choosing an external DVD burner

Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my WinXP
netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for one
(installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs) and have
found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to go by
price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what else should I
consider? For example, will all burners work with WinXP? Is tray loading
better than slot loading? Should any brands be avoided? I'd be grateful for
advice.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my
WinXP netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for
one (installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs)
and have found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to go
by price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what
else should I consider? For example, will all burners work with
WinXP? Is tray loading better than slot loading? Should any brands be
avoided? I'd be grateful for advice.

Thank you!

Hi Jo-Anne! I like those slimline Samsung SE-S084. I got three of them
and they work really great. I tried others and they were not so hot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...g+dvd+external

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

On 04/23/2011 07:41 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my
WinXP netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for
one (installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs)
and have found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to go
by price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what
else should I consider? For example, will all burners work with
WinXP? Is tray loading better than slot loading? Should any brands be
avoided? I'd be grateful for advice.

Thank you!

Hi Jo-Anne! I like those slimline Samsung SE-S084. I got three of them
and they work really great. I tried others and they were not so hot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...g+dvd+external



For the price...one can hardly go wrong.

I've found the NewEgg customer reviews to be helpful and honest

In ,
philo wrote:
On 04/23/2011 07:41 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my
WinXP netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for
one (installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs)
and have found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to
go by price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what
else should I consider? For example, will all burners work with
WinXP? Is tray loading better than slot loading? Should any brands
be avoided? I'd be grateful for advice.

Thank you!

Hi Jo-Anne! I like those slimline Samsung SE-S084. I got three of
them and they work really great. I tried others and they were not so
hot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...g+dvd+external

For the price...one can hardly go wrong.

I've found the NewEgg customer reviews to be helpful and honest

Yes true! Although just a few years back, you couldn't touch one of
these for under 100 bucks. But it seems the more they sell, the more
inexpensive they get. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
philo wrote:
On 04/23/2011 07:41 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my
WinXP netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for
one (installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs)
and have found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to
go by price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what
else should I consider? For example, will all burners work with
WinXP? Is tray loading better than slot loading? Should any brands
be avoided? I'd be grateful for advice.

Thank you!

Hi Jo-Anne! I like those slimline Samsung SE-S084. I got three of
them and they work really great. I tried others and they were not so
hot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...g+dvd+external

For the price...one can hardly go wrong.

I've found the NewEgg customer reviews to be helpful and honest

Yes true! Although just a few years back, you couldn't touch one of these
for under 100 bucks. But it seems the more they sell, the more inexpensive
they get. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3


I have two self powere external dvd burners.

The "LG" model works more or less the same as the internals though even on
fast pc I tend to burn no faster than 8x.

I also have a "MadDog" external burner. Of ALL the burners I have (right now
7 in various pc plust the two externals) it is THE ONLY ONE does
"everything". Specifically, it is the only one capable of both reading and
burning "sub channel" info. In other words, it's the only one I can burn a
Karaoke cd with. Not a big deal unless you have friends into that sort of
thing, ask you to make a copy to then find out your brand new "does
everything" drive actually doesn't.

"pjp" wrote in message
...

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
philo wrote:
On 04/23/2011 07:41 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my
WinXP netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for
one (installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs)
and have found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to
go by price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what
else should I consider? For example, will all burners work with
WinXP? Is tray loading better than slot loading? Should any brands
be avoided? I'd be grateful for advice.

Thank you!

Hi Jo-Anne! I like those slimline Samsung SE-S084. I got three of
them and they work really great. I tried others and they were not so
hot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...g+dvd+external

For the price...one can hardly go wrong.

I've found the NewEgg customer reviews to be helpful and honest

Yes true! Although just a few years back, you couldn't touch one of these
for under 100 bucks. But it seems the more they sell, the more
inexpensive they get. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3


I have two self powere external dvd burners.

The "LG" model works more or less the same as the internals though even on
fast pc I tend to burn no faster than 8x.

I also have a "MadDog" external burner. Of ALL the burners I have (right
now 7 in various pc plust the two externals) it is THE ONLY ONE does
"everything". Specifically, it is the only one capable of both reading and
burning "sub channel" info. In other words, it's the only one I can burn a
Karaoke cd with. Not a big deal unless you have friends into that sort of
thing, ask you to make a copy to then find out your brand new "does
everything" drive actually doesn't.


Thank you, pjp! I just looked at that one, and it does seem to be good--but
pricey.

Jo-Anne

"philo" wrote in message
...
On 04/23/2011 07:41 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my
WinXP netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for
one (installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs)
and have found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to go
by price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what
else should I consider? For example, will all burners work with
WinXP? Is tray loading better than slot loading? Should any brands be
avoided? I'd be grateful for advice.

Thank you!

Hi Jo-Anne! I like those slimline Samsung SE-S084. I got three of them
and they work really great. I tried others and they were not so hot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...g+dvd+external



For the price...one can hardly go wrong.

I've found the NewEgg customer reviews to be helpful and honest


Thank you, Philo! I too like the Newegg customer reviews.

Jo-Anne

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my
WinXP netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for
one (installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs)
and have found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to go
by price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what
else should I consider? For example, will all burners work with
WinXP? Is tray loading better than slot loading? Should any brands be
avoided? I'd be grateful for advice.

Thank you!

Hi Jo-Anne! I like those slimline Samsung SE-S084. I got three of them and
they work really great. I tried others and they were not so hot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...g+dvd+external

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3


Thank you, Bill! I looked at this model at Newegg last night and was
seriously considering it. The only drawback I could find is that it seems to
require two USB ports, which is all I have on my netbook. That would make it
hard to use my mouse. I do have a seven-port USB hub with an adapter to plug
into a wall outlet; but I had trouble with it on my laptop. Seemed like some
external devices worked OK with it and others didn't.

Jo-Anne

On 4/23/2011 11:50 AM, Jo-Anne wrote:
Thank you, Bill! I looked at this model at Newegg last night and was
seriously considering it. The only drawback I could find is that it seems to
require two USB ports, which is all I have on my netbook. That would make it
hard to use my mouse. I do have a seven-port USB hub with an adapter to plug
into a wall outlet; but I had trouble with it on my laptop. Seemed like some
external devices worked OK with it and others didn't.

Hi Jo-Anne! Oh no, don't let the two USB plugs scare you. As I have over
a dozen laptops here and three working netbooks. And I never needed the
second USB for extra power. I wouldn't plug it into any USB 1.1 ports
without a powered hub though. But you won't see any of those ports on
computers newer than 10 years old. Just use the USB plug that has two
wires coming out of it and you should be just fine. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
On 4/23/2011 11:50 AM, Jo-Anne wrote:
Thank you, Bill! I looked at this model at Newegg last night and was
seriously considering it. The only drawback I could find is that it seems
to
require two USB ports, which is all I have on my netbook. That would make
it
hard to use my mouse. I do have a seven-port USB hub with an adapter to
plug
into a wall outlet; but I had trouble with it on my laptop. Seemed like
some
external devices worked OK with it and others didn't.

Hi Jo-Anne! Oh no, don't let the two USB plugs scare you. As I have over a
dozen laptops here and three working netbooks. And I never needed the
second USB for extra power. I wouldn't plug it into any USB 1.1 ports
without a powered hub though. But you won't see any of those ports on
computers newer than 10 years old. Just use the USB plug that has two
wires coming out of it and you should be just fine. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

Thank you again, Bill! Looks like this'll do it, then!

Jo-Anne

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
On 4/23/2011 11:50 AM, Jo-Anne wrote:
Thank you, Bill! I looked at this model at Newegg last night and was
seriously considering it. The only drawback I could find is that it seems
to
require two USB ports, which is all I have on my netbook. That would make
it
hard to use my mouse. I do have a seven-port USB hub with an adapter to
plug
into a wall outlet; but I had trouble with it on my laptop. Seemed like
some
external devices worked OK with it and others didn't.

Hi Jo-Anne! Oh no, don't let the two USB plugs scare you. As I have over a
dozen laptops here and three working netbooks. And I never needed the
second USB for extra power. I wouldn't plug it into any USB 1.1 ports
without a powered hub though. But you won't see any of those ports on
computers newer than 10 years old. Just use the USB plug that has two
wires coming out of it and you should be just fine. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7


Oops, forgot one question: The Samsung S084 now comes in a D version and an
F version (see the webpage you referred me to). I think the F is newer and
perhaps lighter, although I couldn't find anything about it at the Samsung
website, other than a picture. At Newegg, it looks like the DVD-ROM access
time for the F model is a bit faster than for the D (160 ms versus 190). The
price for the F is just a couple dollars more than for the D. Any idea of
which to choose?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

On 4/23/2011 12:36 PM, Jo-Anne wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 4/23/2011 11:50 AM, Jo-Anne wrote:
Thank you, Bill! I looked at this model at Newegg last night and was
seriously considering it. The only drawback I could find is that it seems
to
require two USB ports, which is all I have on my netbook. That would make
it
hard to use my mouse. I do have a seven-port USB hub with an adapter to
plug
into a wall outlet; but I had trouble with it on my laptop. Seemed like
some
external devices worked OK with it and others didn't.

Hi Jo-Anne! Oh no, don't let the two USB plugs scare you. As I have over a
dozen laptops here and three working netbooks. And I never needed the
second USB for extra power. I wouldn't plug it into any USB 1.1 ports
without a powered hub though. But you won't see any of those ports on
computers newer than 10 years old. Just use the USB plug that has two
wires coming out of it and you should be just fine. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7


Oops, forgot one question: The Samsung S084 now comes in a D version and an
F version (see the webpage you referred me to). I think the F is newer and
perhaps lighter, although I couldn't find anything about it at the Samsung
website, other than a picture. At Newegg, it looks like the DVD-ROM access
time for the F model is a bit faster than for the D (160 ms versus 190). The
price for the F is just a couple dollars more than for the D. Any idea of
which to choose?

Thank you again!

Hi Jo-Anne! Yes I noticed this too. Although I did notice something
looking at it again. As the D version will also write to DVDs. While the
F version seems to only read and not write.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

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Jo-Anne,

I would just go and buy a "decent one" that is reasonably priced because
they are all the same and can do almost everything unless you also want
the facility to copy an image on the face of the CD/DVD itself (as seen
on commercial CDs and DVDs). It uses what is called Light-Scribe
Technology but it is not important to play CDs and DVDs.

hth




Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my WinXP
netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for one
(installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs) and have
found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to go by
price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what else should I
consider? For example, will all burners work with WinXP? Is tray loading
better than slot loading? Should any brands be avoided? I'd be grateful for
advice.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne


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I wish to address another point that nobody else seems to address. Depending
on how many DVDs you plan to burn, choosing a full-size high-speed burner (with
an external power supply) might be a better option.
The slim-size one you've been looking at is limited to 8X, for a reason. The
USB can't supply the power for higher speeds, even with two connectors. But the
main point is, that burning many DVDs at such slow speeds is a PITA. Especially
since the advertised 8X is only really 8X at the very end of the DVD; in the
beginning and during most of the time it is in fact 2X, 4X and 6X. And the read
speeds are higher on the big ones too, in case you want to copy or read large
files quickly.
The only limitation on the big drives might be the USB transfer speed. The
16X speed is 22MB/s, while on my laptop USB2 can't achieve more than 20MB/s.
Thus, I can't actually burn at 16X, and do it at 12X. The difference in burn
times is not big between those two, however, as most of the time is spent
burning at slower speeds from 4X up to 12X anyway.
Oh, and apart from reading the customer reviews, avoid SONY drives like the
plague, no matter what the reviews. It helps that they are overpriced, too.


Jo-Anne wrote:
Although I planned to buy an external DVD burner when I purchased my WinXP
netbook in 2009, I didn't do it. Now I have more of a need for one
(installing some software, copying files, playing CDs and DVDs) and have
found an enormous number to choose from.

The advice I received here in 2009 was to check reviews and not to go by
price--that more expensive wasn't necessarily better. But what else should I
consider? For example, will all burners work with WinXP? Is tray loading
better than slot loading? Should any brands be avoided? I'd be grateful for
advice.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

On 4/23/2011 2:54 PM, Patok wrote:
I wish to address another point that nobody else seems to address.
Depending on how many DVDs you plan to burn, choosing a full-size
high-speed burner (with an external power supply) might be a better option.
The slim-size one you've been looking at is limited to 8X, for a reason.
The USB can't supply the power for higher speeds, even with two
connectors. But the main point is, that burning many DVDs at such slow
speeds is a PITA. Especially since the advertised 8X is only really 8X
at the very end of the DVD; in the beginning and during most of the time
it is in fact 2X, 4X and 6X. And the read speeds are higher on the big
ones too, in case you want to copy or read large files quickly.
The only limitation on the big drives might be the USB transfer speed.
The 16X speed is 22MB/s, while on my laptop USB2 can't achieve more than
20MB/s. Thus, I can't actually burn at 16X, and do it at 12X. The
difference in burn times is not big between those two, however, as most
of the time is spent burning at slower speeds from 4X up to 12X anyway.
Oh, and apart from reading the customer reviews, avoid SONY drives like
the plague, no matter what the reviews. It helps that they are
overpriced, too.

I don't disagree with anything you said. Although if you wanted to do a
lot of burning, I don't think you would want to use any USB burner. I
would be using an internal burner instead myself. Don't you think so?

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7