ASUS Announces ZenDrive V1M, a New External DVD Burner

MadMummy76 said:
That is why unverifiable claims such as this are always suspect.
When writable CD-s came out they said they'd last a hundred years.
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I had a bunch where the film stuff would start to peel off. Granted at the time I was a broke college kid and buying whatever the cheapest I could buy. But yeah, I bet if I went and dug into my stash maybe 1 in 5 would still be readable today, some 15-2.0 years later.

I haven’t burned a DVD in a decade or more, and even those last few were OS upgrades or recovery discs.

The idea of an M-disc is great, if you can trust it. Some cheap, long term frozen storage.
 
LeRoy_Blanchard said:
Guys, the real reason it's a new thing is because the discs last for 1000 years. Duh.
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More like at most 10-20 if you are lucky before they start delaminating.
Brian_B said:
It isn’t for speed, it’s so you don’t have to use an adapter. Or two, since some externals have dual USB for power
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Fair enough. Maybe my experience is atypical, but I still have more USB A ports on my computers than I do USB C ports.

My newest build is in my Corsair 1000D case. The front panel has two USB-C ports, and four USB-A ports.

PXL_20220208_205608576.jpg

The I/O panel on the motherboard has 10 USB-A ports and only two USB-C ports.

1644354284700.png

My stepsons desktop does not have any USB-C ports on the front panel, but it does have a single USB-C port on the I/O panel if I recall.

Similarly my better half's desktop I built her does not ahve any front panel USB-C ports, but does have a single one on the back.

My secondary desktop/test bench does not have any USB-C ports, but it is usung older x79 hardware, so that shouldn't be a surprise.

Of the five laptops in the house (two are mine, yet another is my work laptop, one is my better half's and one is my visitng mother-in-law's, only one, by work laptop has a USB-C port, and it is used for the dock.

Heck, very few of the devices I own have a USB-C connector. The only time I ever use USB-C at all is when I charge my Pixel phone. Otherwise I pretty much never see a USB-C cable.

I guess, based on my experience, I didn't realize we had reached the point of USB-C ubiquity.

Don't get me wrong. I like USB-C. I mean, they made a total mess of the naming convention for the new post USB 3.0 standards that I am permenantly confused on the topic, but the physical form factor is just so much more convenient than USB-A and I wish they had just designed the form factor to be reversible like USB-C from the get-go in the 90's rather than making us suffer through this Quantum Mechanics joke for decades:

1644354903500.png

I just didn't realize we were at the state were not having a USB-A port was a problem for people.

Except for a Macbook, I don't think I've ever seen a computer without a USB-A port.

And even then, this is an easily solvable problem. Just buy a bunch of USB-B to USB-C cables in bulk. Monoprice usually has USB cables for less than $2 a pop.

1644355113100.png

It's funny. My Sound Blaster X3 I use as a secondary DAC just for games actually has a USB-C port on the back, but the cable that came with it in the box is a USB-C to USB-A cable :p
 
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It amazes me how many things go over people's head. lol

The point of USB-C is ONE cable for BOTH power AND data. Using an "adapter for USB-C" will still mean most devices will need to plug up TWO cables one for data and one for power.

It has nothing to do with a lack of USB-A ports.
 
Yep my slim usb dvd drive takes 2 usb A (and if you lose THAT dongle, el hose), and my fat full size external takes usb A and power brick. One cable would be nice, but not like I am running out to buy one.

Also.. laptops. Most recent laptops I have seen and used maybe only have 1 usb A port but multiple usb C. I mean if anyone would ever need to access a disc on the go anyway.

It's a niche product for sure at this point, only reason we are talking about it is bc Asus suddenly decided to release a 2005 device in 2022 with an updated cable...
 
LeRoy_Blanchard said:
It amazes me how many things go over people's head. lol

The point of USB-C is ONE cable for BOTH power AND data. Using an "adapter for USB-C" will still mean most devices will need to plug up TWO cables one for data and one for power.

It has nothing to do with a lack of USB-A ports.
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I mean, yeah, when talking about higher-power devices.

But DVD burners... they'll run off your average USB A port.
 
LazyGamer said:
I mean, yeah, when talking about higher-power devices.

But DVD burners... they'll run off your average USB A port.
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I've got two DVD burners (external) and they both require additional power. One is a dual USB-A cable setup and the other has an AC plug for the wall. Maybe they do make them with one USB-A cable that provides enough power, but when I bought my "USB Only" drive years ago they didn't exist. They all required two USB cables for Power and Data or one USB cable w/ external AC power adapter.

edit
I went looking for my drive, but I can't find it. I wasn't able to use the dual USB one because the laptop I wanted to use it with didn't supply enough power to the USB ports for it to work. So I had to use the one with the external AC power adapter. But I wanted to see if I could connect it to my desktop. I also wanted to test just connecting the data cable to the USB-C port using an adapter and see if it'll supply enough power to work. I can't find the dang thing though.

Burticus said:
Yep my slim usb dvd drive takes 2 usb A (and if you lose THAT dongle, el hose), and my fat full size external takes usb A and power brick. One cable would be nice, but not like I am running out to buy one.

Also.. laptops. Most recent laptops I have seen and used maybe only have 1 usb A port but multiple usb C. I mean if anyone would ever need to access a disc on the go anyway.

It's a niche product for sure at this point, only reason we are talking about it is bc Asus suddenly decided to release a 2005 device in 2022 with an updated cable...
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Actually I think there are a few USB-C external burners out now. lol So I really don't know what ASUS is bringing to the table other than "it lasts for 1000 years."
 
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LeRoy_Blanchard said:
It amazes me how many things go over people's head. lol

The point of USB-C is ONE cable for BOTH power AND data. Using an "adapter for USB-C" will still mean most devices will need to plug up TWO cables one for data and one for power.

It has nothing to do with a lack of USB-A ports.
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USB-A can handle 1 amp at 5v, so that is 5w.

Optical drives really require more than that?

My DVD writer just uses a single USB-A cable. Nothing additional for power.
 
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