Internal or External dvd Rewriter ?

jonno_2

My PC is running XP home, 256 mb, 40 gig. and celeron 2.4
I am going to buy a dvd rewriter and I dont know if to go for a internal or external model.
I,m not a 100 % confident about opening up the computer to fit the internal one so i,m leaning more towards getting a external model.
The problem here is that I,m sure I read somewhere that there were issues regarding external dvd rewriters, and would a usb 2 model work on my ( usb 1 ) computer.
Any advice would be most appreciated.
cheers and thankyou.

timread

You'll need USB2 ports for an external CD/DVD writer. USB 1.1 cannot transfer the data fast enough.

So you either need to pay more for an external DVD writer, and buy and fit a USB 2 PCI card (usually cost around £15-25); OR buy an internal writer and save some money.

Since you'd have to open up the case to fit the PCI USB2 card, you may as well buy an internal DVD writer and fit it yourself.

Most decent brand DVD writers have a good manual that explains how to install it in a PC. There is also plenty of good information on the WWW about fitting internal drives.

Good luck!

blinky

No question - internal. Really easy to fit, particularly if you want to replace an existing CD-RW drive.

The IDE (data) cable and the power connector (Molex) only fit in one way round so difficult to get them wrong.

You can have two devices on a IDE cable. One is a master and one a slave unit, but there are 3 possible settings: MASTER, SLAVE, CABLE SELECT where cable select means the devices are supposed to sort the MASTER / SLAVE settings by themselves.

If you are replacing an existing drive just use the master/slave setting on the drive you are replacing.

MASTER / SLAVE configuration is normally done by moving a jumper on the back.

tair_bashir

I bought a 16x Dual layer +/-RW DVD-writer with the idea of then buying an external USB case to fit it into, thereby making the thing prortable.

However, I'm finding that the case costs around £25-£35 in the UK, whether from retail shops or t'internet (when you include p&p). There is a US site that sells them for $15, but they only post to inside the US :-(

Anyone any ideas on where I may be able to get one of these USB external cases for the DVD-writer...for possibly the £10-£15 region in the UK ?

Any help much appreciated!

onedah

tair_bashir wrote:

Anyone any ideas on where I may be able to get one of these USB external cases for the DVD-writer...for possibly the £10-£15 region in the UK ?

Any help much appreciated!

Try ebay.. I've seen a few on there....

MercilessKiller

Internal is the best option.

Faster

Better

Etc.

As long as you can fit it ok get an internal drive. Only use external if for multiple computers and running under a hub etc

coolagarry

Jonno. I'm a pc novice but had probs with my cd burner and swapped it for a dvd burner (internal) with no probs at all. I didn't even remove the cd burner. Just put the dvd burner in the next slot and swopped over the connections... it really is that easy

tair_bashir

onedah wrote:

Try ebay.. I've seen a few on there....

Yes, I tried Ebay onedah, and though some seemed very cheap...eg...4.99, once you add on the £20/£25 p&p..it's not worth it....If I have to pay £20-£30 for an external case, I'd rather but it from a local computer store where i can et help/support if anything goes wrong on it....as opposed to some company based in Japan/China, etc. :-)