Latest from ALDI

[ianmacmillan]

On sale 8th Jan.

DVD burner. £79.99
Records DVD+ and DVD- at x4 . Also CDs

External Hard Drive. 119.99
160Gb 7200rpm. USB2 and Firewire connections.

Both ideal for backing up MSTS.

http://www.aldi-stores.co.uk/

[Chris23]

My computer only has USB1. Is a USB 2 drive backward compatible to let it work with a USB1 computer?

[class40]

My computer only has USB1. Is a USB 2 drive backward compatible to let it work with a USB1 computer?

I don`t think so - USB 2 devices will work with a USB 1 connection - but as far as I know, not the other way round.

Tony.

[class40]

On sale 8th Jan.

DVD burner. £79.99
Records DVD+ and DVD- at x4 . Also CDs

External Hard Drive. 119.99
160Gb 7200rpm. USB2 and Firewire connections.

Both ideal for backing up MSTS.

http://www.aldi-stores.co.uk/

I know - I am trying to think of an excuse for my wife as to why I NEED get the External Drive

Very good deals though.

Tony.

[nwallace]

I don`t think so - USB 2 devices will work with a USB 1 connection - but as far as I know, not the other way round.

Nah i think thats wrong.

Surely if anything wasn't going to work it would be USB2 on USB1

USB 1 devices will work on USB 2 connection.

If you plug a USB 2 device into a USB 1 connection the usb 2 device may run at USB 1 speeds.

A USB 2 PCI card shouldnt' be too big a financial drain to stop you from buying the USB 2 device to go with it though.

[class40]

I don`t think so - USB 2 devices will work with a USB 1 connection - but as far as I know, not the other way round.

Nah i think thats wrong.

Surely if anything wasn't going to work it would be USB2 on USB1

USB 1 devices will work on USB 2 connection.

If you plug a USB 2 device into a USB 1 connection the usb 2 device may run at USB 1 speeds.

A USB 2 PCI card shouldnt' be too big a financial drain to stop you from buying the USB 2 device to go with it though.

As I said Neil, I am not sure about the facts

I have a USB 2 m/b and I can connect USB 1 devices okay, but I have no way of knowing if the reverse is true.

A USB 2 card is a worthy upgrade - I had on in my old machine and it worked fine, not sure of the price now - but I think I paid about £25.00 for it.

Scan have a selection of cards at http://www.scan.co.uk/products/Products ... Fwire%2FIO

Tony.

[chriscooper]

It would still be worth getting a USB 2 card though as they arn't that expensive and the speed improvement over USB 1 is very good. Knowing the computer industry its probably down to the cheapness of upgrading that USB 2 devices were made compatable with USB 1 connectors anyway .

[ianmacmillan]

The hard drive will work with USB 1 but only slowly.

It would still be faster for backing up than a CD but you could not run programs like MSTS from it without serious stutters.

Also consider a firewire card.


See you in the queue on thursday.

[Chris23]

I realise that I could buy a USB2 card but there is some logic to my stupidity!

I have an old Athlon 650 with original GeForce card that has served me for four years but is due to be replaced very soon & I don't want to spend any money on it. Unfortunately it does not have a CD writer, network card, or any other means of easily transferring large files from my old machine to the new one when I get it. As I would find the external drive useful it seemed like an answer.

There may be a better - and hopefully cheap - one that doesn't involve opening the case on the new machine!

[nwallace]

Depends what you are able to do.

You can set up a USB Network with a USA A to USB A cable that would allow you to do the transfer.

Widnows is pretty good at setting that up automatically.

Note: Couldn't get a mates laptop to connect to my home network easily but it has a firewire port on it, and i have Firewire for DV capture, plug in and it worked fine. same shoudl go fo USB.

Backwards compatibility of things with the same names is pretty standard in PC Hardware.

There are 3 or 4 different types of "Parallel" port, Unidirectional, Bidirectional, ECP and EPP (IEEE1284 or something like that - Centronics i think)

At least 2 different types of "Serial" Port (RS232)

AGP is on Version 3 or 4

The USB 2 spec is an upgrade of the USB 1 spec, the only incompatibilities you are likely to find in USB ports is Voltage.

The USB standard is 5V though 12V and 24V usb ports can be found. this seems to be something that only really exists in industrial computers. Nothing to worry about for home devices.

[ianmacmillan]

Anyone got the USB hard disk?

I can't get it to work.

[terrycunliffe]

Anyone got the USB hard disk?

I can't get it to work.

Sorry to hear that Ian, However, can't say I'm not surprised... What else can you expect from a company who's carrier bags are more expensive than their cans of beans!
Regards,
Terry

[ianmacmillan]

I know what is wrong with it.

The disk is not formatted and windows can't recognise it as a disk or a usb device.

Cant get thru to the helpline so it's going back.

I have a Medion PC, 2 keyboards, surround sound system, and Graphics tablet all from Aldi.
They are all good quality and have caused no problems.

[ianmacmillan]

I finally go thru to the helpline and got it sorted out.

Thet have sent me an email with instructions.
If you want me to forward these to you send me an email.
The helplines are overloaded just now.

email is ian(at)BCLR.co.uk

use the @ instead of (at)

[saddletank]

On sale 8th Jan.

External Hard Drive. 119.99
160Gb 7200rpm. USB2 and Firewire connections.

http://www.aldi-stores.co.uk/

Sounds good. I must investigate.