Lite-On's got a new external USB DVD burner that's great for travel, thanks to its slim figure.
The eTAU108 measures 5.4 inches wide, 6.2 inches long and 1 inch thick, and loads from the top instead of using a slide-out tray. It's USB-powered, so there's no need for external power, and the whole thing weighs 0.8 pounds.
What this amounts to is a DVD burner that'd be perfect for travel, especially with a netbook or other PC that lacks an optical drive. Like Liliputing, I'm happy that most netbooks don't pack these drives in, because otherwise it'd make the computer heavier, more expensive and more liable to break with the added moving parts.
Still, it's nice to have an option that's not particularly burdensome for road warrors. With the power delivered through USB cable, you could even place the eTAU108 under your computer on an airplane and watch movies.
That's not to say I'd buy one of these. More often than not, I'm finding that optical drives are less relevant to my computing experience. I can't even remember the last time I used the DVD burner at my desk, which means I'm in no rush to replace it even though it's big, slow and noisy.
Burn speeds are 8x for DVD-R/+R and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-R/+R DL, 5x for DVD-RAM and 24x for CD-R/RW. U.S. availability for the ETau108 isn't clear, but the player sells for 45 Euros (roughly $65).
