External DVD burner for TZ90

I was just wondering if any of you guys buy an external dvd writer to go with the TZ90.

I was contemplating the smooth and slick panasonic writer from conics website. But it was too costly. I heard the other day from one of my friend that Plextor came out with a new one in US market.

Also, do any of you guys know that the panasonic writer just works on single usb cable, instead of traditional two usb cables one for power and other for the drive. I think it would be cool if the writer had only one cable, merely because of the fact TZ90 has only two usb slots....

What do you guys think....

 

Yes, Im thinking too. because the model I ordered was 32GB+160GB HDD one. So I guess I need an external DVD-reader/writer to do some basic installation. I've checked the ebay, etc. I see that Samsung slim external one looks nice. Or, I might just get a real-cheap one.

BTW: Are all of these external slim drives all bootable? provided that I set them up USB-bootable in the TZ bios?

 

When you choose 160GB HDD 5400 rpm option (like in your case if I am not mistaken), you have an additional USB slot at the right side of your TZ. So you have 3 USB slots. But for your concerns, I think that a CD/DVD recorder powered by only one USB slot simply doesn't exist. The USB interface delivers 5 watts at the maximum, that is not enough to record an optical disc.
Personally, I bought the Plextor PX-608CU/T3 . It is probably the world's lightest external DVD Burner (only 250g / 0.55lb).

A good question ! But I don't know. It's probably a matter of TZ's BIOS firmware. FYI, you must not connect the drive on a USB HUB (docking stations contain one) to have the possibility to boot from your drive. I also know that the Plextor PX-608CU/T3 boot on Sony UX so probably with TZ too.

 

wow, that Plextor looks very nice. But a bit expesive..

 

I bought the mine in brand new condition on eBay for 53 Euros / $71 USD (delivery fees included)

 

Pepito? you meant you bought Plextor? or just unbranded one?

 

Great recommendations guys... But when I researched on the net (i am not sure where i saw it) the panasonic writer literally showed me only one cable and so I got confused.

I am thinking to buy the plextor writer, as panasonic is too costly for my budget, but it is quite sexy and slim.

Are you really sure that TZ90 has three usb hubs if you opt for the SSD+160 GB HDD combo. If this is true, then it would be nice.

Click on this link to see what i am talking about...

http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=83

 

According to conics that panasonic drive is one cord and is powered by usb.

Panasonic compact Bootable*(on all R2/R3/T2/R4/T4/R5/T5/W5/Y5/R6),
Bus-powered DVD-RW Model : LF-P968C [dual layer burner]
(no need for AC adapter!)

And Akihabara News also mentions it being usb powered.
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-13530-Panasonic+update+their+portable+DVD+player-burner.html

 

Yeah, I confirmed it with Conics. USB powered by 1 USB cord.

 

Have they tried to burn a CD or DVD with only 1 USB cord?

 

I'll ask next time Brett is online, or you can query him yourself: http://conics.net/catalog/skype.html

 

I confirm. I have 160gb HDD and three usb ports

 

on a sidenote, how come you guys want a DVD?

I am quite happy that I can get a TZ without DVD. My current notebook has a DVD and I seem to use it less and less. Instead I use external harddrives and usb sticks.

 

There are several reasons why for me an onboard DVD is a must:

1. I'm oftne travelling for periods in the third world where I need to be able to back up photos/videos to mail home for safe kepping and its usually easy to find a DVD to burn but not always a high capacity USB stick.

2. When I am in those countries I like to buy cheap DVDs for more relaxing entertainment some nights in my hotel room and in no way want to carry an extra drive of any sort in my backpack

3. With work, there are often times when I need to install/reinstall specific programs while on the road related to our presentation software and hardware - plus we use DVD for distributing electronic presentations (they are cheaper than USB sticks for mass distribution)

 

I considered the SSD version because it's completely silent, which I'm a huge fan of. Secondly it doesn't generate heat. There's the issue of no moving parts but nothing about moving parts bother me except for the fact that it makes sounds.

Getting a second 160gig hard drive would defeat the purpose of getting the ssd model for me... Besides, I'll be using my TZ for on the go or on the side usage, so it won't be my main computer such that I'd have to be worried about the size of the ssd.

 

same reason for me. it is also a lot more convenient to have a built in DVD when on the go. and also, it is a lot cheaper and more travel friendly to get a very small external HDD like the western digital passport then it is to get an external DVD drive. but hey, if you almost never use the DVD drive, then opt for the 2nd hard drive. all our uses are different, so it only makes sense for sony to give us choices.

 

Yes a genuine/original Plextor PX-608CU/T3 !

 

nice... I just havent seen any cheap deals yet !!!!! They all seemed to be around 99USD !! :-( even the cheap unbranded ones are about 50USD..

 

If you can afford the TZ, you can afford another 100

 

jc4ho, yes u are right, though.. haha. but If i could save some I shall try that.

 

I ordered the sony vaio tz with just the 160gb and no dvd drive. For me since I hardly ever use the dvd burner/drive on the go, I decided to use the 160gb 5400rpm. Even though that's not the new technology it should be more than fast enough for me for everything. When the 64gb ssd becomes cheaper say around 200-300 range i'll pick one up then and just install it in myself. And by then i'll install vista on the ssd drive and keep the main programs running on the ssd drive but keep the 160gb to store movies, pictures, data and etc just like an extra space, well actually while i'm inside the tz i'll just swap the 160gb out for a hitachi travelstar 7k200 for 200gb with the 7200rpm speed with the drive that gives out about the same heat as a 5400rpm or even less. I own the 7k200 on my macbook pro and its awesome, very fast and keeps cool, which I feel is more usable and more handy than the dvd drive, well at least for me.

One thing is that the external plextor drives.. they'll work if you boot say a windows xp or vista disc via usb to reinstall?

 

jjsshik32, I think it should be bootable in most cases. This is because I have hardly seen anyone complaning about their external DVD. So I think I will just get about 60-80USD one from ebay.

BTW: I have not seen anyone manually installing SSD into TZ. In fact when I looked at some photos, it looks like you will have to take sony apart urself + take out the brand new SSD case + frame it + somehow connect to ZIF cable + screw it (the screws dont look normal + or - , they had star shapes)

Plus, 64GB 1.8" SSD will be very expensive, at least till end of this year I belive.

Thus, I bought SSD+160GB :=)

 

All the parts inside the TZ are standard. All the screws are philips screws. The machine is actually easy to take apart if you have the guts to do it. I have already replaced my 2nd HD with a 7200 rpm one and my Wireless card which is now AGN instead of ABG. I am planning on upgrading my ssd once the 64 gigs come out.

I wouldn't recommend opening the laptop if you have no experience with computer hardware. I have been in the computer game for over 18 years so it was a walk in the park for me.

 

Hi Balto, but I still have not seen ppl replacing their SSD for TZ.
For 2.5" HDD, you can.
BTW, this TZ would be my 5th laptop and every laptop was opened completely and exchanged fans/heatsinks,hdds, etc. So I dont see any reason for me to open TZ and install stuffs. But currently, I dont have any time to fiddle around :-(.

 

I'm pretty sure when the time comes to install that ssd drive its going to be a similar experience as to installing a 2.5" harddrive maybe even easier. I dont know what an zif cable looks like but i'm sure in a minute I can figure out how to just plug that sucker in =) and i've only had experiences with opening up macbook pro's and powerbooks but I found a thread somewhere here, where a guy opened his tz up and already listed where all the screws were and should be easy enough. As for the star shaped screw, I think I know which one it is.. I have the whole star screw set dont know what its called but I have all the set that goes on a electric screw driver.

 

There is no reason to change out the ssd yet since 32gig is really the only one on the market that is a reasonable price. I have swapped in ssd zif drives for other ultra portable laptops like the asus u1f which was a zif connector. it was not hard at all

Zerodays, sounds like you know what you are doing... The two after market upgrades I did on my laptop were very much worth it. The upgrade to the agn card was a great idea, the wireless range is soooooo much better.

 

I do believe the connector for the SSD drive is PATA, not SATA. So if you're looking to replace it with a bigger cap, it would need to be a 1.8" SSD with PATA. It seems that 1.8" is more expensive than 2.5" SSD drives with the same capacity.

 

so 2.5" sata ssd can be used in place of the sata hd?

 

Let's get this thread back on topic. I'm looking into DVD burners for a TZ90. There seems to be confusion about whether all external DVD drives are bootable.

Can anyone answer this question once and for all conclusively?

 

Do you want a portable one or do you want one with external adapter?

I've got an LG GSA-E40N. It's with ext. adapter and boots well.

 

I'm thinking about buying the sony drxs50u external dvd burner and was wondering if the sony vaio tz could use this external drive to reinstall windows?

 

what do you guys think about the sony vgp ddrw4?

 

I was curious as to why the sony vgp ddrw4 so expensive compared to the drxs50u? Is it due to its size? or performance maybe the firewire is better? will firewire work when installing windows or any other os while under dos like will it pick it up?

 

oh wellz I just went ahead and ordered the vgp-ddrw4 =D

 

LG released two new portable USB powered drives

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/cd-writers/lg-gsa-e50l/

50L looks sexy imo.

 

yep sexy, and hot. But the price is a bit expensive..

 

are there cheaper usb powered ones?

 

yes, those cheap ones from ebay, i saw many of them advertized as 'usb power' , (but someof them still come with adaptor lol!!)
but obviously i have not used them before....

 

yeah i thought for a retail price 89 euros for the LG one is already cheap.

eBay is a different ballgame though.

 

That's not even the price. There's no price supplied for the E50L, price shown in pounds is actually for lower-end E40L.

 

Well, my Samsung also has both AC power and USB power, but reportedly most of these units can be powered off just one port, just like my FreeAgent Pro drive.

 

Is it just me, or do shiny things have no appeal, other than using them as a way to catalogue fingerprints?

 

I love shiny things I saw a Sony CR11 yesterday. Nice!

 

I got my sony ddr4w and its awesome!! well worth the price and using firewire is very very fast!! =D

 

Fully powered via the port?

 

sadly no but I dont mind it runs much fassster on its own power cord =) and its small too so =)

 

can it run at all without the powercord? say if i just wanted to access a DVD, and not burn a disc.

 

My Samsung can't run by itself either. DVD drives must be very power hungry.

 

man but this firewire makes it well worth it.. i installed ubuntu on my tz and osx =D and it all picked up the firewire just fine even under osx!!!