Is an external or internal DVD-RW drive better?

Question

I need to replace my DVD drive, it is not reading my discs and I have tried everything to fix it.
So, I need to know what is better to buy. I want a DVD-rw/CD-RW Combo Burner. I like this Sony external drive that I found for $79.00 but it takes 10GB HD space to run. I am not sure if that is alot more than most or not. If there are any other brands that are better or if internal is better I would like tou know what everyone thinks. Thank you. A price level below $120.00 would be helpful.

Answer 1

The biggest issue is cost, externals are more. To me the only reason to have external is if you have a laptop, or you want to use the drive with more than one computer, else why spend more money and have another part lying around taking up space. There is no major speed difference, but if anything the internals are faster, contrary to what the one guy said. Also, you want to have at least one internal DVD drive to boot from if necessary, so if your burner was the only drive you had, you definately want internal. Here is the drive I would recommend (I own it myself, so I can guarantee its good):http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151136 It has every feature you could want, Lightscribe and DVD-RAM, a very good burner, and only $32. Don't be fooled by the prices at Best Buy and others like it, they overcharge.

Answer 2

An external drive takes 10GB HD space to run ... better read
that again ... the drivers are very small for the software, that
number is not what you think it is, and 10GB these days is
nothing anyway ... I would not worry about it, I think you misread.

I like external drives. They are as fast as you need to go with a DVD/CD drive, and you can move them from computer to computer. Internal drives are a pain in the neck to install or pay to have someone install, and depending on how you arrange your workspace an internal drive can be hard to access physcially if it is under your desk or something, but you can put the external
on your desk or move it.

THe external drives have a lot more flexibility in my opinion.

One other thing to consider is that often you cannot boot from an external drive if you need to reinstall windows. That can be a big deal, but how often do you need to boot and install? Hopefully never.

Answer 3

Hi, I just bought an external DVD RW drive. Like you I wondered which is better external or internal. Firstly let me ask if you are sure the SONY drive requires 10GB HD as usually this is dependent on the what you are trying to burn. I think if you are burning a full movie Dual layer all at once then possibly this is the free space you need to do the burn.

I bought a LG internal drive GSA-H22N but to get best of both worlds it was in an external housing with a USB. I can use it as an external drive or when Im sick of that mount it internally.
It is also a really quick drive 18X and even does 5X RAM. Have a look at LG they have some good drives at very cheap prices. I bought mine off ebay and it came with the external housing and 10 software authoring tools. I bought mine for $85 Australian dollars off ebay...Im sure you can find something similar.

Answer 4

Internal would be faster, cheaper and you don't have to worry about dropping it. External is portable.. (unless you have a laptop that is the only benefit I can think of...).

Answer 5

You should use internal. They support faster burning. You can get a decent one from Lite-On for about 35$, like the one in my sources.

Answer 6

External drives are usually better because they can be faster. Internal drives are usually slower because they have to cram them into a smaller enclosure.

The speed difference might be enough to warrant an external. But at the same time it might be inconvenient.

Answer 7

internal is faster. external it will prolly connect through a firewire port which is considerably slower than EIDE or a PCI card.

Answer 8

internal sata drive would be faster.

Answer 9

internal if you need it to stay in your pc