Need a new DVD writing drive

Hey guys,



To preface this, I'm somewhat of a noob with computers, so I appreciate you taking the time out to help. Basically I got a new computer about two or three months ago - the Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo P, and I'm fairly happy with it, as I got the tops specs for it and bought a few bits and pieces.



The DVD Drive, however, is disappointing me. It's quite slow (around 50 mins to read, copy, and burn a DVD, for example), and is not amazing at reading discs, often encountering Cyclic Redundancy Errors, and so on.



I was wondering if you could suggest me a new DVD writing drive? I've heard good things about the BenQ range, such as the 1620 and the 1640... Are they any good? Can you suggest anything else?



I was also wondering, 'cos I'm not too good with understanding the specs, if the Scaleo P had an empty expansion bay in which I could put the new DVD drive, (i.e. should I buy an external or internal one?)



Many thanks for the help



-Jimmy.

Do you know the model of your current dvd drive? If not, do you know the speeds?

If you are trying to compare dvd time to cd-r time you will get lost in the woods there fast. A dvd disk has a far higher density then your average cd-r/rw used for backups, video and audio cds, and whatever. Often the software used as well as the drive's burn speed control how well and how fast a burn goes. The average cd-r will hold 714mb of data while dvds on the other hand hold upto 4.2gb on average. Instead of the 23min.s when burning a cd you will spend an expected longer time writing a full dvd. It often takes more then a drive to see burns go quicker. The internal ones used here have been Sony while some prefer Lite-On and Plextor. With the costs coming down you can look over a few good models at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SubCategory=5

As far as I'm aware, it's an NEC ND-4551A, and I think it burns DVD-R/+R discs at 16x.

Most dvd burners out now see upto the 16x speed when writing. The read time is about 24x or so on dvd media while cds and cd-rs/rws see upto 52x with some drives claiming 56x. The Artec 56x tried at one point was crap and quit after the 1st week of use. Many concerns about disks becoming brittle after reaching certain speeds has been a drawback seeing faster drives there.

Before you buy anything find out if you got the latest firmware for your drive. Also check for the latest software updates. What program are you using to burn DVD'S?

Generally when you buy a drive retail either online or in a retail store they include a writing software as part of the package. If not many favor NERO over others. Someone lately pointed out DeepBurner which is a freeware. That is currently being looked over here for the next data dvd to see how well it goes. You can get that at http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download