External DVD-RW drive for notebook

vbimport
#1

Hi folks I’d like some advice here.

I need an external DVD-RW drive for my notebook for backing up general data and burning PS2 backups as well.

My thinkpad does not have firewire so I’ll go with USB 2.0

Should I go with an external DVD-RW drive or should I buy an internal drive and combine it with an enclosure? Is there huge difference in price doing the latter?

I really new to this so I would like any suggestions and help.
I need a reliable drive that will be able to burn CdR, CDRW, DVDR and DVDRWs.

Thanks in advance. :slight_smile:

#2

bump

#3

Originally posted by garlei
bump

Less than a day old, and you’re already bumping it?

I’ve known people whose drives work well in an external enclosure. Go with whatever is cheaper for you (probably buy a drive and do an external enclosure).

As for choosing a drive, the LiteOn-vs-NEC-vs-Pioneer question has been discussed before in these forums, so you may want to do a search. Or, you could read the CD Freaks reviews of the 411S, 811S, A07, and 2500A drives. Finally, if you go into the LiteOn forum, you’ll find people supporting LiteOn until the bitter end, and people worshiping NEC in the NEC forum, and similarly in the Pioneer forum. I don’t think that there is one “superior” drive as they each have their strengths and weaknesses, and it all depends on your preferences (e.g., NEC is the king of DVD-writing quality, but is a bit lacking in other areas and LiteOn’s great for everything, except it’s picky about the quality of the DVD media that you use).

#4

here’s some more advice. Don’t lump for the cheapest case available, as they’re not all made equally. check the case for the chipset that’s used. the NEC chipset seems to be the one that is most widely hailed when compared to others.
USB still gives me and some other guys problems in burning at anything above 4x, but some have had no problems. I have had no problems whatsoever with firewire, but I must also note that my firewire is native, and my usb2 is a pcmcia card (which has an NEC chipset tho). If u consider firewire any at all, get components with the oxford 911 chipset, the grandaddy of em all.

#5

Originally posted by booma
here’s some more advice. Don’t lump for the cheapest case available, as they’re not all made equally. check the case for the chipset that’s used. the NEC chipset seems to be the one that is most widely hailed when compared to others.
USB still gives me and some other guys problems in burning at anything above 4x, but some have had no problems. I have had no problems whatsoever with firewire, but I must also note that my firewire is native, and my usb2 is a pcmcia card (which has an NEC chipset tho). If u consider firewire any at all, get components with the oxford 911 chipset, the grandaddy of em all.

Never thought about the chipset problem. Thanks a lot! I’ll be doing a little researching.