# IT info - USB caddy for DVD drive?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-info-usb-caddy-for-dvd-drive/568650>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 23, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-info-usb-caddy-for-dvd-drive/568650 "2011-01-23T13:11:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-info-usb-caddy-for-dvd-drive/568650/1 "2011-01-23T13:11:42Z")

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I have an DVD writer in an old desktop machine (which is now obsolete).

Anyone know if you can mount DVD drives in an external USB caddy to I can use it with our laptops?

The drive is a “lite-on sohw-1693s” which is a standard 5.25 bay drive.

I’ve tried a search but mostly get caddy’s for HDDs - if anyone can point me in right direction I’d appreciate it. 🙂

I’m in the UK but US sites are fine too (to give me an idea of what I’m after!)

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**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-info-usb-caddy-for-dvd-drive/568650/2 "2011-01-23T18:22:23Z")

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I think you have a terminology problem. caddies are for removable drives. Enclosures for external drives. I have an enclosure with a DVD drive in it I use for installing software on my netbook.

[http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=%2040000092&IsNodeId=1&Description=enclosure%205.25&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20](http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=%2040000092&IsNodeId=1&Description=enclosure%205.25&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20)

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-info-usb-caddy-for-dvd-drive/568650/3 "2011-01-23T19:08:22Z")

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A bit of investigation suggests that your Lite-On drive has an older-style, IDE interface. That means that SATA enclosures like [this one](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817366023&cm_re=enclosure_5.25-_-17-366-023-_-Product) aren’t going to be any good to you. Make sure that the enclosure you get lists its internal interface as IDE, like [this one](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817186103&cm_re=enclosure_5.25-_-17-186-103-_-Product) or [this one](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817366013&cm_re=enclosure_5.25-_-17-366-013-_-Product).

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-info-usb-caddy-for-dvd-drive/568650/4 "2011-01-23T19:44:27Z")

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Make sure you get one with a power supply. The USB port may not supply enough power to operate the drive.