Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[mmoy]

External Disk

I found something new about that Ion external enclosure this
evening. I mentioned before that there is a second cable that
you can plug into a second USB port to power the ION drive.

So I don't need to carry an external power supply for the disk
drive. That's fine but the r3000z only has three USB ports
(my Dell's only have one or two ports). I like to use an external
optical mouse (usually USB with a PS/2 adapter) and an external
Keyboard (usually PS/2). So I have a Y-adapter that will do two
PS2s to one USB. But that would take 4 USB ports if I didn't have
the PS/2 adapter (and I don't for my Logitech mouse).

But that cable that allows you to power from USB #2 also has a
PS/2 port on it. In fact it has a male and a female PS/2 port on it. Experimenting told me that it was keyboard only. It didn't work with the mouse. So I can plug the keyboard into the second USB cable for the USB drive and just plug the mouse into
the third USB port. I have a feeling that you can even power
the external drive from a PS/2 port on a laptop and then
piggyback your keyboard. This external drive enclosure costs
a lot more than a CompUSA model but it certainly provides all
of the bells and whistles with it.

BTW, just finished my 2003 return. I could buy a fairly nice
car with the refund. I guess I misunderestimated the 2003
tax cut.