External USB2 Burner or Ext. Firewire Bay w/ Desktop Burner?

[aqualung2003]

I need to decide one or the other.
I have a laptop with USB 1.1. So I need to get an USB 2 pcmcia card and an external USB 2 DVD burner or I will buy an external firewire bay and install a regular desktop dvd burner.

But I have a few concerns.
- If I go with the firewire option, is it worthy buying a 8x writer? I am not sure I will be able to write in 8x since the data goes through firewire

- If I go with the external USB2 solution and the DVD writer claims to be 8x speed. Is it actually possible to write in 8x with data being transfered by USB 2? The speed of USB 2 and firewire is almost the same, and I was told it would be physically impossible

- What solution would you go with?

Thanks a lot for helping....

[budz]

If I go with the firewire option, is it worthy buying a 8x writer? I am not sure I will be able to write in 8x since the data goes through firewire

go with a FIREWIRE option because too many people have had compatibility issues with hardware when using USB. If you get a 8x burner it will fine. In theory USB is faster but FIREWIRE is not that far behind. FIREWIRE is better to use when it comes to video editing and dvd burning. If you're going to get a PCMIA card get one that has both USB & FIREWIRE if there is one available. That way you could test out using USB & FIREWIRE. For me FIREWIRE is the only way to go.

[aqualung2003]

For me FIREWIRE is the only way to go

Thanks Budz. But I want to make it clear that I would not buy an external firewire burner, they are too expensive. I would get an external firewire bay where I would install a regular IDE DVD burner.
Did you have this in mid when you answered?

Thanks a lot,
Yan

[redwudz]

I would also recommend an external Firewire burner. Makes no difference whether you use a box and install your own burner or use an assembled system. I use a Pioneer DVD burner in an external 'no name' box and it has worked perfectly, everytime, all the time. USB2.0 only worked with CD and only occassionaly.

[the phantom]

check out meritline.com, they have great prices on external burners.

[Hardcoreruss]

Firewire is the way to go

[Capmaster]

I have an external firewire bay I got at Computergeeks.com for about $50. I bought a regular IDE burner and it's been working fine for 2 years now. The firewire-equipped same model drive cost $150 more at the time, so I saved $100 by doing it this way

One drawback - I can never get Media ID to show in any of the media interrogate apps we have. The error always says "function not supported". Not a biggie if you are comfortable with your media, but it makes it harder to identify if that budget media is actually TY media, or CMC

[alchemistresearch]

Not sure if it's the same where you are but in the UK it is the same price, if not a bit cheaper to get a genuine firewire DVD burner than it is to buy a firewire enclosure and a standard internal IDE DVD burner.

A retail boxed Lacie 8x Firewire burner is £98. A firewire enclosure and internal drive would cost around the same, then you have the hassle of putting it together yourself.

[Hardcoreruss]

I did not realise that the external burners had dropped as much as that.

[aqualung2003]

I am almost regreting that I bought an internal drive. The enclosures are not so cheap. Maybe I should have bought an external drive.

[alchemistresearch]

Nahh, internal are always better. They take up less space, cost less and don't require a power supply.

[Jester700]

The couple firewire burners I've seen are just that - an IDE burner in a firewire case. So I "rolled my own", but it shouldn't matter how you do it at all.

[DVD_Ripper]

By Firewire... you'll find better compatibility and faster throughput

Not a biggie if you are comfortable with your media, but it makes it harder to identify if that budget media is actually TY media, or CMC

Capmaster... have you ever found budget media that was TY?

[aqualung2003]

Nahh, internal are always better. They take up less space, cost less and don't require a power supply.

I guess you didn't read the original message. I am on a notebook, so internal is not cheaper, is a lot more expensive with less speed.

When I mean, I bought an internal , I mean I bough a desktop internal and will put on an external enclosure.

[ccbadd]

I have an Nec 2510A in an external combo USB/Firewire box. I have found that Firewire has worked perfectly on every machine I have tried, whereas USB is kind of hit or miss. If your hard drive is fast enough (most laptop drives are usually not) you should be able to burn at 8X, the Firewire or USB port will not be your limitting factor.

[the phantom]

repeat post...sorry :P