Hesitation between two external DVD burner

hi! I'm about to buy an external DVD burner (don't want to overuse my internal DVD burner on my laptop). So, my choice is between two brand : LG and HP.

LG : http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10107475&catid=
HP : http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10109583&catid=20236

Same price, almost same specs (as far as I know). So the main question would be : is there a better brand between the two?

Also, the HP one seems to support only XP and W2000...? Or is it just a typo? Because I am using Vista and if the HP one really doesn'T support Vista, then the choice will be simple.

Thanks!

 

I would get the LG because it includes both Nero Express and PowerDVD.

I'm not sure what software HP bundles. Also, HP doesn't make optical drives so it will be someone else's burner inside the box.

John

 

I wouldn't worry about over using your internal drive, though a desktop drive will offer better speed and quality.

CDBurnerXP and VideoLAN are both free. They work well as replacements for Nero and PowerDVD.

 

I have good experience with LG drives.

 

use your internal until is dies, which is unlikely. but if it does, then replace it. i think you are wasting your money. you can buy an internal drive on eBay and just slide it in.

If you insist, I say get a SONY. I bought one as a gift and it worked great. Staples type stores (office supply) often have them on sale.

 

Not to hijack but how important would it be to have an external burner? I burn dvd's and cd's quite often and I don't want to burn my internal burner out either. I could drop $60 on one pretty easily and not take a hit to the bank account.

 

But for less than $60 you could buy a new burner for your notebook should it get tired. And maybe next year you can have a Blu-Ray version for $100.

Unless you are doing very large volumes of burning, say more than 10 discs per day, for which a faster external burner would be an advantage (notebook burners don't go above 8x), I would not recommend buying an external unit.

John