I own a Dell desktop PIII-450 with 256 RAM and a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop..P 1.8g with 512 Ram which are networked....I am planning to buy a DVD burner and am wondering if the desktop PC will be adequate to operate one as the cost for an internal burner is much less than for an external one....also are there any features or brands that should absolutely consider or anything else to know?....Thanks in advance!
Your desktop is on the very low end for burning DVDs but folks with similar specs have had success. I'd recommend shutting down all other apps in order to leave as much system resources free as possible for the process. It'd help out alot if you chucked in another 256MB stick of RAM. As for features I'd definitely recommend a dual format burner so your not limited to burning either "+" or "-" only. Dual layer drives are now available with which you can back up an entire DVD-9 movie without needing compression. The downside is that currently the media is frighteningly expensive - in the order of $7 to $10 apiece. Brands to look for would be Pioneer or Plextor. Pioneer is the best price/performance choice and Plextor is the one to get if you want the best and have a little extra cash to throw around. One point to consider is that you can always try an internal burner first and if it doesn't work out you can pick up an external enclosure and use the drive with your laptop
