Can anyone recommend a good external DVD drive to a newbie?

[Froggie]

Hello I was just looking in OfficeMax at the external Sony DRX 810UL and also the external HP Lightscribe DVD 740E.

Does anyone know if one is better quality or more reliable than the other? Have you purchased one of these and had any problems with it?

They both seemed to have the same speed specifications, both are dual format, both are dual layer, with Nero software. Both priced around $150 - $160.

Or is there another brand that makes an external model that is better and cheaper? I don't need anything too fancy, as I will just be doing basic stuff on it.

Thanks for any help!

[ZippyP.]

If you get a USB box you can stick any burner you like into it and it's cheaper than $150. I'd do that and stick a Pioneer in it.

Pick one.

[redwudz]

I'd agree with ZippyP.. That's a lot of money to pay for a $50US or less DVD burner and a box with a power supply. If you get an external box, you can get one with Firewire and USB connections both and make it a lot more versatile. If USB gives you problems, which is not uncommon, you can install a Firewire card and be good to go.

EDIT: Also you can plug those names of ext. burners you mentioned into the 'DVD Writers' page to the left and get some idea about them. <<<<<<

BTW, if you had filled out your computer info, it would be a lot easier to make recommendations.

[MJA]

newegg.com in a good place to start
dvd drives
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=5

External Enclosures

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=92

External dvd

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=420

[Froggie]

Thanks very much guys for your help! So do you mean if I buy one of those USB/Firewire boxes I can just plug a cheap INTERNAL DVD burner into it, instead of buying an external burner?

That sounds great. A $50 burner certainly sounds better than spending $150! I checked out the DVD Writers page on this site with all the reviews, but unfortunately there were only 1 or 2 reviews for those 2 external burners I mentioned.

Last year I read a lot of people were buying the internal NEC burners, but every brand seems to have conflicting reviews, so it gets very confusing.

My husband is adament that he does NOT want to fiddle around with our tower, removing one of our current drives and replacing it with a DVD drive, so he told me to just get an external one.

Can you tell me if our computer may already have USB/Firewire "built-in" already, or is it always a separate box you buy? At the bottom of our tower (on the front) is a socket-thing with one small hole and beside that are 2 oblong holes (one above the other).

This is our computer info:

Windows XP Home Edition 2002, Service Pack 2,
Dell Dimension DIM 4600 Intel (R).
Pentium (R) 4 CPU 2.40 GHz 2.39 GHz, 512 MB of RAM

[Denvers Dawgs]

I have to second the build your own idea ZippyP had. I bought 250GB Seagate for about $50AR, and then an external case form newegg (bytecc with both USB2.0 and firewire) for about $30

[redwudz]

The two 'oblong' holes are probably USB. Your computer should be new enough for USB 2.0. The cable end looks like this:


But I would still recommend an external box with USB 2.0 and Firewire both. Having Firewire also only costs a couple dollars more and if you have any problems with USB, just install a Firewire card in the computer (About $20US) and you should be ready for anything.

EDIT: I would also use the rear USB connectors. Some units have problems with the ones on the front of the computer for devices like external drives.

[MJA]

I will say 100% of pc's have USB/USB2.firewire I will say maybe 25 to 40% not sure though

you don't have to buy a sony,since most of their drives are made by other companies

$84.99 ($69.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate) is not a bad deal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106011

and if u still like sony.here is another deal.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProduc...S=ST_PCGADDRW2

[MJA]

Dell Dimension 4600 Description
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz Processor with 800MHz Frontside Bus
512MB PC3200 DDR Memory
80 Gigabyte 7200rpm Hard Drive
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card with Dell 5850 5.1 Speakers
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9000 with 64MB Memory
Intel 10/100 Ethernet and v.92 56Kbps Modem
Eight USB 2.0 and One FireWire (On Sound Card) Ports
so you have both .USB,and firewire

[Froggie]

Thanks again everybody. You have been a great help to me!

[apicella]

Hi to everybody. I post here as my question is essentially the same of Froggie...
I would like to get an external DVD writer to go on my laptop via USB 2.0, as the
DVD-CD unit on the laptop is giving me signs of fatigue. I have seen some units
available here in Italy priced in the 60-80 Euros range.
I looked on the DVD writers section, but I struggled to fine relevant differences among them.
Anybody can give me sort of "grades" for the following
units and help me making a decision? I plan to use it to back-up DVDs to burn with DVDdecrypter.
Also I have a DVD stand-alone recorder Pioneer 530-HS that burns only DVD-R, -RW and I would like
to have compatibility between the two units (does this push me towards the Pioneer DVR-111??)

Samsung SE-S164L/EUBN
LG GSA-2164D
LG GSA-E10L
Philips SPD3100CC/00
Asus Components DRW 1608P3S-U
MASTER.DVD BENQ EW164B
Pioneer DVR-111
Lacie

[KTH]

For an external DVD burner I would just buy an already built as external burner. Optical drives seem to be sensitive to the drive controller used in the external drive case. If you get one of these drive cases with a controller that does not like DVD burners you may be burning a lot of coasters or the burn time maybe very long. I have tried DVD burners in several external cases myself and have had no luck with the cases I tried. No, the problem probably was not the DVD drive since I have more than a few makes and models to try from. Also to eliminate the problem being my computer I tried a external LiteOn unit from a friend and this drive worked perfectly. On a side note one of the cases that I tried said it was compatible with Optical drives, but still did not work very well. See the links below for problems people have had putting together their own external DVD burner.


https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=314504&highlight=external+case

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=119149

[KTH]

Forget to mention that Wal Mart has the LiteOn brand of external DVD burners at or below the $100.00 price range. See the link below to a model listed on their web site. I also remember seeing a model in store, but it was priced a little higher ($100.00+ range). Of course if you do a little searching you should be able to find other make and models from other retailers.


http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5039020

[apicella]

thanks for your message, KTH, I was thinking about a complete external DVD burner anyway....
I will see if I can get a LiteOn here in Italy, not sure though, because it is a brand not often seen around my place...

what about the other units I listed? are they all more or less the same? should I get the cheapest one?

thank you to all....

[bevills1]

Check http://www.bensbargains.net/ where I've seen external DVD burners for $70 or less from time to time if you're not in a hurry. FYI I chose Pioneer 111 after reading all reviews and user comments/problems on cdfreaks, and I'd choose it again if I need another.

[MJA]

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product_Id=4130602&JRSource=linkshare.datafeed.PIO+DVRS111B

PIONEER DVR-S111B Comstar 16x External Double Layer DVD Writer

Your price
$99.99
Rebate
-$20.00
After mail-in rebate
$79.99
$20.00 J&R Exclusive Rebate

if you use google checkout you will save $10

[oldandinthe way]

I'd answer the following questions before I buy a DVD-drive.

1. Does the manufacturers provide firmware updates on a regular basis - if they don't you will eventually encounter media which will not burn on your drive or must be burned slower than the rated speed.

2. Are you a sale shopper for media or will you standardize on a particular "high quality" brand? Some brands of drive are more tolerant of "lower grade" media than others. Check the media reports on this site for drives which seem to tolerate CMC, and Ritek if you are a sale shopper. Sale shoppers should also attach more weigh to item 1 above.

3. Do the users who have that drive seem to burn at lower than rated speed? Some drives will operate better than others at higher speeds. If you are a heavy user this will affect your frustration level.

Re whether to place an internal drive in an external box or buy an external. Many external drives are simply commodity boxes with any of a variety of drives, the extra bucks will get you nothing but custom silkscreen printing on the outside. Others are actually engineered. Some risk if you make either decision.