Just my two cents. I have had luck with a MCEtech product, I think they would not sell it if there was a heat issue with the machine. It would seem the only reason for you to go with the internal DVD-R is for the portability of it. I would consider this: if you're doing your editing at home, get an external, plus at 1x burning speed a DVD is going to take forever w/o even considering how fast the machine can process all of the data (don't know anything about your software). It seems like a lot to put on that little machine. At any rate I would go with the external. Good luck with your decision.