CD, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-RW, Combo Drives Guide
You have just found a great deal on refurbished laptop but it doesn't have CD-RW drive that you would like to use to make regular backups? Or maybe you had bought one and after the time realized, that it would be nice to run this new encyclopedia but your laptop does not have a DVD drive?
If you cannot
find internal drive for your computer and don't need great portability, you can buy one of external
USB 2.0, FireWire or PC Card interface drive available on the market.
Virtually any type of optical drive is manufactured also in external version. From the simplest and the cheapest CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives, through CD-RW and DVD/CD-RW Combo, to the most expensive DVD-RW drives. External drives are more expensive than their internal, desktop computer counterparts, but may be a lot cheaper that integrated optical drives replacements for your laptop.
USB Drives
The most common type of interface in external optical drives is USB 2.0. As virtually every laptop manufactured after year 2001 has at least one, and virtually every notebook manufactured before should have at least USB 1.1 interface, you will probably be able to use such drive with your notebook. If your laptop supports only USB 1.1, you are still able to use external drives, but with a speed limited to 1.5MB/s, which is equivalent to 10x CD-ROM speed.
To check what type of USB interface does your computer support, use this tool:
Intel USB System Check.
FireWire Drives
If you are considering buying drive with FireWire interface, make sure that your computer supports it. Although most new computers have FireWire integrated, your refurbished laptop can lack it. There are PC Card to FireWire adapters available but the total cost of drive and adapter would be much higher that the cost of much better USB interface drive.
Many drives supports both USB and FireWire interfaces or more often come in two versions, so you can choose the one with interface you need.
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