External DVD

Ok looking for an external DVD drive for my Asus Z70VA as im completley fed up with my mat****a UJ-831D drive that came with it.

What do you guys think of this??

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18562

Seems like a great price as i dont have alot to spend and i'd like to purchase from that store as i'll be purchasing ram through them. Didnt see any other extrenals on their site besides a $200 plextor. Well any coments advice?

 

Do you really want a huge honking drive like that to go with your laptop?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106034

 

That drive itself is quite nice but half the speed of the one i listed. Ill still have the internal drive to use when out and about with my laptop, but at home i can use the external for burning purposes and put it in my desk when im not using it. Besides the point of size, what do you think. A good solid burner for a hundred bucks?

 

Depends on what you want it for.. if it's still something you might want to carrying around with you, Asus has a really nice drive which is an update to the external drive they used to include with the old S5 series models...... This drive is slightly larger than a cd jewel case - no kidding - and it's about $150. Right we're selling them as the external dvd-rw for the R2h UMPC's..

 

that asus drive does look nice but the samsung speeds are rated much higher. So im wondering if i want to trade off speed for size. As i wont really need to carry it around as i still will have the internal DVD drive which does work just not as its intended. Thas asus is very sleek though. From your stand point (leaving size out of the equation) does the samsung burner that i listed look like a solid burner?? The 16X speed on burns would be quite a bit faster then the 8x too would it not?? The mat****a UJ-831 D thats with my Z70VA is 8x as well although there are less then a handfull of very specific media it will burn at that speed. And none of them are pintable dvd's so i figure ill get the external seeing as upgrading the z70va's dvd drive doesnt seem like an option.

 

I know what I would get for a 5.25" drive:

This:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145342

Plus this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152076

Or any other 5.25" drive of your choice - I have always had good luck with the NECs (3550, 3540) so I would give that one a try despite the ratings.

The advantage with this solution is that you can upgrade the drive whenever you want to with something faster Since you seem to be very burning-speed conscious, I think it makes the most sense to do it that way.

I have used a Bytecc USB -> IDE adapter (they sell one with no enclosure that works with 2.5", 3.5", and SATA drives just by connecting it to the back of the drive where the cable would go) with my NEC 3550 to burn DVDs off of my Z33 with no problems at all.

 

Well yeah... if you're looking for something to leave home, a desktop size drive is more up your alley and it should be. I was just pointing out their nice mobile external which always impresses... but speed is always going to be faster and price is always going to be lower on the desktop sized versions of anything.

 

thanks guys