Topic: need burner advice

[jkbyram]

the time has come that both my pc burners are shitting the bed and i need new ones.  does anyone here have more than one burner in their tower and burn multiple copies at once? what burners do you recommend. i have had lite on before and was happy, what is the current hot brand everyone is liking?

[OFOTD]

the time has come that both my pc burners are shitting the bed and i need new ones.  does anyone here have more than one burner in their tower and burn multiple copies at once? what burners do you recommend. i have had lite on before and was happy, what is the current hot brand everyone is liking?

IMO, Lite On is still the best option out there.  Certain LG drives have been performing well also.  Most if not all Sony branded drives are rebranded with Sony's name on them and quality is hit or miss with them.  Plextor is out of the business but have some drives with their name on them.

If you want to spend some time researching new drives check out http://www.cdfreaks.com

[jkbyram]

the time has come that both my pc burners are shitting the bed and i need new ones.  does anyone here have more than one burner in their tower and burn multiple copies at once? what burners do you recommend. i have had lite on before and was happy, what is the current hot brand everyone is liking?

IMO, Lite On is still the best option out there.  Certain LG drives have been performing well also.  Most if not all Sony branded drives are rebranded with Sony's name on them and quality is hit or miss with them.  Plextor is out of the business but have some drives with their name on them.

If you want to spend some time researching new drives check out http://www.cdfreaks.com

thanks!!

[Gordon]

I have a sata samsung and when it works it works great.  just seems a bit finicky.  about anything will do today with prices at $25 or so from newegg.

[willndmb]

pioneer
my 2x still runs like a champ

[KenH]

Plextor is out of the business but have some drives with their name on them.

No kidding... Plextor doesn't make CDRW drives anymore ?   Since when ?  Looking at their site, I don't see any, though some DVD burners also do CD's.

[jkbyram]

just ordered a lite on. cheap and should do what i need.

[OFOTD]

Plextor is out of the business but have some drives with their name on them.

No kidding... Plextor doesn't make CDRW drives anymore ?   Since when ?  Looking at their site, I don't see any, though some DVD burners also do CD's.

Plextor got out of the consumer market about a year or so ago.  They do still (I think) sell some drives but they are rebranded drives.

For the most part there are very few actual manufactirers of CD/DVD drives.  There are the few major brands (LiteOn, LG, etc) but otherwise alot are just rebranded drives.  Sony is big on not making many if any at all anymore with the exception of their BluRay drives.

Something to consider as well when buying a drive.  Just because the market allows $25 drives out there you are always better off spending a few ore bucks on a quality drive.   Especially if you burn master backups and the like.   What's $5 -$10 more bucks for a quality drive?   Its more that just how long will it last but more of what kind of quality burns will it make. 

Also I provided the link to CD Freaks above.  They have a very good section of drive firmware upgrades.  Everything from OEM firmwares to hacked firmwares.   Basically the firmware updates not only help with the quality of the burns themselves but also allow for better matching with different media.   

   

[KenH]

Interesting... been having problems with a Plextor USB CD/DVD burner that's < 2 years old... too many coasters from that thing.   My older Plextor USB CD burner with the bullet proof aluminum casing still works great though.  I wonder if the newer burner is a rebranded version.

[itook2much]

I have a SONY DVD-RW drive.  Actual SONY, not rebranded.  Bought it because I have a SONY PC, & I've had the least issues using actual SONY drives.  First one lasted thousands of DVDs & CDs before starting to act up.

Replaced it with an LG.  Nothing but trouble.  Within a few months, had to replace it.  Got a SONY again, not one coaster since (couple years).

Paid $70 for the SONY, $25 for the LG.  Often, you get what you pay for.

[kskreider]

I have a NEC at work (formerly my home PC) that is 5+ years old and still SOLID.  The back up is a Plextor CDRW.

Here at home I have a Lite-On which rocks and a Sony that was replaced three times while under warranty.  I finally got a replacement Sony that looks like it is working OK. 

Personally, the NECs and the LITE-ONs are both fantastic budget burners.  ~$35 range

[OFOTD]

Didn't realize this thread would turn into a good discussion.  Couple of things I wanted to pass along for everyone to stick in the back of the heads.

1. Always check to see if your drive has a newer firmware available.  New updated firmwares help with burn quality, error correction as well as optimize the lasers for specific media.  You may have an 8x disc but the burner may only burn it at 4x.  Updated firmware usually helps with allowing the burner to write at the discs maximum speed.   www.cdfreaks.com or the drive manufacturers webpage are the best ways to find updated firmware.   It is easy, painless and usually only takes a minute or two.  Those who are not technically proficient should not have a problem updating firmware.

2. If you are burning anything other than a casual disc like for archiving or even burning video ALWAYS burn at a slower speed.  My personal rule of thumb is to burn at half the allowable speed.  So if a CD will burn at 48x I never burn faster than 24x.  A DVD at 8x, no more than 4x.    The slower the burn speed the more accurate the burn and in the long run you'll be happier.

I think that burning coasters for the most part is almost entirely due to human error nowadays.  The bigger current problem with faster and cheaper drives are the disc writing errors.  That is entirely manageable with updated firmware and lower burn speeds.

[kskreider]

Both excellent points!  My old NEC has hacked firmware which I [partially] attribute its longer life too.  I also burn at slower than allowable speeds.  While not quite half I do burn my 16x regularly at 12x, sometimes 8x.

[willndmb]

flashing the firmware can also crash your drive so read the directions carefully
and be sure its exact for your drive
nec is known for updates much more then other brands i found

[kskreider]

Well I will be DAMNED if I did not just jinx myself.  My Lite-On LH-20A1S just stopped recognizing DVDs but still recognizes CDs.  Unbelieveable.  15 months old. 

I flashed it with a hacked firmware and it was no help.  Crap.

Edit to say that the hacked firmware now gave it the ability to see blank DVDs just not ones with data on them.  Even more odd.