Internal Vs. External DVD Drive

Internal and external DVD drives have their own strengths and weaknesses.

There are more differences between external and internal DVD drives than just how they are installed on a computer, and there is no way to say that one is decidedly "better" than the other. Depending on your personal needs, an external or internal drive might be the right drive for you.

Convenience

External drives are far easier to set up than their internal counterparts. Installing an internal drive requires that the computer be shut down and opened, and the installation of the drive itself can be confusing to computer novices. An external drive, on the other hand, just needs to be plugged in via a firewire or USB port. If you need a drive, but don't know how to install one, an external drive might be your best option.

Speed

While external drives are easier to install, they do not run as fast as internal drives. An external drive is usually solely powered by the USB cable, and data transfer speeds on USB are slower than those that use internal connections. Most external DVD drives usually cannot burn DVDs at speeds faster than 8x, while some internal drives can burn DVDs at 48x speed.

Portability

Obviously, an external drive is more portable than an internal one. If you are going to be primarily working from home on a desktop computer, this might not matter to you. However, if you have multiple computers, or if you do a lot of work on the road with a laptop, then the added convenience of a portable external DVD drive might make it the ideal choice.

References

• CNet Reviews: Storage

Resources

• TechLore: Understanding the Different Types of Recordable DVDs