OT: dvd playback on usb 1.1 drive?

nolonemo wrote on 10/7/2004, 9:26 AM

Hi gang,

Pardon the OT, but I'm thinking of getting a usb dvd drive for my laptop so (duh) I can play (commercial pressed) DVDs on it. But the laptop's usb interface is the old 1.1 (?) standard, and I wonder if the data throughput is high enough to handle DVD playback?

Thanks for your expertise.

Nolo

Comments

John_Cline wrote on 10/7/2004, 9:45 AM

Just barely. DVD's can run around 9,800 kbits/second and USB 1.1 maxes out at about 12,500 kbits/sec. Factor in some data transfer overhead and you're banging the limit. You may be better off getting a combo Firewire/USB 2.0 PC-Card for the laptop and using that. Both Firewire and USB 2.0 are way more than fast enough to handle DVD playback. I've seen them for around $50-$60. Plus, with the Firewire interface, you could edit video on your laptop in case that need arises.

John

nolonemo wrote on 10/7/2004, 11:16 AM

Good idea, John. Thanks.