Project Overview:
(ok - so I cheat and talk about CD/DVD/RW performance here)

        We are going to see how well this unit performs. I'm going to present a variety of benchmarks utilizing a 2.5" and 3.5" hard drive to give you some idea of the throughput of the unit as well as examine the CD-RW functionality. For the tests I'll be using a Hitachi Travelstar 80GB 5400RPM 2.5" drive (left), a IBM Deskstar 60GB 7200RPM 3.5" drive (right), and a Plextor PX-W4824TA CD-RW unit (middle).

   The CD-RW was not benchmarked although it was tested for functionality. I plugged in the external power supply, hooked up the 40pin IDE adapter to the unit and it installed in Windows XP without complaint. I did this after completing 32 benchmarks on the hard-drives - and testing connecting two hard drives to the BT-200 at the same time.

   Windows installed the CD-RW at this point and asked me to reboot and I am not sure if this is standard practice or I had just confused the bus controller enough. Upon reboot the drive was recognized perfectly and I burned a 200mb AVI to a blank CD-R in one minute and forty-five seconds via Windows "CD Writing Wizard". Absolutely stellar performance.

3.5" (desktop) Hard Drive Benchmarking:

    The business end of the external power supply is shown left - it is a molded version of a standard Molex plug. My single complaint about this product is the Molex plug - it is rubberized and requires significant force to insert and remove from devices. When plugging and un-plugging the 3.5" hard drive I was waiting for the controller board to snap in half from the force required. This is more of an annoyance than a serious flaw as it functions perfectly. Personally I will soon hack off the molded end, voltmeter out the wires to verify the voltages, and add a standard Molex plug.

    The attention to detail for the BT-200 is really incredible. The 3.5" 40-pin IDE adapter is keyed to assure that you don't get it installed backwards, and Pin 1 marked with an arrow. The IDE adapter slides right on without any problem - and the body of the USB cable is very well constructed. I put it through considerable torque through many uses with zero degradation or any feeling of cheap plastic.