Looking for an External Blu-ray Burner

[markw]

I want to buy an External Blu-Ray reader/burner for my computer and I assume it's best to have FireWire for my Mac but also i want USB since I'll use it on a Windows machine that has USB only.
I have considered the below drive by OWC which is 12x and $349:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...g/MRF8BDSD12X/

I have heard of other brands such as Buffalo but are there other drives I should look at instead that may be cheaper or better? Also, is it better to buy my own drive from a company such as Pioneer or Panasonic and then buy a case separately? If so, which is a good drive or case to look for?

A couple specs I would like to have are most of all, a drive that does not need external power but that seems hard to find.

The other is a slim-drive since it's more portable. It seems they are much harder to find and much more pricy though. I'd like it to replace my current slim-drive which is a dvd burner but if can't find a slim version I'd likely keep it to use for when I'm on the go and need an optical drive.

Also, it seems media is coming down in price but since I'm looking for a good price on blu-ray media, what is a good place to buy from?

Thank you for help with the above questions.