Review on PHILIPS PCRW464K: High-Speed External USB 2.0 CD-RW Drive - 4x4x6 Performance by Trey Harvey

I had a previous version of this device with quite useful Windows burning software. I don't use it that much anymore because I have a built in burner in my car now. There are several undocumented uses for this disk. Freecom, the Dutch company that makes the USB cable for this drive, has also released drivers for Mac OS 8.6-9.x, but for the magneto-optical drive. However, it still works, but unfortunately not on OS X. The drive itself is actually a Philips PCA460RW internal IDE drive in a special case and an IDE-to-15-pin converter card. If you later decide to improve performance (quad write never worked properly on USB 1.0), you can try removing the drive and installing it in your computer case or other enclosure. (It actually works on OS X, although Adaptec Toast 4 doesn't.) An annoyance: After a while, the fan on the back of the IDE drive (or rather, its bearings) will dry out and cause a rather annoying hum. . The only remedy here is to replace the fan. (Not difficult with electronics experience, but not trivial either. In general, if you get stuck on USB 1.0, it's fine.