Using An External Cd/Dvd Reader/Writer & Building A Desktop

[cheshiremusicman]

Hello everybody,

I'm at present still using my VERY old IBM R40 laptop - yes I know it's only got 40Gb of hard disk - don't all laugh at once!. I bought this unit in the UK as a refurbished laptop prior to leaving the UK some four and a half years ago, to use as an interim whilst my desktop was shipped along with all my other goods. My desktop arrived but unfortunately seemed to have suffered in transit and I've never got it working again so have used the R40 continuously since arriving and it has never put a foot wrong in all that time - which must say something for the build quality. About two months ago the CD reader/writer gave up the ghost and jammed with a Cd in it whilst I was trying to make a copy for a friend. I removed the unit but could not manage to extract the CD. I bought a Buffalo usb bus powered external unit (DVSM-PN58U2VB) to tide me over whilst I build a new desktop, but I cannot get the R40 to recognise this unit - it still 'sees' the old original unit and I wonder if anybody can help me to find a way to sort this out.

I did get the laptop to play a Cd from the external unit, but it will not read/burn to the unit, any ideas please?

Whilst I'm here asking for advice maybe someone will be kind enough to give me some advice as to building a new desktop unit. I do not play games, but would like a unit that can handle video & photo editing at a good speed, so presumably I will need a fairly competent Graphics card to achieve decent processing speeds. Would I be correct in going for a i5 or i7 cpu and what motherboard would you suggest. Ideally I want a motherboard with a 'firewire' connection or alternatively I suppose that I can incorporate a separate 'firewire card'.There are so many motherboards out there that I am at a loss as to which to choose - also the same with the case's but might as well buy a good unit whilst I'm at it, I've still got the MESH desktop but don't know if I could use this case and power supply with with new motherboards. Also any recommends as to who to get to build the thing for me would be appreciated, I live in Hua-Hin area. I'm looking to spend a max of about £400 for a rig that has two 1TB hardrives

and a good CD/DVD reader writer. I've got a Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 920 monitor that I use for serious photo work but I suppose that there are screens out there that can match this quality nowadays when calibrated - any suggestions again - preferably non (or low) reflective screens.

[Supernova]

About two months ago the CD reader/writer gave up the ghost and jammed with a Cd in it whilst I was trying to make a copy for a friend. I removed the unit but could not manage to extract the CD.

Manually eject CD-ROM Drawer

Rescue a Disc From Your CD Drive With a Paperclip

I do not play games, but would like a unit that can handle video & photo editing at a good speed, so presumably I will need a fairly competent Graphics card to achieve decent processing speeds. Would I be correct in going for a i5 or i7 cpu and what motherboard would you suggest.

Have a look a this thread.