powerbook

I need an external DVD burner for my Mac laptop, but the only one I'm certain will work is a Lacie--one of the more expensive ones, considering I merely want to backup my MP3s. Here's my two-part question: Do the system requirements on the box refer to the burner itself or only the included...

So is there any way that I could change the settings so that when I close my powerbook it continues to operate normally. For example, if I were doing rather intensive operations, could I set it so that I could close the display and it would not sleep?

I seem to have a problem with my two-and-a-half-year-old Powerbook battery - it charges to ~34%, and then stops (sometimes the reading jumps directly to 100% at this point). I'm not getting anything like the battery life I'd expect, obviously. Are there any utilities for refreshing the battery...