Notebook DVD-RW drive. Internal or external???

[aqualung2003]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8100 Notebook, and I am interested in buying a DVD burner.
The notebook's USD is 1.1, so I have to go with an External firewire drive or an Internal.

The internal benefit is of course the convinience of being inside the notebook, but the disadvantage is that most models write only in 1x or 2x speeed.

So, I have also been considering getting an external drive. Which I could get a 4x or 8x speed drive.

Maybe you can help me. I have some questions.

- How is the performance of a firewire dvd burner? Is it as fast as let's say a desktop DVD burner?
- Do you recommend any brand/model for a firewire dvd burner?
- What you guys think about buslink
- Should I go with the internal drive, even if speed is just 2x?

- What about compatibility with DVD players? WHat do I need to know to have a dvd burner that will make DVDs I can play in most of players?

Hope hearing from you guys.

Thanks a lot,

[redwudz]

I have used an external DVD burner with my laptop with no problems. I use a Firewire PCMCIA card and a Pioneer 106 burner. My external box is a 'no name' brand I have had for a couple of years. It has both Firewire and USB2.0, though the USB never worked well, if at all for DVD burning. If you can get the dual input, it makes the external box a little more versatile. The external has some advantages in that it is generally faster than a laptop burner and I can use it for different machines. As far as speed of an external burner, it burns fine at 4X speed.

[aqualung2003]

So, you actually have an internal desktop drive in a external bay, right?
Not an external drive per si.

[cyberhh]

I have an HP 7010 with an external Emprex 1008im in a FireWire/USB 2 enclosure (both from Fry's) and it works well. I was using very old firmware, and unable to update is since I only had USB and the firmware update wanted to update via IDE only, however I solved that problem (check this forum for the fixed instructions via new topic.) I would reccommend it completely.

I am able to reliably burn 1x media at 4x and use DVDShrink with Nero to backup discs in about 30 min from start to finish.

[handyguy]

U can get a PCMCIA USB 2.0 Card & add A 8x external dvd writer, dual format, just $99 at tigerdirect.com today....
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=777023&Tab=7&NoMapp=0

[aqualung2003]

mannn! So many options.

Well I can get a external firewire bay and a 8x desktop DVD burner, all for less than $100 , like $60 for the burner and $40 for the bay.
The only disdvantage is the bulkiness of the external bay.


Or I can get an external burner like you said $99 and a pcmicia USB2.0 card $30 moreless.
Advantage, it's almost like having USB2.0 built in.
Is the performance the same?

What to do???!!!!

[wickedshit]

I was thinking on buying the dominator dvd burner for $99. How would I know if is compatible with my system as far as USB and all that.

I have a eMachines 5310 notebook with a Mobile AMD Athlon XP 2400+. 518 MHz and 448 MB of RAM. Running Windows XP with Service Pack 1. I have a firewire 1394 port and USB 2.0 built in. Even though I would much rather not use the USB because I heard it is no good.

I want an external DVD burner. Any other suggestions on what burner is right for my system please help. I'm just looking for cheap reliable burners.