Hi John. I'll have to look closely at it again, but I dont believe it has RCA outs. Digital and, I believe, an IDE. I think it is an NEC unit though. It's not a top loader but does have provision for external supply. By the way, this is NOT a regular external CD drive. We actually had a couple of those, Sonys units. They were USB only units with wall warts as supplies. I think we got them to add to old computers that didnt have CD drives (only Floppy). This was a while back, obviously. Although, the wife did have one in service not long ago as an extra drive.
Anyway, I just ran across the box for the NEC unit a few days ago and remembered it. I didnt open the box so my descriptions are all from memory (probably poor memory). Again, I dont think it will end up being used, Im happy enough still spinning redbook on my tubed CDP's and, of course, my vinyl. Not into the entire computer music thing just yet either. Too expensive to do it right at the moment, with a Mac mini it seems, and it's not on the short list at present.
Back to the CD thingy ... I was just curious if anyone here ever ended up using one as a transport and how it worked out. Thanks for the info John, and everyone else.