Sony Optiarc Combo 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM Black Slim SATA Model CRX890S-10 - OEM

Pros: A very nice, slimline SATA combo drive.

Cons: Uses a different connector standard, called "slimline SATA."

Overall Review: It took a couple hours of research to finally figure out what to do with this drive. The other posters are correct -- this does not use the standard SATA connectors you are likely familiar with. As mentioned before, the Sony/NEC site was of absolutely no assistance. However, I finally located the standards body information and determined this is a new standard called "Slimline SATA." I was forunate enough to find a seller for a proper cable on a well-known auction site for less than ten bucks. It fit perfectly. It's a shame that NewEgg doesn't carry these. In fact, it would be a great idea for a combo deal!

Pros: Works great Writes well Quiet Reads at least some badly-made disks No problem booting Windows, DR DOS, at least some Linuxes Works as an AHCI drive or as older ATA/PATA/IDE-emulated SATA As of Feb 2009, you can pick up the BYTECC 18" Sata and Slim Sata Power 7+6pin Cable, for Sata Slim OD Model SATA-XP118 - Retail ... Newegg Item #: N82E16812270183 to connect this drive to your motherboard's standard-size SATA port. This cable includes a plug to draw power off your PC power supply

Cons: No mounting screws No mounting hardware No SATA cable No documentation It's almost as though this thing is a bare OEM drive... oh wait a minute... it is! :)

Overall Review: As of Feb 2009, you can pick up the BYTECC 18" Sata and Slim Sata Power 7+6pin Cable, for Sata Slim OD Model SATA-XP118 - Retail ... Newegg Item #: N82E16812270183 to connect this drive to your motherboard's standard-size SATA port. This cable includes a plug to draw power off your PC power supply Drive works great, reads and writes fine, even handles the poorly made DVD-R's I got 5 years ago. The drive does not include any mounting screws or hardware. You may find it useful to scavenge a few pieces from an old laptop. I didn't have much trouble mounting the unit in a makeshift bay I carved into my server case, but I did re-mount it with the plastic CD-drive shell from an old Dell notebook CD module just for grins. The drive mounting holes take #1 screws, not sure what the thread count is. Screws used typically have no intrusion into the device but it looks like 1/2mm intrusion in the side screws and 1-2mm in the back screws would be ok. No top or bottom screws are needed

Pros: I have installed three different brands of slim drives. This is as solid and well made as any. It works perfectly with SATA power and data plugs. Nothing flimsy compared to other slim drives. Usual Sony quality.

Cons: None

Pros: Works well in my low power consumption Intel Atom based PC. I have this PC humming below 40 watts. Not nearly as noisy ad the older slim CD drive that it replaced.

Cons: Need the special cable... luckily Newegg now has it.

Overall Review: Newegg now has the special SATA cable that you need. I'm glad the other reviews mentioned this as it saved many any headaches if I hadn't known.

Pros: Works great. Good price.

Cons: It's not a burner.

Overall Review: Be sure to get screws and a slim SATA data/power cable if you're installing this in a desktop.

Pros: - Slim form factor - It works

Cons: - Requires a special cable (microSATA to SATA) to work in a mini-ITX or other desktop system - This special cable is not sold by newegg. I had to get off a popular auction site (for cheap!)

Overall Review: - I wish people wouldn't low-rank the product because of a minor flaw in the nomenclature used by newegg. It skews the ratings for an otherwise great drive. - I bought this drive to install Linux on a mini-ITX box that is currently acting as a firewall; Windows XP accepted the drive happily and installed (I did XP to test out the system for viability as a cheap kick-around box for my son), but Linux refused to install after booting from the drive, claiming it couldn't read the drive. I ended up having to install it with the case open using an old IDE drive. Once installed, the system sees the drive just fine. This is a Linux issue, and not a problem with the drive (Linux sucks for the most part, so these sort of shenanigans are to be expected).

Pros: Solid drive, I've burned about 10 cd's then went right on to play a few 2 hour movies in a row on my daughter's pc, drive remained cool the entire time, you can hear it on initial spinup, after that it stays quiet playing dvd's in the mini itx case I use.

Cons: not a dvd burner, but like 1000 people have stated on other products, I knew that when buying it :)

Overall Review: Use short screws if you can, longer ones(longer than 1/4") can cause drive issues.

Pros: It works the way it should.

Cons: Some longer mounting screws physically disable this drive from working. The power connector is unique and needs to be specially ordered (N82E16812270183).