New Sony DVD Writer (500) - INTERNAL or EXTERNAL: A difference? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

My next purchase is going to be the new Sony DVD
writer that records both +R and -R DVD discs.

It is important for me to have the capability to
record both formats since I already have a standalone
+R recorder, and want to also be able to record -R
discs.

Problem is, I don't have an open bay in the front
of my computer, so really, I am kind of limited
with going with an EXTERNAL DVD writer (Sony DRX500ULX)
drive.

Is there any problems going with an EXTERNAL over
INTERNAL? I would guess it hooks up via USB port.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[JohnTKline]

I am in a similar situation deciding between external and internal for the sony dvd writers. The external has usb 2.0 and firewire that you can use to hook up. I'm wondering if the transfer rate is faster than an internal unit, because I do have usb 2.0 and firewire ports on my pc.
But I've never purchased an external device before either. Maybe in that rare situation I could take it with me to New Orleans to help family get thier home movies onto a dvd? And it's about an 80.00 difference at best buy. (350.00 or 429.00 for external)

John

 

[John_Berger]

The transfer rate is somewhat moot. Even a 1x DVD writer transfers at something like 1.5 MB/sec, so a 4x DVD writer would write data at 6 MB/sec. FireWire is much, much faster than that as is USB 2.0.

So, deciding between internal vs. external really is nothing more than cost vs. convenience. If it was USB 1.0, then I would be concerned, but with FireWire? Pfft! Yeah, right. Not an issue.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Ron, I have the internal version (very hard to get hold of over here, btw). The price difference here between it and the external version is something like a £70-£100. For that amount you can buy an excellent quality new case with enough 5.25" bays. The pricing structure may be different on your side of the pond, but you might want to consider the decision from that angle.

 

[John_Berger]

Yes, that is also the case here. (No pun intended.) Depending on where you get the blank discs, some DVD-R discs can be bought for $1 each or less. That's a nice spindle that can be bought with the money that's saved on an internal version.

 

[Max Leung]

I have a Sony DRU500A myself (internal IDE version). I downloaded the firmware upgrade that gives me 2.4x DVD+R/+RW write speeds.

I bought a cheap (as in cheaply made -- the fan is louder than my computer and projector put together) Welland firewire/USB2.0 enclosure and put the writer in it. Works fine. I'm using the firewire port. The Welland enclosure was $140 Canadian. You should be able to find a cheap firewire/usb2 5.25" enclosure that can accept CD/DVD-ROM drives for $80 US.

Aside from the noise, the enclosure works well. Your only issue would be the quality of your motherboard or usb2/firewire card and drivers.

 

[Joseph S]

An external Firewire or FW/USB2 enclosure is the ideal solution.

I moved my DVD-RAM and a hot swap HD bay to one and a CDRW to another. All can now be shared between my computers without a problem. The obvious exception is if one needs to use iDVD or has free 5.25" bays without a need for sharing..