X61, alternative to dock?

I'm about 90% sold on ordering one of these. One last thing that concerns me is if there is a cheaper alternative to obtain cd rom capabilities? I'm totally cool with not having it while i'm on the go, but i'd like to initally load all my junk (especially my own OS!).

I can imagine it being a total pain to put my programs in a computer, rip them to an image file, transfer over to the notebook and extract the image contents in order to install a single thing.
The dock that will help me get around this is over $200 USD which is madly out of my price range.

Any solutions?

Thanks,

Christian.

 

Wondering the same thing.

 

The cheapest solution would be a IDE to USB converter but that isn't practical if you use the optical drive a lot. You can find them for about $10 on Ebay.

Another way would be to just get a USB drive. I just bought an external DVD Writer for my X61s.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-Comstar...ryZ44955QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

That was my first search, an external... however aren't drivers required for the USB external cd/dvd units? What occurs in the case of a reformat and reinstall of an OS?

If that will work out, for 20 bucks on ebay... i'll order it right now.

 

Nope, most drivers should be included into Windows. It's like installing an IDE (internal) optical drive except with a different interface.

You can USB boot the drive if you ever have to reformat the OS.

 

You respond to quick for it to be healthy... hah
Thanks for the answers. Boot to usb... why didn't I think of that. That just about does it. Actually, your mention of a USB-IDE cable sounds perfect. I have enough drives lying around my house, and I'd only need the CD usage once in a blue moon after setup.
Sweet i'm placing an order for my X61.