DVD Burners

[Nizmo]

Hey I was just wondering if this dvd burner is better than the one I got. Right now I have a Iomega dual dvd drive and it cant use 8x dvds just 4x and under. It cost me around $380 about 2 or 3 years ago not sure if that means its good or it cost me alot because they were kinda new back then. Well anyways I just wanted to get one of the best dvd burners out now. Something like a NEC 3540 or a Pioneer DVR-110 These only cost around $60 and alot of websites say there the best. How come i see ones for upto $400 and there not listed as the best?

[LTR12101B]

Prices have plummetted for DVD writers - getting to the point where anything less is going to be obsolete, though if the next "standard" ever makes it past the pointless infighting, the next generation of larger than DVD drives will set a new high pricepoint.

That Iomaga could be one of several rebrands (depending on model).

Possibly an NEC 1300A (DVDRW4216IND-A) - in which case, Herrie's patched firmware would apply a 4x default that works ok for a number of unsupported or 8x media.


I'd be inclined to add Benq to the list you consider... probably THE best drive if you want one that can write and quality scan, though the Plextors and their tools may have it bettered on scanning.

PS. It seems there is a hack for the Pioneer without DVD-RAM, to add DVD-RAM, but confidence in Pioneer is rather shaken by the lacklustre 16x media support on their 109 model, not sure if the 110 is any better. Buy 16x media and not know if it will work at 16x or fall back to 4x - no thanks.

[Nizmo]

So high speed burners are more likely to fail during burning process? The reason i wanted a new burner is because the shops are starting to sell more 8x dvd's and only a couple 4x.

[LTR12101B]

Not especially, but it is harder to get a really good 16x burn...

The Pioneer DVR-109 has got VERY weak support for 16x media, but can produce quite acceptable 12x burns on many 8x medias. In several updates, the 16x media code support has not been improved that much.

I have a 109 myself, and I won't be buying any 16x media for it, though I'm quite amazed at the 8 to 12x results on CMG MAG AE1 Coded media (Datawrite 8x -R yellow) ... not as good as you'd get with premium grade TY media, but usable.

Even more amazed when I fed it some 01ne media (Leaddata01 code) ... sure, it gave a fairly horrid scan, but far better than any other drive on this junk media.

If Pioneer ever sort the 16x media codes - and if the 110 is not as bad, they could have a winner!

PS. The 109 also seems to have some other issues realting to 16x media, which it seems are resolved on the 110.


I'd say 8x is the balance point, most 16x drives deliver better burns @8x, and 8x media of excellent or adequate quality is cheaper and more available than 16x

[Nizmo]

Ok well i just bought the pioneer dvr 110D and now my normal dvd rom drive doenst work. I have set the new burner the same as the old one on Master setting. I also put in a audigy 2 soundcard i dont know if that will make the dvd rom not work though. When i put a cd into the normal cd rom drive the symbol of the mouse pointer and a cd comes up then nothing happens.

[Nizmo]

oh i meant dvd rom not cd rom drive

[VIPER_1069]

Ok well i just bought the pioneer dvr 110D and now my normal dvd rom drive doenst work. I have set the new burner the same as the old one on Master setting. I also put in a audigy 2 soundcard i dont know if that will make the dvd rom not work though. When i put a cd into the normal cd rom drive the symbol of the mouse pointer and a cd comes up then nothing happens.

are they both on the same cable !? if it does not work you have 2 devices set to MASTER on one cable

you cannot have 2 devices set to master on one cable it has to be 1 master 1 slave

[LTR12101B]

If it shows a the mouse pointer/CD, then that means it DOES know that a CD is inserted. if that goes away after a while, can you then see the contents in explorer?

It sounds like the autorun settings may have got altered.

PS. Found a review of a 110, well, actually another rebrand of it... decent results on most things other than high speed DVD+/-RW - the 110 firmware seems to have matured pretty well - early firmware was junk.

[Duracell]

It sounds like the autorun settings may have got altered.

Nizmo, did you install software which came bundled with the drive? some burning software disables auto run;


Greetings from
Duracell

[Nizmo]

Well the dvd rom drive has been working good since i bought it. The old burner was in master and it all wokred fine. The new burner is in master aswell. I think maybe the dvd rom drive might have burnt out. Ill try to explain what happens . I put a cd in and the mouse pointer shows a loading cd symbol then goes away. I can head the cd in the drive but it doesnt sound normal. It sounds like the cd spins for about 2 second then slows down pretty fast. If i try to check whats on the cd it would freeze. In the start when i press delete button to go onto the options it says that the dvd rom drive is in slave and burner in master. The dvd rom drive has the top cable in it and burner has middle cable. I havnt installed any new burning programs since I got the new burner. Maybe the drive just burnt out or something.

[VIPER_1069]

check the jumpers on the back of both drives if they are both set to the master position you will get problems

[Nizmo]

just opened it up and checked. Dvd rom is on Slave Dvd burner is Master Hard drive is Master

[Duracell]

try the rom drive alone as master; if it won't work, let it R.I.P.;