Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cangel]

I am looking for an external DVD burner that must be able to burn DVD+R DL. I would like to purchase one online here in Korea as I do not live in a big city. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Hindsight]

Here's what I got:

http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=129675241

Back home it was easy to find a case for a full size dvd burner that would ordinarily go inside a desktop. Here, it's not so easy to find, and unnecessary. Just get this connector and an internal drive.

I bought a LiteOn back home, with a SATA connector for about $20. then I hooked up the SATA side of the connector and the power supply that came with the NEXT connector. I put it on top of my computer speaker. It is nice and quiet and steady.

I don't know if you can get LiteOn here. I saw that one of the Sony DVDs back in the States was a rebadged LiteOn. I use this connected to my laptop instead of the internal; it is faster at reading and writing and probably more reliable. And with a good internal you can update the firmware - I can't do this with the internal Samsung drive that came with my laptop. This helps the drive match up the burning specs with new disks.

So, just scan through the ODD - optical disk drives - on gmarket:

http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_category/category.asp?gdmc_cd=200001099&link_type=LIST&search_err=

Obviously, there's lots of LG and Samsung drives for 30kw or so. Maybe someone can give you more specific advice.

You know, if you find a model number, you can look it up on google for specs in English.

[cangel]

Thanks a lot for the information and should I be unable to find a USB external burner, I will have to go with setup you suggested. That first ODD for 31KW looks pretty sweet with DL capability as well as lightscribe. Thanks again for the info.

[Hindsight]

Let the rest of us know what you decide on and how it works out.

With netbooks, more people are going to need external DVD burners. I didn't go through the gmarket stuff closely, but I've seen what they are selling in the States, too. One option is the thin form drive like they have in laptops - perhaps with a case? But they are more expensive, and their read write time is not as fast as a full size burner. But they would be the way to go with a netbook if you were carrying it around.

I just leave my laptop on the desk mostly. I like a bigger DVD drive for reliability of burning and speed. It's all too easy to get data errors on DVDs, so a good burner is important. Plus sometimes a desktop at school might not have a functioning CD/DVD drive, so you could hook it up there.

The NEXT connector, I should mention, will connect to any type drive, hard drive or DVD, IDE or SATA. So it could come in handy for other uses. I'm glad I got it.

[cangel]

So using an internal drive externally and without housing isn't a problem? I would assume, since it has a pretty decent rotational speed, that it may have to be anchored a bit? The stand-alone optical drives look snazzy but, as you stated, are more expensive and usually with lower performance specs. Anyway, I'll keep up the search and see what I can turn up in my cowtown. Thanks

[Hindsight]

I can't speak for every drive, but my LiteOn is quiet and stable. I have it sitting on a flat-topped computer speaker, with a patch of that non-skid ridged rubber stuff for good measure. It hasn't gone anywhere.

Have you seen a case for a DVD drive? The main function the case provides is providing the power supply and power cord. It also looks nice. But it is going to add weight if you need to carry it around. Some might include a fan for cooling.

The connectors are the same as a hard drive but you can't use a hard drive case because the DVD drawer has to open.

People used to buy these things back in the States because computers came with CD drives, so they would sometimes add the DVD drive externally.

I was astonished to learn that there are still desktop computers with only CD drives in use here, in schools, by teachers at home, etc. The desktop I bought back home in 2000 had a DVD writer, and the laptop I bought in 2001 had a DVD reader. The DVD writer internal drives go for 30 kw retail, and have been dirt cheap for years. So the computer sellers here have got to be awful cheap to put in a CD drive. Just this past year they've been replacing the desktops at school with ones with DVD drives. But it makes me wonder what other cheapo components are inside these school computers.