to that way of getting the movies over.... If you're going to use it a lot you might be able to get an external FW drive that has a tray too...annoying, but I guess like the others, I like this compromise over having a tray mechanism in my notebook. But I might feel differently if I had your cam....

 

[berkleeboy210]

Although it is a lil' annoying, if your DVD cam also has FW, you can always go back to that way of getting the movies over.... If you're going to use it a lot you might be able to get an external FW drive that has a tray too...annoying, but I guess like the others, I like this compromise over having a tray mechanism in my notebook. But I might feel differently if I had your cam....

you figure even tho its' an 800 dollar dvd cam they'd put firewire in it. nope, just usb. damn sony, they just love taking money.

 

[grapes911]

you figure even tho its' an 800 dollar dvd cam they'd put firewire in it. nope, just usb. damn sony, they just love taking money.

I'm really surprised at this. Sony was a really big supporter of 1394 with their iLink. Isn't there at least a 4-pin connection?

 

[berkleeboy210]

I'm really surprised at this. Sony was a really big supporter of 1394 with their iLink. Isn't there at least a 4-pin connection?

nope, just usb. i'm really surprised too, that even though it records to dvd, some people would still like to edit it on the comp.

 

[YS2003]

Talking about slot loading drive for PB, can anyone comment on their durability compared to the regular tray type drive? I am wondering the motor which sucks in and out the disk may worn out as you use over the course of months or years. Is it as long lasting as the regular tray?

 

[mkrishnan]

Talking about slot loading drive for PB, does anyone comment on their durability compared to the regular tray stype drive? I am wondering the motor which sucks in and out the disk may worn out as you use over the course of months or years. Is it as long lasting as the regular tray?

That's an interesting question...the automotive industry uses slot-loading CD drives though, and they / we have pretty high durability standards. And they've been used in cars for years. Also in the case of trays, I've seen that a lot of the tray mechanisms get sloppy over time, and sometimes they don't contact properly when they close, and you have to futz with them to get them to work, and even when they do, they don't align the CD inside quite as well as you'd like (it's centered, but it tends not to be flat in the plane, so that it wobbles when it spins, and the drive is noisier and slower...).