There is a range of laptop external drives available in a small & thin form factor. Interfaces include serial (v. slow), parellel (faster), USB (much quicker) & PC Card (I think it might be quicker than USB but not sure. The older PCMCIA standard is a 16 bit an ISA bus whereas the newer PC Card standard is a 32 bit PCI bus interface with resultant speed differences).
If you choose the USB interface you will be limited to a maximum of 6 Mb/sec for the transfer speed no matter how fast the drive could spin.
The devices have their own battery or external power - possibly even powered by the interface if it is the 16/32 bit PCMCIA/PC Card or the USB.
Trying to find a magazine in which I've seen the ads. If I can't you'll find the ads in any edition of 'Computer Shopper' magazine or similar.
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Found it in the Dec 2000 'Computer Shopper'
Amacom baby CD, DVD or CD-RW drives. Prices from 109 UKP inc VAT for the CD-ROM model. Powered by the the USB or PCMCIA interface (mains adapter for the CD-RW). Standard interface is PCMCIA with USB or parallel available as extras.
This from the
www.jungle.com ad.
There is also a range by Freecom Technologies with an internal battery. Price about 265 quid for the CD-RW with either USB or PCMCIA interface. This from
www.dabs.com