external dvd writer with no external power source?

[grette22]

I have an external 2.4x I/O Magic DVD+RW drive that I'm about to give up on. I've had it for less than two months, but I have yet to burn a decent DVD. I have tried all kinds of software and media and browsed through the forums more than I care to admit, but that's another story. I'm thinking of getting a new writer, and I'm hoping to get an external drive that doesn't need an external power source, or at least a power source other than plugging it into the wall. I will use it with my laptop, so I would like it to be very portable. I have asked about replacing the CD-ROM in my laptop to a dvd rw, and I've been told conflicting information. I have an IBM Thinkpad, and the last I heard was the drive cannot be replaced. Any advice would be great! Thanks.

[drewson99]

I don't think that they exist, and even if they did, the battery of your laptop would be drained so fast, it would be pretty prohibitive.

If you are using one outlet for the laptop, why not use the second one for the burner?

[grette22]

well, i was hoping that when i travel i can play a movie and since i have to have an external dvd-rom to do that , a writer would be even better. i did think it would probably eat up the power in my notebook. thanks for your help. now i can stop racking my brain...back to figuring out how to successfully burn a dvd on my 14th attempt!

[Super Warrior]

14th attempt? thats pretty bad.What are you doing exactly and what media are you useing?

[ViRaL1]

There are a few companies that make 2.5" Firewire hard drives that can run bus powered, but I don't recall seeing anything larger than that. I believe a burner would be WAY too much of a power drain to be useful. Chances are if you DID find something, your battery would be dead before your movie was done, watching OR burning.

[The village idiot]

There are a few models of slim DVD-R(W) meant to be used in laptops. If you could find a case for one of those that connects to a PCMCIA card, you would be good to go. Other than that, it might be hard to impossible to find anything else. Archos made a slim external CD drive like this, you could then remove the CD-ROM and put int the DVD-R. It's going to cost some big money though, those slim drives are a few hundred dollars.

[handyguy]

THis is the only one I can find:
IBM ThinkPad Ultrabay Slim (22P7011) CD-RW/DVD-ROM Burner
4x

Hope youre okay with the price, approx $500US or 331pds UK.

[redwudz]

The biggest problem with external powered drives is the laptop. Most of them limit the amount of power transfered through either the Firewire or the USB ports to extend battery life. Sorry to say, you would be better off getting a laptop with an internal DVD rom. Or just plugging into the mains and lugging around a power supply. If you really want to be 100% portable with your present setup, you might consider an external battery pack to run your drive. Radio Shack could probably supply the parts if you could find someone to put it together.

[Rocketmech]

There are some external enclosures that plug directly to an outlet (mains). Just buy a good burner to put in it. example: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-145-316&catalog=92&manufa...=BROWSE&depa=0

[ViRaL1]

Here's a bus-powered DVD burner. This says it's a Mac DVD-R/RW/RAM drive but it's firewire, so it's possible it should work on a PC. No guarantees about software compatibility but it's a possiblity.
http://www.mcetech.com/lucidm2x.html

Good Luck.