Thinking of getting a DVD-RW - but which?

[LTR12101B]

It all started when I saw a PC World Advert in "The Sun" newspaper (saturday) with £10 off (voucher offer - take the advert) a "Component centre value" 8x +/- RW - making it £49.99

Sealed white box (DO NOT OPEN UNTIL PURCHASE) - and met with ignorance/apathy as to any confirmation as to what it might be.

The picture in the advert showed a BTC, and the stylin tied it down to the DRW 1008 (an 8x +R/ 4x -R drive) - I'll shorten it to 8x4

On to the local computer fair.....

1. Pioneer DVR-A07XLA - (8x8 DVD, 24x24 CD) boxed witn Pinnacle Instant CD (version not specified) - £72
- you're going to tell me that was "THE ONE", I suppose?

2. MSI DR8-A2 (8x8 DVD, 40x24 CD) - boxed with multiple software bundle - £75
3. Pioneer 107D bare drive (OEM of A07) - £69 ....not a bargain compared to (1), as the XLA must be an updated version?

4. NEC ND 2500a (8x8 DVD ?? CD) - bare drive - £65
5. ASUS DRW-0402P/D (4x4 DVD, 16x10 CD) - boxed with ?? - £65 ....a 4x4, no way unless it's got something special
6. MSI DR8-A (same detail as A2, but the A2 must be later) - £69.90

7. LITEON (8x8 DVD, 40x24 CD) boxed with Nero - £65

8. BTC DRW 1008 (8x4 DVD, ?? CD) - boxed with ?? - £70 WHOA! - if I wanted the BTC, I'd be back to PC World

If they didn't have the price up, I didn't bother - but there was also a TRIPLE standard LG (+/- R/RW and DVD-RAM) - all I know about them, is that DVD-RAM media is more expensive, but takes many more rewrites than RW, and the LG's tend to have "accurate EFM", making them good for SD2 backup.

And finally, our sponsor
http://www.xscomputertechnology.freeserve.co.uk
Headlining the NEC ND2510 (dual layer capable) at £66

A couple of things put me off the NEC (unless the 2510 changes them)...
On a test I looked at:
1. The NEC throws back to ZONE-CLV for CD writing - when 99% of drives now are CAV/P-CAV mode.
2. It wasn't the best reader

I currrently have a DVD-ROM and a CD-RW, and while I have a bay for a 3rd optical, and an IDE port, I prefer to avoid a 3 drive sandwich for thermal reasons.

So the drive would probably replace either the CD-RW, or the DVD-ROM as it's a rather tempramental reader, frequently taking a dislike to some CD or other (I use the cheapest drive for the task, so the DVD-ROM gets all the reading except when it chokes - all too often!)

 

[woody]

I would suggest going to Cdrinfo,and checkout their reviews.There are in-depth hardware reviews covering all aspects of recent drives.They include writing strategies,and ripping/backing up of protected discs.Look for drives that support bitsetting.Dvd+r has really taken off,and bitsetting makes those drives more compatible with players.All new DL drives also use the Dvd+r format for DL writing.

 

[ipdave]

Yes, I have seen the new Maddog Dual-Layer (DL) 8.5gb/2.4x with -+R/RW support for about $79 US. Not bad to be able to burn dual-layer in the future when you can get the media cheaper...

 

[PC-GUY]

Yes, I have seen the new Maddog Dual-Layer (DL) 8.5gb/2.4x with -+R/RW support for about $79 US. Not bad to be able to burn dual-layer in the future when you can get the media cheaper...

Thats a nice price but I wouldn't count on the DL's. Lets just hope they can fix the reading problems with DLs.
But like a friend said with the prices so cheap in a year if they don't fix the problem with a firmware updates he'll just go buy something else. Sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[LTR12101B]

I checked the Pioneer - that too is Zone-CLV - and very few (maybe none) support Mt. Rainier for CD-Writing.

One shock with the Pioneer, NO OVERBURN - therefore it can't use 90/99 minute CD-R - but perhaps with DVD, they assume you won't need to overburn a CD .... logical, I suppose.

Also tempted by Optorite, with HD-Burn ... 1.4 Gb on a CD, but tied to the same drive (it's said that DVD-ROM's could read them with firmware changes, but none seen yet) - and how reliable is HD-Burn anyway - if it requires hunting down particular media etc.

At the computer fair, cheapest DVD-R media was £6 for 25, but it was Princo, and I've not heard anything good - other than the Pioner is one of the few that may get acceptable results from them. Others varied from £7-10 for 25, and I think the 8x -R was about £12-13 for 25 (no 8x +R, unless they'd already sold out). +R also tended to be more expensive than -R, and of course, no DL media there at all.


Been looking at CDRINFO and some others for reviews... I think I'll have to start putting any results I can find into a spreadsheet! - looks like finding one that's good at EVERYTHING is well nigh impossible!

 

[LTR12101B]

Still looking, I'm leaning towards two possibles - the Pioneer 107XL - a good drive, but can't overburn a CD or use 90/99 min blanks, and also not supported for CI / PI/PO error testing in the free tools.

Or the Liteon 812S - versatile, lively firmware hacking community, supported by test utils, capable of overburn - but by many accounts, not as good a writer as the Pioneer.

Prices still seem to be gently sliding.

Maybe I should go for the Pioneer, and throw a Liteon 52327S in for CD-R and mount Rainier CD-RW capability.

Also tempted by the LG range - the "triple" with DVD-RAM, but they never seem to get very good reviews.