WRITERS External DVD Writers connect to a PC either via USB 2.0 or FireWire (IEEE 1394) or both. These are plug and play devices, and so do not need the PC to be shut down before they can be plugged in. Also, they need an external power supply, and ship with an AC adapter.
Like we've mentioned, external DVD Writers are not as popular with the average home user because they cost a lot more than their internal counterparts,
while not offering any extra features. These drives are primarily meant for small offices, where people would want to connect them to different machines for backups.
We received four drives in this category: the BenQ EW1621, Lite On SHW 1635SU, Plextor PX716UF, and the Sony DRX 80OUL.
Features
Most external DVD Writers are in fact internal writers encased in a rugged casing, and with external connectivity. Thus, the LiteOn SHW 1635SU is the same as the Lite On SHW 1635S, the Plextor PX 716UF is the PX 716A, and the Sony DRX 80OUL is the DRX800A. The internal versions of the first two of these the SHW1635S and the PX 716A have been featured in the previous section. The external versions, naturally, have many of the same features.
Traditionally, external DVDWriters have been a generation behind the internal writers, and were slower. Not any more. The external drives featured in this test boasted of the highest write speeds of 16x for DVD R and DVD+R, just like the internal drives. The exception to the rule was the BenQEW 1621, which has been around for a long time.
It supported only 4x write speeds for DVD+RW, as against 8x supported by the other drives. It also lacked support for the DVD R DL format.
Interfaces
The BenQ and Lite On drives had only the USB 2.0 interface, while the Plextor and Sony featured both the USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) as well as the FireWire (400 Mbps) interface. The drives are backward compatible with USB 1.1. All the drives shipped with the cables for the supported standards, as well as the power adapters.
Physical Considerations
All the drives had rugged build quality, and we couldn't decide which was better. The Sony and
Plextor drives sported killer looks. The BenQ:s casing had perforations to aid ventilation this is very helpful in Indian conditions.
All the drives except the Lite On shipped with stands to help keep them upright a vertically placed drive helps save valuable PC desk space.
EZ-DUB
A unique feature on the LiteOn drive was the EZ DUB function. The drive ships with EZ DUB software from Ulead, which is a CD/DVD burning and data backup software. After you install it, the software detects whether you have an EZ DUB compatible drive, and sits quietly in the System Tray. Most of the EZ DUB functionality comes from the software, but the drive, too, has two extra buttons on the top that make it even easier to burn DVDs (or CDs).
The 'File' button launches the EZ DUB software, and a Wizard helps you drag and drop files you wish to write to disc, to the EZ DUB main window. When you are done selecting the files, you press 'File' again to burn the compilation. The 'Dub' button is for making a 1:1 disc copy.
