Anyone knows of a 4-pin firewire cable that lets this little beauty

not use its DC adaptor?  I have an S, so basically there is no DC out like most of the TR series has..  bummer :?
So anyone knows of an alternative cable that is self-powered either thru USB to 4-pin firewire?

Unfortunately there is no way to run power through the 4-pin and you will have no luck trying to figure out any other way. Sorry dude…. DC-in should have been implemented on most Sony notebooks and maybe the sales of that and other Sony similar drives could have been dramatic….
I like the drive though…it is quite a beauty….

[quote author=“VAIOfreak”]Unfortunately there is no way to run power through the 4-pin and you will have no luck trying to figure out any other way. Sorry dude…. DC-in should have been implemented on most Sony notebooks and maybe the sales of that and other Sony similar drives could have been dramatic….
I like the drive though…it is quite a beauty….

VAIOfreak - DC-out, you mean.  I think Sony doesn’t bother to implement DC-out anymore because their entire line of notebooks (with the exception of the U and X in Japan) is now 2-spindle, and the main use of DC-out was for adding optical drives to single spindle notebooks (like the C1 and 505).  On one hand it really sucks since now you cant connect the ddrw and vaio hd without an ac adapter.  On the other hand, im kind of glad to see it go since it was just another one of those Sony proprietary plugs that would only see two product cycles.

Archival - The most likely scenario would be to cut the custom firewire+dc connector on the notebook end and splice it into two plugs, a firewire and usb plug (for the dc).  Lets see why Sony didn’t do this.  The DC-in of the drive is ~8 watts at 10 volts (from the manual ).  P = I * V so at 10V, current is 800 mA.  Put an in-line voltage step-up (from usb’s 5V to the drive’s 10V) and you’re looking at 1600 mA on the usb side.  Computer equipment doesn’t act as an ideal energy dissipator (like a heating coil) so say its more like 1000 mA.  Thats still twice the official power limit for a usb device (500 mA).

Your best bet would probably be ordering a dvd-rw internal drive from DAPC and replacing your internal dvd-rom drive, im guessing.

Thanks VaioFreak..  But hopefully something might come up.. Not highly though.. 

[quote author=“jashsu”]

VAIOfreak - DC-out, you mean.  I think Sony doesn’t bother to implement DC-out anymore because their entire line of notebooks (with the exception of the U and X in Japan) is now 2-spindle, and the main use of DC-out was for adding optical drives to single spindle notebooks (like the C1 and 505).  On one hand it really sucks since now you cant connect the ddrw and vaio hd without an ac adapter.  On the other hand, im kind of glad to see it go since it was just another one of those Sony proprietary plugs that would only see two product cycles.

Archival - The most likely scenario would be to cut the custom firewire+dc connector on the notebook end and splice it into two plugs, a firewire and usb plug (for the dc).  Lets see why Sony didn’t do this.  The DC-in of the drive is ~8 watts at 10 volts (from the manual ).  P = I * V so at 10V, current is 800 mA.  Put an in-line voltage step-up (from usb’s 5V to the drive’s 10V) and you’re looking at 1600 mA on the usb side.  Computer equipment doesn’t act as an ideal energy dissipator (like a heating coil) so say its more like 1000 mA.  Thats still twice the official power limit for a usb device (500 mA).

Your best bet would probably be ordering a dvd-rw internal drive from DAPC and replacing your internal dvd-rom drive, im guessing.

‘

Yeah.. so it will still not work if I splice it huh?.. and what is DAPC? is it a company?  sorry I left my thinking hat somewhere..

Jashsu: thanks for clearing it up, I was not thinking when I typed DC-in…and yes I agree with you on the point why Sony did not implement it on all notebooks but the smaller ones. But still it would not hurt if they did….in case the built-in dies…
Archival: DAPC is Sony’s Part Center where you can order parts for your notebook or any other Sony products.

Sorry for not clarifying.  As VAIOfreak pointed out, DAPC is Sony’s Parts Center.   You can probably get a replacement internal drive for your S from DAPC to add dvd-writing capability, since the custom S270 configuration tool lets you choose a dvd+-rw.

It definitely wouldn’t hurt, and I would have liked to see it in there so the hdd wouldn’t need AC power.  I guess it was part cost-cutting part space-saving.  It’s just like Sony to introduce a standard and then abandon it a year later.

Ok thanks for the input Jashsu & VaioFreak..

Wow…very nice unit…and very affordable too. I never heard of that company before, but they have some nice products.

It looks sturdy though…

i think either they may do OEM design for Targus

http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=PADVW010U

and if someone knows that they dont be nice.  very similiar products with the same design for the power side of things

[quote author=“jseah88”]i think either they may do OEM design for Targus

http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=PADVW010U

and if someone knows that they dont be nice.  very similiar products with the same design for the power side of things

Looks alright.. NO DC adaptor.. . I’m stuck with this :evil: Sony Slim DVD Burner..  anyway it’s ok as I don’t bring it with me, it always stays at home..  I hope there will be a cable like that from Targus, where the other end of the USB cable is Sony firewire 4 pin, and other branch is the USB connector for power..  :?: :?: