Inexpensive, reliable, external CD-RW? (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

Hi gang,

I am looking for an external CD-RW drive for use with my laptop. It's a Dell Inspiron 8000 running Win 2000 (so USB is OK, but not a requirement).

My main criteria are reliability and low price. Speed is less of an issue, since I will mainly use it for system backups and the occasional music mix.

Any recommendations?

 

[Thom B]

I've been running an HP 8220e without problems for about year and a half. They can be found for ~$140. I've run it on ME, XP, and win2k using Nero without any problems.

T

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Has anyone tried the TDK that's on special for $130 at CompUSA this week?

 

[Randy_T]

I got a Plextor 12X 10X 32X CDRW from Link Removed for less than $100 shipped.
Randy T

 

[Randy_T]

Sorry...too early in the morning. Didn't see that you were looking for a laptop burner

 

[Jay H]

I check this thread out since my sister is looking into one. There is no such thing as an internal CD-RW module for laptops I guess? Are the USB2.0 external CD-RWs compatible with say the USB1.0 standard because my sister's laptop is really old so I'm sure her USB port is not the new 2.0 standard...

At the time, a few weeks ago, my quick check showed that most of the external CDRWs at newegg.com were mostly around $150.

Jay

 

[Thom B]

The HP I mentioned earlier is usb1.0.

T

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Actually, there are internal CD-RWs for laptops. My Dell has two plug-in cartridges in the front. One has a floppy drive, the other is currently empty. The DVD drive is built into the side of the machine. (It's called a "3-spindle" system, since it has 3 potential drive bays. Or is it 4, to include the hard drive. . .)

However, the internal CD-RW costs about $260, which is about twice what I'm willing to spend. Also, I'll probably get another desktop at some point, so it'd be nice to have an external unit I could plug into it too.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

OK, I hit CompUSA for the TDK deal. Score!
The advertised deal is regular price $199, sale price $179, plus a $50 mail-in rebate. But it rang up at $159! (My unemployed butt thanks you, CompUSA. And before the wisecracks start flowing, I need this for system backups! )
So now the question is. . .how can I determine whether my ports are USB 1.1 or USB 2? I looked in the Device Manager, which gives driver versions, but I'm not sure that that's the same thing. The unit says that it will only work at 4x4x6 speeds (normally 24x10x40) on USB 1.1.
How long has USB 2 been around? My laptop is a little over a year old.

 

[Christian Behrens]

How long has USB 2 been around? My laptop is a little over a year

I would guess it's not USB 2.0 then. It's been around that long, but not built into systems. It's only slowly gaining momentum and technically speaking, Firewire is the "cleaner" higher-speed solution.

-Christian

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Interesting. My laptop has a firewire jack too, but those drives were somewhat more expensive.

 

[Rommel_L]

Aaron,

If your burner work in the speeds of 4X4X6, it's USB 1.1. These are the fastest speeds USB 1.1 can support.

-RL-