External DVD writer suggestions?

[ekoostik]

I'm looking for help finding a decent external DVD/CD writer/reader. What should I be looking for as far as specs, or have these things gotten to be a commodity anymore? Any personal recommendations? I don't need Blu Ray. Price is a concern but not necessarily number one. If there are differentiating features - especially any worth having - I'm more concerned with understanding those.

This is to be a gift for someone with an 'ultralight' notebook, an Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810T-8679. As far as I can tell it has only USB inputs, and runs on a C2D SU7300 processor.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[gsaldivar]

If you think the user might want to travel with the drive, consider a slim 5.25" external optical drive. There are tons of these on the market:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000420&Description=external%20dvd%20burner%20slim&name=External%20CD%20%2f%20DVD%20Drives&ActiveSearchResult=True

A small word of caution. When you buy an external drive, you usually can't choose the drive manufacturer. The brand appearing on the box is just the company that puts the drive in an external case. I would just look closely at the reviews on each of these, and decide based on that. If you want a specific manufacturer, you can also build the drive yourself very cheaply.

Example:

SYBA CL-ENC55001 5.25" USB 2.0 External Enclosure $15.99
http://detonator.dynamitedata.com/c...com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817801052http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... CL-ENC55001 5.25" USB 2.0 External Enclosure
+
LITE-ON Black 8X DVD+R SATA Slim 8X DVD Burner $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Slim_8X_DVD_Burner_$39-_-27-106-323-_-Product

 

[corkyg]

Agree with Gsaldivar. Look here, and focus on the Samsung and Lite-On offerings, lower left and right.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...-CD-DVD-Drives

 

[ekoostik]

Well I'm leaning towards the slim Samsung SE-S084 for portability (esp. lack of power brick), though the speed of the Samsung SE-S224Q at DVD+R and -R and the $10 less is tempting... I'll probably end up going slim and portable.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Rottie]

acer has an accessory kit to go with acer aspire timeline

http://www.amazon.com/Accessory-netbook-10-11IN-Models-Sleeve/dp/B002IRQ7WS

 

[ekoostik]

Thanks for the tip. Do you know if the drive is self-powered - i.e., powered off the USB - or does it use a power adapter?

 

[Rottie]

most of external slim dvd drives suck rich juices from USB powered laptop or netbook. My Dell Mini 10 has 3 USB ports one is powered and two are not powered. I wold leave netbook plugged to ac outlet to allow usb powered dvd drive sucks hot rich juice.

 

[Rifter]

i bought a Samsung SE-S084C today, seems to be doing good so far, quiet and fast. have not tried it on netbook yet though as i wont have one till xmas.

 

[ekoostik]

Great. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Rifter]

oh yeah forgot to add, the samsung has a USB cord only, with 2 usb ports on the one end to draw power from. I have tried it on both my desktop computers and my file server while burning at full speed and it works off one port just fine. I would expect it will only need both connected on a low power device like a laptop.