Could anyone tell me how to figure out what USB version I have. Asking b/c I want to buy an external CD-RW drive which runs at optimum speed on a USB 2.0 port. But I have no idea whether I have that or just a USB 1.1. I've heard USB 1.1 is the norm, and burning would be significantly slower on it.

Or if anyone has an idea on a good external CD-RW drive that doesn't use USB and they could tell me how it works otherwise (I have no clue what SCSI means), I'd be appreciative, as well.

Uh, if you have the choice between a SCSI drive (CDROM, CDRW, toaster oven) and a USB, and you're *not* simply wanting something easy to carry around, go for the SCSI.

Yum yum! Speed!

iblis wrote:Uh, if you have the choice between a SCSI drive (CDROM, CDRW, toaster oven) and a USB, and you're *not* simply wanting something easy to carry around, go for the SCSI.

Yum yum! Speed!

Unless it's a 4x4x16 SCSI 2 drive like mine. then you should go with the USB. Also, keep in mind that good SCSI controllers cost more than the drive you'll plug into it.

The Liberal Vampyre wrote:Could anyone tell me how to figure out what USB version I have. Asking b/c I want to buy an external CD-RW drive which runs at optimum speed on a USB 2.0 port. But I have no idea whether I have that or just a USB 1.1. I've heard USB 1.1 is the norm, and burning would be significantly slower on it.

Or if anyone has an idea on a good external CD-RW drive that doesn't use USB and they could tell me how it works otherwise (I have no clue what SCSI means), I'd be appreciative, as well.

unless your PC was made/built in the last year, odds are it's USB 1.1

It was made in December, so that's why I don't know. It's new enough to be 2.0 but I have heard there's still a good chance it's 1.1.

ill assume your using windows.

right click "my computer" and select properties. go to the "hardware" tab and then click the "device manager" button. click the little box beside "universal serial bus controllers" so it expands. you should be able to tell if its 1.1 or 2.0 from there.

i bought my computer in september and its using 2.0 so i think you should be pretty safe. but check first.

right click "my computer" and select properties. go to the "hardware" tab and then click the "device manager" button. click the little box beside "universal serial bus controllers" so it expands. you should be able to tell if its 1.1 or 2.0 from there.

i bought my computer in september and its using 2.0 so i think you should be pretty safe. but check first.

That's actually the first thing I did, but I couldn't find anything that told me whether it was 1.1 or 2.0; which is why I figured there was some other way to do it. :-/

It just says "Intel(R) 82801CA/CAM USB Univ. Host Controller -2482" (and the other one is 2484). I looked at the properties, too, and couldn't figure anything out. I'm not sure if the "I/O Range" or "IRQ" would give a hint, either.

The Liberal Vampyre wrote:

right click "my computer" and select properties. go to the "hardware" tab and then click the "device manager" button. click the little box beside "universal serial bus controllers" so it expands. you should be able to tell if its 1.1 or 2.0 from there.

i bought my computer in september and its using 2.0 so i think you should be pretty safe. but check first.

That's actually the first thing I did, but I couldn't find anything that told me whether it was 1.1 or 2.0; which is why I figured there was some other way to do it. :-/

It just says "Intel(R) 82801CA/CAM USB Univ. Host Controller -2482" (and the other one is 2484). I looked at the properties, too, and couldn't figure anything out. I'm not sure if the "I/O Range" or "IRQ" would give a hint, either.

no it wont. you can always call your computers support number and ask them.

the Intel(R) 82801CA/CAM is a USB 1 controller.

If the drive

•must be external
•needs to be faster than 4X burn
•needs to be somewhat reasonably priced

you should consider FireWire.

The controllers are cheap, it's fast, and the drives cost about what external USB drives do. Reliability seems to be better than SCSI.