Heartland

Unfortunately the CD drive on my laptop seems to have packed up (apologies to anyone waiting for weeds / trades from me at the moment).

I need access to my computer right now so I'm reluctant to put it in for repair, instead I thought I would buy an external drive to tide me over. I'm hoping some of you lovely people can give some advice on manufacturers or models to consider (or avoid)...

I'm looking for a CD rewriter, preferably with DVD-ROM capability (strangely, the drive in my laptop still seems to play most DVD's OK). I had considered a DVD rewriter but this would be a luxury rather than a necessity as I have a standalone DVD recorder.

I'm on quite a tight budget as I have to replace my washing machine as well (don't ask...) - ideally I'd be looking to spend less than £50 - £60.

Some of the ones I've looked at so far include:

http://dabs.com/uk/channels/components/ ... klinx=3471
(recently bought an Iomega external HDD which seems pretty reliable so far)

http://dabs.com/uk/channels/components/ ... klinx=2CCT
Philips - good make?

http://dabs.com/uk/channels/components/ ... klinx=2HMG
Never used Freecom - any good?

http://dabs.com/uk/channels/components/ ... klinx=2SDG
Lacie's DVD rewriter got a pretty good review in the latest PC Pro mag...

http://dabs.com/uk/channels/components/ ... klinx=3FX7

http://dabs.com/uk/channels/components/ ... klinx=351R
Cheap & cheerful but product page doesn't give many specs...

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

I have an Iomega 12x Super DVD writer (external) which I'm very happy about (it handles every standard out there: DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM and it comes with tons of software) I think they've seriously dropped in price recently... they also have an external DVD-ROM/CD writer combo ... Here's what I found:

It seems you can get a 16x external DVD writer for £95-£100

http://www.iomega-europe.com/eu/Product ... DVD16xDual

A CD-RW 52x24x52x/DVD-ROM 16x USB 2.0 external drive for £50-60

http://www.iomega-europe.com/eu/Product ... RW52xcombo