The Sony DRXS7OU/R External Portable Slim-Line USB 2.0 DVD Drive is a good choice for burning DVDs from your Laptop.

the external drive performed correctly right out of box. I found it to be easy to set up, and came with an AC adapter, and USB cable. Windows XP recognized the device immediately. It was [...]

The Slimline USB External Dual layer DVD + RW drive was initially well worth the money I paid for it. This slimline is plug and play and is very easy to set up using the provided USB cable.
This defiantly lives up to the name “slimline” and is very portable. I [...]

The Slimline USB External CDROM CDRW combo drive is a good deal for the money. this is a lesser known brand as such is less expensive than the top named brands. The unit is easy to set up and is basically a plug and play unit using the provided USB cable.
One of the [...]

I found the SAMSUNG Gray and Black to be a Great drive. It works well and doesn’t require an external power supply, which makes it very portable and perfect for a netbook. I really like the slim, attractive design and it runs very quietly. It is compact enough to tuck into a laptop bag [...]

The Samsung 2 tone 8x is more expensive than some other models, but it does work very well and it includes lightscribe which works really well and adds a professional touch. The unit is slim but a bit heavier than other external drives. The weight also means that it feels more sturdy and durable, [...]

For the most part, I am very pleased with The Lite-On ESAU208 External Slim DVD Writer. It is very lightweight, easy to install, and attractive while performing many important functions for me.

I did have some problems playing DVD movies (which was to be its main function for me). After contacting both the Lite-On and [...]

I found the LG GP08NU10 to be a really light weight DVD player/burner. I actually weighed it on my postal scale and it was only 12 oz. It also has the option of either black or white, which find to be really nice. When doing my preliminary research, I did find that Newegg.com offers only [...]

Depending on the software you are using, an external DVD burner can make photo discs, read only music or audio CDs, burn home movies, create back up copied of a media library, read re-writable discs, play DVD movies or CDs, convert formats, back up data files, create karaoke discs, share slideshows, print unique disc labels [...]

First, you need to consider how your external DVD drive will be used. This will help you determine what format your drive will support. The more advanced models support various formats such as DVD+R, DVD-R and dual DVD.
You also need to make sure external drive will be compatible with your computer. You can check [...]

Most external drives are powered by USB ports. Some come with Y cables in order to access two ports in order to increase speed. There are also a few that are powered by a regular AC power adaptor.