I'm thinking about a USB 2.0 CD-RW or DVD+RW burner (1 Viewer)

[Steve Owen]

I've done a motherboard/cpu/memory/video/os upgrade to my system, but I'm still stuck with an old 2X SCSI CD-RW drive (Ricoh MP6200). It still works OK, but is darn slow.

The new system has USB 2.0 and the idea of having an external (and somewhat portable) CD burner sounds like it might be a useful thing.... take it with me and plug it into the laptop... take it to my friends/relatives if I need to burn something quick and they don't have CD-R.

Anyone have experience with these? I'm primarily considering CD-RW right now. I don't need the super-fastest thing on the market, just something quicker than what I've got. What's available in USB 2.0 based DVD burners too (that might be an option).

I understand the speed issues with plugging a USB 2.0 burner into a USB 1.1 system, so no need to comment there. Just wondering really if the ones available are reasonable quality compared to their IDE counterparts and if the extra $100 or so it seems to take to get the thing into its own box is worth the price.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Max Leung]

You could get the Sony DRU500ULX, which has a USB2.0 and Firewire interface included. $430 MSRP, compared to $350 for the internal IDE drive.

I have a Sony DRU500A (internal drive with the new firmware) and a cheap-ass Welland USB2/Firewire enclosure. The fan is extremely loud in the Welland. I may snip the fan wires one day...

The DRU500A drive is probably the best DVD burner you can get today.