External Hard Drive or External dvd burner

I may be leaving overseas for a year and am contemplating what I should bring for additional storage with my ibook g4. I currently use an external hard drive but do not want to take it with me b/c it's my backup drive. I am thinking of either purchasing another external hard drive but am worried about whether it is unsafe to be carrying it around when I travel. My other consideration is an external dvd burner but I cannot afford a Lacie as been recommended through my research. Will I be able to use any external dvd burner w/o a hitch?

Advice Please!

Well a burner will be quite a bit bulkier... I'd suggest one of those 2,5" portable harddrives that run without a power supply right off your firewire connection. (I've seen mixed results with the USB enclosures..).

The burner takes up more space & you'll have to store the DVD's somewhere too.

Depending on where you're going, you can also just consider getting them burnt for you. Most convenience stores over here have memory card-> CD burning services that you can use for a few €'s. Online storage might be another alternative to consider, providing you have access to a fast internet connection.

what are the things to look for when purchasing one of those 2.5" portable harddrives that run without a power supply right off your firewire connection?

Thinking of getting one cos the 60Gb in the iBook is filling up "close to the brim". Any suggestions guys/ girls?

Thanks in advance