Recommendations for DVD/CDRW

[volunteer]

I have temporarily replaced the Sony in a 14 month old pc with a plain cdrom Two months beyond warranty and that with little use. What more dependable brand should I consider? The owner rarely writes to cd or dvd but does want to view photos, videos and occasionally write to the drive.

[stardust59]

I personnally have had good luck using LG and Samsung units ordered from Newegg . They usally are running one or the other on sale with free shipping for around 22 to 25 bucks . On the higher end of the scale try Plextor they are a bit more costly but they tend to have larger buffers and top of the line drive components .

[lenjack]

These have reached the point where any brand name will work well. My preference is Samsung and maybe Liteon, who makes many of the drives for other companies.

[volunteer]

More expensive but I was wondering if I should consider an external so that it could be used between several pc's. Anything to consider for that type of purchase?

[stardust59]

While you can use an external drive data transfer rates tend to be slower than an internal drive . Another problem is that if you have to reload your operating system external drives tend to be a bear to get working as bootable drives . I myself just perfer internal drives besides at today's prices you can buy 2 internel drives for what you would pay for 1 external drive .