DVD-RAM transferral speeds USB 1 & 2

[Karl Engel]

I just compared speeds of transferring a 25MB file to my new external
DVD-RAM drive via USB 2 (from laptop PCMCIA USB 2 card) and USB 1
(from my older desktop computer using the same cable), and they're
exactly the same. Would this simply be due to the speed at which the
drive can write (3x) or does this indicate that my USB 2 card isn't
working at full speed?

 

[CS]

I just compared speeds of transferring a 25MB file to my new external
DVD-RAM drive via USB 2 (from laptop PCMCIA USB 2 card) and USB 1
(from my older desktop computer using the same cable), and they're
exactly the same. Would this simply be due to the speed at which the
drive can write (3x) or does this indicate that my USB 2 card isn't
working at full speed?

USB 2.0 speeds don't mean much when you're trying to write to an
external DVD or CD writer. The device can only write at the speed it
was designed for. Certainly the transfer speed will be much better
for USB 2.0 than USB 1.1 but the effect won't be noticed very much for
writers. A good test of speed would be to compare an external hard
drive running at USB 2.0 and USB 1.1. Your USB 2.0 card is probably
OK.