You know, I believe the Plextor internal unit that's standard can be gotten independently (perhaps way more cheaply?). As to using another brand in the internal port, I don't know. However, there are external connections for using an external burner. I don't know of any major restrictions as to brand/type. But I would get word from some others on this.
I believe this would mean going through the side panel, leaving it open, and connecting through there. Are you aware that the VF80 has S/PDIF in/out? I would think that's the best and easiest digital connection to an external burner.
But I'm just talking about an external burner that used to be an internal . I just took apart one of my old PC's and have an 8x writer so I thought, why not try it?