Asus put Cushions on the back of the panel. Just a gimmick?

[Harrier]

Or does it really helps?
You know.. Quality wise.

P.S. I'll bring some photos once i find them.

[Action Jackson]

I'm not sure what you're asking.

There are things out there that sound like they make sense.

Like Plextor having a Black Tray to reduce the errors in recording [I think?].

Or when Pioneer and several speaker companies adapted pointed rubber feet to minimize the vibrations coming back to the electronic unit.

[jase]

I know what Harrier's talking about.

There is a thin layer of sponge-like material lining the back of the tray-end (the part that comes into contact with the front bezel when the tray closes.

I believe it is simply there to dampen the "clunk" you inevitably get when these two hit each other.

Afreey CDROMs and the new Artec 52x writer also have this "feature". I personally think it's a cheap way of enabling the factories to produce a tray mechanism that doesn't need to be so accurate when closing and getting the two surfaces to the correct placing. Wouldn't worry about it either way -- no harm in it being there.

[Harrier]

Intersting insight.
Thanks.

[cfitz]

Might it also be to help keep dust out?

cfitz

[Action Jackson]

Oh that,

Yeah I always thought that was called the dust seal too.

[Demogorgo]

I think it might be about sound damping. The space between the drive and the drive bay in the front lets out sound from inside the machine, and it makes a difference if you seal it up.

[jase]

Might it also be to help keep dust out?

cfitz

If it is then it doesn't work, I've found that the material actually attracts dust due to the static electricity (I guess) it holds....

[Action Jackson]

Just run your finger along it to wipe up the dust.

[mrk1283]

It's just a dampener for the collision when the tray closes and helps keep resonation down. My cyberdrive dvd rom had it but due to the build of my lg cdrw drive it has none.