choosing an external DVD burner
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From: Jo-Anne on 9 Dec 2009 21:28 Now that I have my new netbook, running WinXP SP3, I need to buy an external DVD burner. I've read complaints from people who say the burner they bought will work only with netbooks or, sometimes, laptops. I'd like to get a burner that would work with my netbook, my other laptop, and my desktop computer (just in case the internal drive conks out on either of the other two). I might also want to play DVDs with this drive. I think my netbook came with Windows Media Player, and I'm hoping that's the only software I'll need. What should I look for, and what should I avoid? (If there's a particularly good website with this kind of information, I'd be grateful for a link.) Thank you! Jo-Anne
From: Bill in Co. on 9 Dec 2009 22:07 Jo-Anne wrote: > Now that I have my new netbook, running WinXP SP3, I need to buy an > external > DVD burner. I've read complaints from people who say the burner they > bought > will work only with netbooks or, sometimes, laptops. I'd like to get a > burner that would work with my netbook, my other laptop, and my desktop > computer (just in case the internal drive conks out on either of the other > two). > > I might also want to play DVDs with this drive. I think my netbook came > with > Windows Media Player, and I'm hoping that's the only software I'll need. You may need some DVD decoder software/codecs to allow WMP to be able to play DVDs, which you can read about in WMP's help file (open up WMP and select it). Either that, or you can find various other software packages that will already play DVDs, say like PowerDVD (designed for DVDs), or "Media Player Classic" (basically a WMP replacement that has DVD capability built in), but I use all three, on occasions). > What should I look for, and what should I avoid? (If there's a > particularly > good website with this kind of information, I'd be grateful for a link.) > > Thank you! I don't know about the DVD drives for your situation, but I'm sure someone here might. You can also always check out some of the drives and reviews on www.amazon.com, of course.
From: Jo-Anne on 9 Dec 2009 22:28 "Bill in Co." <not_really_here(a)earthlink.net> wrote in message news:%23YPSiXUeKHA.1824(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > Jo-Anne wrote: >> Now that I have my new netbook, running WinXP SP3, I need to buy an >> external >> DVD burner. I've read complaints from people who say the burner they >> bought >> will work only with netbooks or, sometimes, laptops. I'd like to get a >> burner that would work with my netbook, my other laptop, and my desktop >> computer (just in case the internal drive conks out on either of the >> other >> two). >> >> I might also want to play DVDs with this drive. I think my netbook came >> with >> Windows Media Player, and I'm hoping that's the only software I'll need. > > You may need some DVD decoder software/codecs to allow WMP to be able to > play DVDs, which you can read about in WMP's help file (open up WMP and > select it). > > Either that, or you can find various other software packages that will > already play DVDs, say like PowerDVD (designed for DVDs), or "Media Player > Classic" (basically a WMP replacement that has DVD capability built in), > but I use all three, on occasions). > >> What should I look for, and what should I avoid? (If there's a >> particularly >> good website with this kind of information, I'd be grateful for a link.) >> >> Thank you! > > I don't know about the DVD drives for your situation, but I'm sure someone > here might. You can also always check out some of the drives and reviews > on www.amazon.com, of course. > Thank you, Bill! I will definitely look at the WMP help file and check out other software packages. I did look at Amazon, but it's hard to find anything consistent there. I looked at a Samsung burner that got lots of rave reviews and a few bad ones--and discovered that you need two USB ports on the same side of the computer to be able to use that drive. There were also complaints about the software. I'm hoping I can get some links to more consistent criteria for checking out these drives. Jo-Anne
From: Paul on 9 Dec 2009 22:47 Jo-Anne wrote: > Now that I have my new netbook, running WinXP SP3, I need to buy an external > DVD burner. I've read complaints from people who say the burner they bought > will work only with netbooks or, sometimes, laptops. I'd like to get a > burner that would work with my netbook, my other laptop, and my desktop > computer (just in case the internal drive conks out on either of the other > two). > > I might also want to play DVDs with this drive. I think my netbook came with > Windows Media Player, and I'm hoping that's the only software I'll need. > > What should I look for, and what should I avoid? (If there's a particularly > good website with this kind of information, I'd be grateful for a link.) > > Thank you! > > Jo-Anne The drive behavior should be uniform as it is moved from one computer to another. As long as the driver stack is the same on the computers, or the driver stack has the same features, the features of the drive should be available on either computer. An example of an immature driver situation, was the first copy of Nero I bought. It wouldn't burn any media on a USB based writer. It could only work with drives mounted inside the computer. Things have changed considerably for the better since then, and that is no longer a problem. Drives have a large number of "tick box" features and you can see these listed in the specifications for the drive. This is a start at understanding what a drive will or won't to. Capabilities might be media based - CD, DVD, BD, HD-DVD. Or read/write (burner) versus read only. And some of the standards are associated with the drive functioning as a hard drive (i.e. random access when writing instead of always writing in one long spiral), with standards such as Mount Ranier or DVD-RAM. http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/articles/2007/2382/NeroInfoTool.jpg You should be able to go to Wikipedia, and find articles on what these various tick boxes mean. Other web sites may have more thorough technical info, as some of these articles are a bit thin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier_(packet_writing) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvd-ram To me, one of the defining factors, is the design of the insertion mechanism for the media. I like a method that is robust to wear and tear, doesn't damage the media, and is easy to access. I select tray based load/unload of media, and while having never tested them, would not touch a slot load. I've tried a "springy hub" based slim tray on a laptop, and found that to be less than satisfactory. This choice has an impact on the size of the drive, and the market dictates that customers always buy the smallest optical drive, even if it means sacrificing other characteristics. It means, if I want an item as described, I have to build one for myself, as the commercial offering (slim only) won't make me happy. Paul
From: Jo-Anne on 9 Dec 2009 23:42
"Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote in message news:hfpqv6$jk$1(a)aioe.org... > Jo-Anne wrote: >> Now that I have my new netbook, running WinXP SP3, I need to buy an >> external DVD burner. I've read complaints from people who say the burner >> they bought will work only with netbooks or, sometimes, laptops. I'd like >> to get a burner that would work with my netbook, my other laptop, and my >> desktop computer (just in case the internal drive conks out on either of >> the other two). >> >> I might also want to play DVDs with this drive. I think my netbook came >> with Windows Media Player, and I'm hoping that's the only software I'll >> need. >> >> What should I look for, and what should I avoid? (If there's a >> particularly good website with this kind of information, I'd be grateful >> for a link.) >> >> Thank you! >> >> Jo-Anne > > The drive behavior should be uniform as it is moved from one > computer to another. As long as the driver stack is the same > on the computers, or the driver stack has the same features, > the features of the drive should be available on either > computer. > > An example of an immature driver situation, was the first copy > of Nero I bought. It wouldn't burn any media on a USB based writer. > It could only work with drives mounted inside the computer. Things > have changed considerably for the better since then, and that is > no longer a problem. > > Drives have a large number of "tick box" features and you can see > these listed in the specifications for the drive. This is a > start at understanding what a drive will or won't to. Capabilities > might be media based - CD, DVD, BD, HD-DVD. Or read/write (burner) > versus read only. And some of the standards are associated with the > drive functioning as a hard drive (i.e. random access when writing instead > of always writing in one long spiral), with standards such as > Mount Ranier or DVD-RAM. > > http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/articles/2007/2382/NeroInfoTool.jpg > > You should be able to go to Wikipedia, and find articles on what > these various tick boxes mean. Other web sites may have more thorough > technical info, as some of these articles are a bit thin. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier_(packet_writing) > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvd-ram > > To me, one of the defining factors, is the design of the > insertion mechanism for the media. I like a method that > is robust to wear and tear, doesn't damage the media, and > is easy to access. I select tray based load/unload of > media, and while having never tested them, would not > touch a slot load. I've tried a "springy hub" based > slim tray on a laptop, and found that to be less than > satisfactory. This choice has an impact on the size of > the drive, and the market dictates that customers always > buy the smallest optical drive, even if it means > sacrificing other characteristics. It means, if I want > an item as described, I have to build one for myself, > as the commercial offering (slim only) won't make me happy. > > Paul Thank you, Paul! This is just the kind of information I need. For me, the size of the external DVD drive isn't all that important. My plan is to use it for installing some programs and perhaps for watching DVDs at home--but when I travel, I'll leave it at home. The idea of buying the netbook was that it would make for easy portability, so the fewer things I have to take with, the better. I'll definitely look for a tray, although it might be hard to find a good one. The internal burner that came with my Dell laptop seems pretty flimsy to me, although it works. Jo-Anne |