[Thinkpad] multimedia-device and external dvd on TP 770

[Victoria Lamburn]

I think the problem here is that if your drive is connected by PCMCIA, would
I be right in saying it cannot do DMA transfers, but on PIO based transfers
(i.e.: polled).  If the PCMCIA interface the freecom drive uses cardbus, it
would do 32bit transfers but I am not sure whether cardbus permits DMA
transfers either.  I know the external 16bit PCMCIA hard disk interface I
have is PIO ionly, regardless of the drive's DMA capabilities.

I'm not sure how hardware MPEG decoding works in the TP 770, and whether it
is inexplicably linked to the IDE interface actually in the Thinkpad.

Have you tried the Margi DVD to Go card?

Short of that, maybe think about an upgrade?  I know it's a cop out thing
and easy to say.

But even in the UK there is a Thinkpad 570E PIII-500 for 150 pounds still
ending on ebay.co.uk and I managed to obtain (started a little business
selling laptops to students as a side line) a Thinkpad T21 - PIII 800MHz,
14.1" TFT, 256MB, 12gb hard disk, Modem/Ethernet, SVHS out and all the rest
for $430.00 the other day, which works out at £230 in UKP!!!

Hunt around, might be better saving for some like the T2x series which has
the same screen sizes as a 770 and will serve you much better for these days
rather than throwing money at an older machine.

If you really cannot afford a newer Thinkpad - or are too attached to the
770, try the Margi DVD to Go.  Mind you after using something like a 570E or
T2x or whatever, you'll be quite attached to them! :-)

Hope this helps,
Vicky

----- Original Message -----
From: <carstensenyann at compuserve.de>
To: <thinkpad at stderr.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 9:53 AM
Subject: [Thinkpad] multimedia-device and external dvd on TP 770


> Hello,
>
> Can an external DVD use the hardware-MPEG-decoder-card on the Thinkpad
> 770?
> I got a Freecom-PCMCIA-Combo-drive. At the moment the movies doesn't
> play smooth on the TP.
> System TP770 with Win2K, Combo-Drive in PIO-Mode external (DMA not
> marked).
>
> Thanks for help, Yann
>
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