Slim vs full sized drives

[Gords]

My new pc has no optical bays which was ok right up until i realised i missed having a burner handy. I could easily fit a slim laptop style drive inside with no problem but its highly unlikely i could squeeze a full size in and wanted to avoid going external if at all possible. I wanted to request a little help in making up my mind as to if a slim will suit my needs.

Are there any performance, quality or durability issues with slim drives when compared to full size? Initially i just want to back up a lot of photos to bd-r but based on past use it may get used a moderate amount.

My unfounded thoughts have always been that slims make terrible burns which rarely work, used to be the case when backing up my xbox games in the past for example.

Any thoughts would be gratefully accepted as im driving my self mad being unable to commit to a format.

Thanks for looking.

[DB83]

If the PC has no optical bays then you can hardly even fit a slim drive inside.

a. It requires screw fittings
b. It requires outside access

What sort of PC do you have that has no external access drive bays ?

Photo ?

[newpball]

Get a $30 case and move everything over.

[Gords]

Plenty of room for a slim after moving those dongles, can also maybe just about fit a 165mm lg full size in there with some dremeling but its going to be sooooooooo tight and thats if im lucky. Fittings can be created easily enough for either drive. Would rather not change case, its something ive been mulling over for weeks now and thats the decision for various reasons.

Please excuse my lack of foresight.

[redwudz]

Those slim drives are basically what's in a laptop. Just a different mount and likely power connector. They don't seem to last as long as a full size internal burner, but if they are cheap enough, go for it. But make sure your case has the correct mounts and cables for them.

Unless you really need laptop-like portability, I would also suggest a full size powered external drive. There are also some USB powered slim external burners,
but I 've only used them for reads, not burning. But a slim drive should give you a decent burn, just a bit shorter lifespan.

And welcome to our forums. )

[budwzr]

The Samsung T1 is very fast if you have USB3.

[lingyi]

Recommend against putting a slim drive or anything else that's not intended into the case. Cases, especially mini cases like yours are optimized for airflow in a certain way. Anywhere you place the drive will imepde airflow from the fan and add additional heat from the drive.

There's also the issue of power. There may not be enough power for an additional device. Bottom line is, if an additional drive could have been included, there would be an empty space for it.

As suggested above get a full size drive with a good included or aftermarket case and run an external fan across it while in use. The primary reasons for failure of external drives (burners or hard drives) are heat or a poor power supply.

[lingyi]

Did a quick search and it seems this a Corsair 380t. Is this correct? If so, it's a lot bigger than it appears in your pics and you could probably mod the rear 3.5" drive bays rather than the front.

[Gords]

Yup thats the case, it has no rear bays tho. I think im definitely going to go with a full size drive and just run it via esata.

Thanks for the help.