Nice external dvd burners

[Funkin']

I don't have a dvd burner in my computer. And it has gotten to the point that I'm absolutely sick of not being able to download 360 or Wii games, or burn movies, because I don't have a burner.

So, I've decided to go with an external burner(mostly because I've never installed anything inside a computer), and I would like some recommendations on some good ones.

Now I was talking to a couple of my friends, and they were telling me that the brand of the model really doesn't matter, that the speed is what really matters. To get a burner with a speed of 20x or over. Is this true? That really only the spped of the burner matters and not the brand?

So, I'm just looking for some suggestions on an external burner that would be good for burning 360/Wii games and films.

Thank you for any info, I'll appreciate it.

[Detale]

Dude go for the internal burner. It's way easy to install, I'll walk you through it no problem. Just tell me what kind of computer you have. External burners are more expensive and usually slower than internal ones.

[apextwin146]

Dude go for the internal burner. It's way easy to install, I'll walk you through it no problem. Just tell me what kind of computer you have. External burners are more expensive and usually slower than internal ones.
wat would there be two install? I mean u just put it in the Drive bay , connect the power cable and data cable and u r set to go .. In BIOS just make sure its detecting at the time of Boot(set it to secondry)

[clocker]

Dude go for the internal burner. It's way easy to install, I'll walk you through it no problem. Just tell me what kind of computer you have. External burners are more expensive and usually slower than internal ones.
wat would there be two install?
D. likes the easy jobs.

[triso]

...
Now I was talking to a couple of my friends, and they were telling me that the brand of the model really doesn't matter, that the speed is what really matters. To get a burner with a speed of 20x or over. Is this true? That really only the spped of the burner matters and not the brand?
...
Thank you for any info, I'll appreciate it.
I have noticed that burning at a higher speed, more than 4x, creates a DVD that is not readable by all DVD drives and machines.



Dude go for the internal burner. It's way easy to install, I'll walk you through it no problem. Just tell me what kind of computer you have. External burners are more expensive and usually slower than internal ones.
wat would there be two install? I mean u just put it in the Drive bay , connect the power cable and data cable and u r set to go .. In BIOS just make sure its detecting at the time of Boot(set it to secondry)There are a few snags that could occur: No free power cable, no free IDE or SATA cable or no empty drive bay. Just have a computer buddy open the case and look inside before buying anything.

[basilhaydens]

I wouldn't burn anything over 2-4x unless you need coasters. I would also go with the internal, since externals are prone to problems, just like external hds.
I'm no expert of this either and have looked into replacing my laptop drive, after finding a guide, I see it is really, really, really easy. So don't sweat that part.

[Detale]

I have noticed that burning at a higher speed, more than 4x, creates a DVD that is not readable by all DVD drives and machines.



Dude go for the internal burner. It's way easy to install, I'll walk you through it no problem. Just tell me what kind of computer you have. External burners are more expensive and usually slower than internal ones.
wat would there be two install? I mean u just put it in the Drive bay , connect the power cable and data cable and u r set to go .. In BIOS just make sure its detecting at the time of Boot(set it to secondry)There are a few snags that could occur: No free power cable, no free IDE or SATA cable or no empty drive bay. Just have a computer buddy open the case and look inside before buying anything.


I burn almost all my stuff between 10 and 12X on 20X media and I can say I have a 95% perfect disk rate. As I understand it as long as you stay around half the disks write speed you should be OK, this has served me well so far.

It is an easy job and a better end result so why shouldn't he?

[apextwin146]

Dude go for the internal burner. It's way easy to install, I'll walk you through it no problem. Just tell me what kind of computer you have. External burners are more expensive and usually slower than internal ones.
wat would there be two install? I mean u just put it in the Drive bay , connect the power cable and data cable and u r set to go .. In BIOS just make sure its detecting at the time of Boot(set it to secondry)There are a few snags that could occur: No free power cable, no free IDE or SATA cable or no empty drive bay. Just have a computer buddy open the case and look inside before buying anything.
I wouldnt call that a snag just an resource oversight .. The way i do it is get the requirements cleared up and taken care of then proceed with installation ..
Or i could have totally misread ur post by which u wanna say that are the SATA ports would be in use .. Then thats a concern

[Funkin']

Wow, thank you so much for all the info guys. I guess I'll go internal if externals have such problems.

Detale, unfortunately I'm not at my computer right now, and won't be until tomorrow, so I'm not looking right at it at the moment. But the computer brand is an emachines. And I'm pretty positive the model number is C2782(as I remember reading emachines C2782 on it, lol).

So, a little walkthrough how to install it would be most appreciated!

So, anyways, the lower the number is faster the write speed? Since Detale tells me that 10 and 12 is good, but triso tells me 4 is good, I guess I'll have to experiment since it looks like a standard write speed isn't used. Also, I guess brand doesn't really matter. So should I just go with the lowest price that I can find?

Any recommendations on the types of discs will also be appreciated since I'll be getting all of this within the next couple of days.

Thank you to everyone that has responded.

[clocker]

I would also go with the internal, since externals are prone to problems, just like external hds.



I guess I'll go internal if externals have such problems.


I wasn't aware that external drives were "prone to problems".
There is nothing inherently wrong with an external solution- either optical or storage- and in many cases, I think it's a better way to go.

As usual, you get what you pay for- cheap stuff may not last- but that holds true for internal parts as well.
I prefer to assemble my own external boxes as I can be assured that only quality parts are used.
So far, seems to work fine.

[apextwin146]

I guess I'll go internal if externals have such problems.


I wasn't aware that external drives were "prone to problems".
There is nothing inherently wrong with an external solution- either optical or storage- and in many cases, I think it's a better way to go.

As usual, you get what you pay for- cheap stuff may not last- but that holds true for internal parts as well.
I prefer to assemble my own external boxes as I can be assured that only quality parts are used.
So far, seems to work fine.
Though i have problems with some extnl Optical drives i cant say the same regarding the Extnl HDD .. just load data onto that and keep the rest on a raptor etc ..
@clocker --> I am planning to convert my WD 640gb AAKS into external .. What case do u recommend ?

[pentomato]

It is not difficult at all, you can even google it, that's what I did years ago.

[lynx]

All this talk about write speeds is nonsense.

If you read up on the subject, you are more likely to get a bad disk if you burn it at anything other than the recommended speeds. For example that means 8x or 16x for 16x disks.

"Fake" disks produced with lower spec dyes are fairly common at the lower end of the market, which may explain why some people get better results by burning at lower speeds.

Even that's not a complete answer, because the burner uses different speeds depending on the position on the disk. This results in slower rotation at the inside diameter getting faster towards the outside diameter but resulting in a fairly constant data rate. Some media may have the correct dyes but a poor write strategy. This can result in some areas of the disk being burnt at the wrong speed. In this case a low "speed" can help if the data all fits near the inside diameter because the burn rate would never reach the disks quoted maximum speed in any case.

The real answer is to buy quality media and a good burner.

There's no reason why an external drive should be any better or worse than in internal drive, they are usually just an internal drive packaged in an external case. Clocker does it himself which probably results in a more pleasing visual result and may even save a little money. I doubt that in most instances it results in any better quality, but at least he has the satisfaction of being certain that his drive has been built with quality parts rather than just assuming that, having got a reputation for quality, the manufacturer hasn't substituted cheaper components.

[clocker]

@clocker --> I am planning to convert my WD 640gb AAKS into external .. What case do u recommend ?





I doubt that in most instances it results in any better quality, but at least he has the satisfaction of being certain that his drive has been built with quality parts rather than just assuming that, having got a reputation for quality, the manufacturer hasn't substituted cheaper components.
I like the Vantec NexStar external cases...particularly the ones that have both USB and eSATA connectivity.
However...I'm becoming overwhelmed with external storage- currently have three- and am seriously considering just getting a drive dock instead. Just need to figure out a way to conveniently store the drives when they are undocked...shouldn't be too difficult.

Lynx...there's no particular advantage aesthetically to doing it yourself but I've approached the external setups with future internal use in mind. Since I prefer Seagate drives that's what I use knowing I'd be comfortable putting it inside the case should I find the need.
Lots of external, prepackaged units are using the excreble WD "Green Power" drives or, even worse, unbranded (probably Maxtor or Samsung) low cache drives.
Also, buying a retail Seagate drive and doing it myself means I have the full 5 year warranty on the drive instead of whatever the packaging company wants to offer.