Questions: USB Blu-Ray Writers - Pawtec or Samsung

[blue_justice]

Hi Everybody,

I have finally decided that I "need" a Blu-ray writer, as I have come to the realization that I am running out of HDD rather quickly space due an accumulation of ISOs. I have been looking at a Blu-ray writer for quite some time now, but I am going to need an external writer, as my desktop is really, really old (think over decade), and my laptop is many time more powerful and better suited for the task.

I know that I should probably avoid slim drives, but the issue is that the only writers that seem to be in my price range (>$110) seem to be of the slim variety. Right now I am debating the pros and cons of two different writers, the one being this Pawtec USB 3.0 writer and the other being this Samsung SE-506BB/TSBD USB 2.0. It would seem from looking at the specifications alone that the Pawtec is the better of the two, and having USB 3.0 functionality would be of great utility, but has anyone here used Pawtec products before or heard anything about them? I am also running an exclusively Linux system, but that shouldn't be much of an issue.

I wouldn't mind going with the Samsung writer, but if there is a USB 3.0 writer of equitable build quality in the same price range I would rather side with that option. I am not really sure that I should go with either if my end goal is archiving -- another reason that I would like to burn a lot of my collection to blu-ray. So my question is two fold:

1. Should I purchase an external, USB powered Blu-Ray writer? If not what is the alternative?
2. If I should go with a USB powered writer, which should I go with, the Pawtec writer, or the Samsung writer?

Thank you very much for your time.

[blue_justice]

I have also found Vinpower External Blu-ray Read/Writer. It isn't a slim writer and seems to have everything that I need, but I don't really have any familiarity with the brand either.

[lordsmurf]

I'm still looking into this.

- Slim drives are historically not good drive, and I don't think that's changed.
- Using USB 2.0 is also too slow. It's much faster than burning DVDs or CDs was.
- The old computer is also likely too slow and old.
- An eSATA or Firewire 800 enclosure for optical drives would be more ideal, with a good "desktop" drives like Pioneer.

What kind of connections do you have? Only USB 3.0? (higher than USB2)

EDIT:

The Vinpower is an LG drive from 2011. I'd instead get one of the actual LG branded drives from 2013:
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...&tag=thdifa-20
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136260

Or an Acer:
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...&tag=thdifa-20

Or better yet, forget LG. Here's a Buffalo: -- which might be a non-LG rebadge, hard to tell.
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...&tag=thdifa-20

[blue_justice]

Thanks for the reply. I have two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 ports on my Mecer ultrabook. The Buffalo player definitely seems doable. In terms of burn quality when burning Verbatim media would you say that it would be suitable for archiving? In your experience has Buffalo been reliable? Thank you so much for the assistance.