Dvd Need! To Buy
- Thread starter Mantra
- Start date
Define good?
Best write quality?
best speed?
Best media range (Pioneer wins, usually)
Best reading ... and so on.
The Liteon's are fast, can scan for PI/PIF errors, region control is easily disposed of - BUT, they are rather iffy writers with a very limited range of acceptable media - occcasionally improved by the use of firmware hacking tools.
A couple of the older Toshiba models score the best number of "sheep" for CloneCD tasks, but if you're serious about DVD and CD capabilities, to the very edge, then I'd always recommend two drives, each the best in it's class.
"Good"
Pioneer, Benq, NEC (the NEC with Liggy's firmware hacks is better, otherwise it's extremely conservative on media speed).
"Bad"
Artec (probably the worst), Liteon (even though I have one... the 12x/16x are slowly improving with firmware, and may be an average drive by the time they're obsolete)
Best write quality?
best speed?
Best media range (Pioneer wins, usually)
Best reading ... and so on.
The Liteon's are fast, can scan for PI/PIF errors, region control is easily disposed of - BUT, they are rather iffy writers with a very limited range of acceptable media - occcasionally improved by the use of firmware hacking tools.
A couple of the older Toshiba models score the best number of "sheep" for CloneCD tasks, but if you're serious about DVD and CD capabilities, to the very edge, then I'd always recommend two drives, each the best in it's class.
"Good"
Pioneer, Benq, NEC (the NEC with Liggy's firmware hacks is better, otherwise it's extremely conservative on media speed).
"Bad"
Artec (probably the worst), Liteon (even though I have one... the 12x/16x are slowly improving with firmware, and may be an average drive by the time they're obsolete)
Get a few more opinions, most drives have their supporters and oppenents, just beware of the ones with more opponents than supporters. Pioneer are definitely "first division" in burn quality, perhaps aided by the somewahat conservative Zone-CLV strategy.
The thing many criticise the "16x" Pioneer 108 for, is that the 16x is only a small CLV zone at the end, making it behave more like a fast 12x drive than a 16x - CD-R is also written in Zone-CLV mode, when the majority of other drives do it in faster CAV or P-CAV mode.
Once again, the Pioneer is reasonably well attended by tweakers - RPC1 and media overspeeding, but it starts with a good burn quality.
Plextor find some supporters, as do LG.
BTC are another one the seems not to be highly regarded.
Samsung have also had some dodgy reviews, though early firmware performance is often disappointing.
The thing many criticise the "16x" Pioneer 108 for, is that the 16x is only a small CLV zone at the end, making it behave more like a fast 12x drive than a 16x - CD-R is also written in Zone-CLV mode, when the majority of other drives do it in faster CAV or P-CAV mode.
Once again, the Pioneer is reasonably well attended by tweakers - RPC1 and media overspeeding, but it starts with a good burn quality.
Plextor find some supporters, as do LG.
BTC are another one the seems not to be highly regarded.
Samsung have also had some dodgy reviews, though early firmware performance is often disappointing.
I ended up with a Liteon 1213S - and at the time, I knew it was going to be a poor writer (at the time, worse than the 8x), but with a chance of improvement and good tweakabilty.
The one I should have got, that they ran out of, was a retail boxed Pioneer A07XLA.
With the SSony/Liteon combo drive I ended up getting to use as a backup DVD reader (replacing a failed DVD-ROM), The NEC 3500A (not great at reading imperfect DVD) would have made a good combination.
That does make a significant difference - some drives, you would not like to rely on for both reading and writiting.
One interesting point about the Pioneers...
I don't want to take sides in the messy arguments over DVDInfo Pro on other forums... no, actually I DO want to take sides, against it and in in favour of Kprobe (supports Liteons, seen it apparently work with 1 or 2 other drives) or Nero CDspeed (both fully free with no ad/shareware), but DVDInfo pro now has support for PI/PO scanning with Pioneer (previously thought to be impossible) - at the moment, the only one which can error scan with those otherwise excellent drives.
The one I should have got, that they ran out of, was a retail boxed Pioneer A07XLA.
With the SSony/Liteon combo drive I ended up getting to use as a backup DVD reader (replacing a failed DVD-ROM), The NEC 3500A (not great at reading imperfect DVD) would have made a good combination.
That does make a significant difference - some drives, you would not like to rely on for both reading and writiting.
One interesting point about the Pioneers...
I don't want to take sides in the messy arguments over DVDInfo Pro on other forums... no, actually I DO want to take sides, against it and in in favour of Kprobe (supports Liteons, seen it apparently work with 1 or 2 other drives) or Nero CDspeed (both fully free with no ad/shareware), but DVDInfo pro now has support for PI/PO scanning with Pioneer (previously thought to be impossible) - at the moment, the only one which can error scan with those otherwise excellent drives.
Just bought the NEC 3500A last night - after reading an exhaustive amount of reviews, it comes in the overall winner. I know there are gonna be some peeps that have diff opinions about this, but you just cant argue with over 23 totally diff reviews from completely diff sites. I have had several LiteOn models, and a Sony as well, but Im looking forward to this gem. 
slippery said:Just bought the NEC 3500A last night - after reading an exhaustive amount of reviews, it comes in the overall winner. I know there are gonna be some peeps that have diff opinions about this, but you just cant argue with over 23 totally diff reviews from completely diff sites. I have had several LiteOn models, and a Sony as well, but Im looking forward to this gem.
I bought the same drive 3 days ago and am very pleased with it......in fact,all the discs that I've burnt so far,are working great....
I have updated the firmware fro v2.16 to the official 2.18 but soon I"m gonna try out Liggy's modified 2.18.....
@Mantra its personal preference
there tends to be a whole heap of support and hacked firmwares for PIONEER than any other dvd writer out there MAINLY because its easier to modify the firmware for that particular make
I'm more than happy with my PIONEER 107
others are happy with SONYS or the NEC its personal choice and experience
I went for PIONEER from reading articles here and recommendations by friends that have used many different makes and models
The price is also a big factor too.... expensive does not mean its the best burner either a lot of people are fooled into thinking they will get something great for a huge price
my advice is before commiting search the internet for the makes and models of the prospective drives you are thinking of gettin and compare the specs/formats its capable of burning the speed of the burner on READ & WRITE and if it likes or dislikes certain medias as NOT ALL burners will burn every type of media that there is out there
you could also read the comments HERE in our poll on what dvd burner do you own
there tends to be a whole heap of support and hacked firmwares for PIONEER than any other dvd writer out there MAINLY because its easier to modify the firmware for that particular make
I'm more than happy with my PIONEER 107
others are happy with SONYS or the NEC its personal choice and experience
I went for PIONEER from reading articles here and recommendations by friends that have used many different makes and models
The price is also a big factor too.... expensive does not mean its the best burner either a lot of people are fooled into thinking they will get something great for a huge price
my advice is before commiting search the internet for the makes and models of the prospective drives you are thinking of gettin and compare the specs/formats its capable of burning the speed of the burner on READ & WRITE and if it likes or dislikes certain medias as NOT ALL burners will burn every type of media that there is out there
you could also read the comments HERE in our poll on what dvd burner do you own
I have to add: Price is not an issue with me (not that Im made outa Money) but all in all, the price for the NEC 3500A was only $68.00, so it surely isnt gonna break the bank. I happened to buy mine fron newegg.com due to their quick delivery, and decent prices. Although I serached and searched, and even made a few calls, I found that NEC only sells them to retailers as OEM or Bulk. You can get them with various colored faceplates, and for a few bucks more you can get software.
BTW - just found this article posted at Neowin:
Plextor Introduces 16X DVD±R/RW SATA Drive
New DVD/CD Burner Supports Dual-Layer DVD+R Technology for Increased DVD Recordable Capacity to 8.5 GB
Plextor® Corp., a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the new PX-716SA series DVD±R/RW drive. Featuring a native Serial ATA (SATA) interface and high-speed 16X DVD+R and 16X DVD-R recording, the internal drive combines fast performance, 150 MB/sec bandwidth, and recording features that ensure reliable, high-quality results across a broad spectrum of media.
The drive achieves blazing fast 16X CAV performance on recommended 8X DVD+R media, and burns a 4.7GB DVD in less than six minutes, one minute faster than leading ZCLV competitors. The new drive also supports dual-layer DVD media, enabling users to burn up to four hours of high-quality MPEG-2 video on a single 8.5GB DVD disc in approximately 28 minutes.
The internal PX-716SA drive features an integrated Serial ATA connection, enabling OEMs and System Integrators to leverage the benefits of SATA, including 150 MB/sec bandwidth, elimination of master/slave configuration jumper issues, a substantial pin count reduction, and thinner cables to help air-flow and improve cable routing.
“The newest 16X DVD drive from Plextor is specifically designed for personal computer manufacturers who want to integrate a DVD/CD burner that sets new standards for performance, convenience, and reliability,” said Howard Wing, vice president of sales and marketing for Plextor. “The combination of Serial ATA interface, support for dual-layer media, and the Intelligent Recording features can really help OEMs differentiate their PCs from competitive offerings.”
Plextor Press Release: http://www.plextor.com/english/news/press/716SA_pr.htm
Plextor Introduces 16X DVD±R/RW SATA Drive
New DVD/CD Burner Supports Dual-Layer DVD+R Technology for Increased DVD Recordable Capacity to 8.5 GB
Plextor® Corp., a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the new PX-716SA series DVD±R/RW drive. Featuring a native Serial ATA (SATA) interface and high-speed 16X DVD+R and 16X DVD-R recording, the internal drive combines fast performance, 150 MB/sec bandwidth, and recording features that ensure reliable, high-quality results across a broad spectrum of media.
The drive achieves blazing fast 16X CAV performance on recommended 8X DVD+R media, and burns a 4.7GB DVD in less than six minutes, one minute faster than leading ZCLV competitors. The new drive also supports dual-layer DVD media, enabling users to burn up to four hours of high-quality MPEG-2 video on a single 8.5GB DVD disc in approximately 28 minutes.
The internal PX-716SA drive features an integrated Serial ATA connection, enabling OEMs and System Integrators to leverage the benefits of SATA, including 150 MB/sec bandwidth, elimination of master/slave configuration jumper issues, a substantial pin count reduction, and thinner cables to help air-flow and improve cable routing.
“The newest 16X DVD drive from Plextor is specifically designed for personal computer manufacturers who want to integrate a DVD/CD burner that sets new standards for performance, convenience, and reliability,” said Howard Wing, vice president of sales and marketing for Plextor. “The combination of Serial ATA interface, support for dual-layer media, and the Intelligent Recording features can really help OEMs differentiate their PCs from competitive offerings.”
Plextor Press Release: http://www.plextor.com/english/news/press/716SA_pr.htm
With current two SATA, two by two drive PATA motherboards, a SATA DVD+/-RW drive is a waste of a good SATA port, unless you have absolutely no thoughts of fitting a second HDD.
I suppose, if Dell can be so cheapskate as to leave the AGP socket off a motherbord that would otherwise support it, maybe we'll see them put out a syatem with SATA HDD, SATA DVD+/-RW, and plank spaces on the motherboard instead of PATA 40 pin IDE sockets.
Good for system integrators, except it'll probably be more expensive than similar PATA solutions, and even at 16x, the drive is not even saturating an ATA33 - with some DVD+/-RW drives already capable of ATA66 (Ultra cable required)
I suppose, if Dell can be so cheapskate as to leave the AGP socket off a motherbord that would otherwise support it, maybe we'll see them put out a syatem with SATA HDD, SATA DVD+/-RW, and plank spaces on the motherboard instead of PATA 40 pin IDE sockets.
Good for system integrators, except it'll probably be more expensive than similar PATA solutions, and even at 16x, the drive is not even saturating an ATA33 - with some DVD+/-RW drives already capable of ATA66 (Ultra cable required)
any dual layer burner (using compatable media)
The downside of 8.5Gb DL, currently:
1. The Price of media - still at or above £4 UK - PER DISK
2. The speed - with 2.4x media, written at 4x in some drives
It doesn't seem to be adding much to the price of drives, possibly because it has been such a damp squib due to the twin evils of high media price and low speed.
It's a good capability to have, but when you can get a pack of 10 reasonable quality 4.3Gb 8x media for the price of one 8.5Gb 2.4x, actually USING DL is a last resort.
With maybe a one or two exceptions, all the current top models will be DL capable Pioneer were quite late to the party with the 108/A08 - their first DL drive, and their first >8x drive (they call it a 16x, but the 16x is such a small zone that you only reach it in the last 10% of the burn - in practice, it acts like a damn good 12x)
1. The Price of media - still at or above £4 UK - PER DISK
2. The speed - with 2.4x media, written at 4x in some drives
It doesn't seem to be adding much to the price of drives, possibly because it has been such a damp squib due to the twin evils of high media price and low speed.
It's a good capability to have, but when you can get a pack of 10 reasonable quality 4.3Gb 8x media for the price of one 8.5Gb 2.4x, actually USING DL is a last resort.
With maybe a one or two exceptions, all the current top models will be DL capable Pioneer were quite late to the party with the 108/A08 - their first DL drive, and their first >8x drive (they call it a 16x, but the 16x is such a small zone that you only reach it in the last 10% of the burn - in practice, it acts like a damn good 12x)