Hi everyone, merry Christmas and all that (bah, humbug).
I'm looking to buy (you guessed it) an eternal DVD-RW drive for my notebook in the January sales.
I know I have a choice between USB and Firewire - does either offer an advantage over the other?
And will my 4-pin Firewire connector work with a normal Firewire drive?
The REASON I'm getting it is because my internal drive is pretty slow, so this one needs to be fast.
I'd like it to support DVD+/-R/RW and DVD+/-R DL.
Basically everything, but DVD-RAM isn't important to me as I never use it.
I'd ideally like it to be pretty small and quiet too, and perhaps silver, but performance and features take precedence over looks and size.
So, does anyone have any recommendations?
Brands, models etc., and a price ESTIMATE please - remember I'm in the UK, so UK retailers and prices in GBP so I don't have to work too hard converting the prices.
Thanks in advance, and if I need to supply more info let me know.
Calum.USB 2 is about the same as firewire so no real advantage to that, and most EXTERNAL drives have USB conncectivity, so I would go that way.

So, if it is a USB 2 connection you are good to go. (Your next machine may not have firewire anyway.)

Any major maker should be fine. Check the reviews at www.newegg.com or other sites for actual USER opinions. I am not in the UK so can't advise on that.OK thanks, was just wondering if there was an advantage to Firewire.
I'm off to www.dabs.com for the January sales (starts 10am boxing day :-?)
Strange.
Anyway, I should be able to pick up a good deal there.OK, what does everyone think of these three drives?
An LG drive with Lightscribe
A Lite-On drive
A Freecom drive
All around the same sort of price, same speeds, same supported media.
Is there any advantage to any of the three?
I don't need Lightscribe.
Also, money isn't a problem, but I'd prefer not to spend more than I have to, ie if there's no advantage to the most expensive one I'd prefer the cheapest one.
Any thoughts on the three mentioned?
Any other models I should consider?
Thanks in advance for your opinions.
Edit: Links fixed.  Sorry about that.OK, sorry to do this, but . . . *bump*.*Bump* Bump* Anybody know a good bump bump joke?

Bump! Bump! Who's There?

PeckerWood

PeckerWood Who?

PeckerWood The Bird DumbA$$ed Cat!

I liked A Lite-On Drive.

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=48QX&CategorySelectedId=11155&NavigationKey=11155,4294959458,40210000,354900000&v=2#infoarea
Either of the first two.  Oh dear, someone's messing with my links . . . it's not me . . .
Hold on, I'll get the right links.
Edit: Links above fixed.  Sorry.I have alwys had good luck with LiteOn.So even if the LINK was wrong........

I still pick LiteOn.

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=459G&CategorySelectedId=11155&NavigationKey=11155,4294959458,40210000,354900000&v=2#infoareaI like Lite-On too, my internal drive is Lite-On and I've had no trouble with it other than the slow speed, but that's because it's a notebook drive.
Plus, that's the cheapest and it looks pretty good too.
So I think I'll go with that one.Just wanted to say thanks to everyone.
I bought the Lite-On and it works great, looks good, it's quiet, fast and I've had no problems.
I even recommended it to a friend.
So thanks for the advice guys.