To JDaMan: On Newegg.com, one of the Bytecc enclosures showed a covering which went over the case.
To beach-hobo: thx for your insights

Would it be best to use the Plumax Case w/Prolific ChipSet or the Bytecc case. I'm still gathering as much info as I can before making both (NEC DVD-RW drive + enclosure) decisions.
I'm currently using the Firewire port for an external HD but I can move that over to the USB2 port. Seems like the FW port with the DVD-RW drive is the way to go considering the xfer rates. To get things clear: beach-hobo, FW = 23mb/s & USB2 = 19mb/s??