Introduction:

What the...

   The BT-200 had come to my attention some time ago but I had not tracked down a sample for review as over-seas manufacturers are so hard to make contact with. Not surprisingly, our friends at Directron picked up the product within weeks of its release and kindly provided me a sample. I would have to say this is one of the longest-overdue but well worth the wait products. The performance is superior and the realistic usability rating is off the charts. Let's take a look at what Bytecc has brought to market to make our lives just a little easier.

    Our very own box of gold. Ok, maybe not quite - but damn near. The front of the box provides a quick run-down that the device is a USB 2.0 to IDE adapter that will adapt 5.25", 3.5" and 2.5" hard drives AND CD/DVD/RW devices - that's right, equal opportunities here. The back lists off the standard marketing statements such as the "approximate transfer rate" being 480MBps. This is sadly not nearly the case, which I will demonstrate later, but the unit is USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatible and complies with ATA/ATAPI-66 Specifications V1.0. It supports Mac OS 9.2 up as well as Windows 95, 98SE, 2000, ME, and of course XP.

    Expect a driverless installation on everything except for Windows 95 through 98SE. In the box you find the BT-200 itself shown in the left side of the box in the middle picture along with the external independent power supply. The BT-200 has a ~30 inch lead which I feel is acceptable especially when considering how common front mounted USB breakouts are. If you require a longer run - it is easy enough to pick up a USB 2.0 extension cable.

The power supply is rated at two amps - and is provided power via a standard three pin power supply cord. The power supply portion of the power system is three feet in length and the included standard power cord is approximately four feet in length. Fortunately since the unit uses a standard power cord a longer one is very easy to obtain for those who require one.

In addition a 3.25" mini-cd is included which contains a poorly translated users manual, Mac drivers, and various Windows 9x drivers. Personally I would scrap the instructions on a 9x install and play it by ear. Lucky I was spared this experience as the unit plugs-and-plays flawlessly in XP.