Addonics' External Combo DVD/CDRW Drive

Saving a drive slot in your case by combining the functionality of two drives sounds like a good idea. Making the combo drive portable so that it doesn't use any slots could also come in handy, especially if you have multiple computers around the house. If portability and multiple drive functions sound like something you could use, Addonics Technologies' Mobile DVD/CDRW might do the trick. It's an external DVD/CDRW/CD-ROM All-in-One Drive with FireWire, CardBus and USB 2.0 interfaces. The Mobile DVD/CDRW drive features a 12x DVD player, a 12x CDRW burner, and a 40x CD-ROM drive. Addonics bundles the drive with CD mastering software and MPEG-2 decoding software for DVD movie playback. The drive can record data to CDRW media in five modes: Track at Once, Multisession, Disc at Once, Session at Once, and Packet Writing. It's also compatible with eight different multimedia formats, including DVD, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-DA, CD-Bridge, CD-Extra, and Video CD. Depending on the interface used, Addonics says the drive has a data transfer rate from 300-4800 kB/sec and an access speed of 100 m/sec. (32x). The drive measures 10 x 6.2 x 2 inches, and weighs 3.18 pounds. Software drivers are included for Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME, XP, and Mac OS 9.0. No driver is needed for USB or Firewire connection when installed under Windows ME, 2000, and XP. The list price for Mobile DVD/CDRW starts at $399 for the USB 2.0 version.