Most of your modern DVD burners will be comparable in performance. I've used HP, Samsung and Plextors. eSata is for using an external that has SATA connections...supposedly faster than USB. SATA II is the upcoming faster version of SATA..note there aren't too many things out there yet with SATA II. Your computer will use either SATA or IDE..SATA is a tidier connection, speeds are thought to be the same as IDE or slightly faster. Given the choice, I use SATA connections.