Hey can tell me the best performing, most reliable CD/DVD Burner & Medi

[uncleB]

If anybody can tell me the best performing, most reliable CD/DVD Burner & Media, it’s YOU.

It’s real simple. I want a CD/DVD Burner that will give me top Quality sounding CD’s & burn a top quality DVD that is compatible with most Stand alone Players, you know, almost no coasters. I’d also like you to recommend what you guys consider to be the best media for both CD & DVD-R, again with the fewest coasters. It doesn’t matter if it’s different media for each function, just the best for the best price, and where you suggest I go to buy the Burner, and the Media, again best quality for lowest price. I’ve got a Gateway Dual-Core that’s about 1 ½ years old with Windows XP & Nero 7 Ultra Edition Software. Thanks ahead of time, you guys never let me down. Don’t get to technical for me I’m not as smart as you guys, but I do appreciate top quality merchandise for a nice low price (like who doesn’t?).

Uncle Bob

[mats.hogberg]

AFA CD media goes, it's such a mature product and technology it hardly matters what media you use. I don't think I've made a CD coaster in the last 5 years, and I always buy the cheapest media I can find.
For a run down of DVD media, take a look at www.nomorecoasters.com
The only "truth" is that Verbatim makes the only reliable DVD DL media.
When it comes to the hardware, take a look at this list: https://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters?DVDname=&oem=&chipset=&cdrs=&cdrws=&dvdrs=&dvdrws=...Top+User+Rated
It's ordered by user rating - much better than what random posts in this thread will say.

/Mats

[hech54]

I want a CD/DVD Burner that will give me top Quality sounding CD’s

Sound quality has nothing to do with burning, blanks or burner.
Having said that...It's hard to go wrong with a simple Pioneer burner and Taiyo Yuden blank DVDs.
As Mats said...blank CD's are pretty much a no brainer except Philips CD blanks will never
enter my shopping cart again. IMO...they suck...or at least the batch I bought sucked.

[budz]

My suggestion is to buy a DVD Burner from Newegg.com. Probably the easiest is to buy a PATA INTERNAL DVD burner rather than a SATA DVD burner. Get a PIONEER 115 drive which is the latest one.

Buy VERBATIM dvd media from your local stores like BEST BUY, STAPLES or OFFICEMAX. TAIYO YUDEN is another great dvd media to purchase which you can order online from www.rima.com. They also sell VERBATIM there as well but with your local stores you can probably get good sale prices. BEST BUY usually has VERBATIM 50 pack spindles for $12.99 each. TAIYO YUDEN also makes CD-R as well which you can get from rima.com.

Lastly use IMGBURN to burn dvd media instead of NERO BURN. Especially if you are going to burn DUAL LAYER DVD+R media. Just my 2 cents!

[mgh]

CD-R, avoid Princo like the plague. bought 4; 2 were coasters, the other two were coasters a year later.

[uncleB]

I just wanted to thank you all, you’ve been so helpful. You know the Internet isn’t what it used to be, or maybe I’m just a little out of touch at finding things. I spent days looking all over, Googleing my butt off. At least you showed me that I was on the right track, just a couple of years off. Like I said I blame the Internet, it’s become so commercial and no matter what I Googled, It would give me a number of sites that said they had what I wanted only to find they didn’t know what the Hell I was talking about. I guess they just figure If they list themselves on the First or second page and you go there that they have a 60%- 70% chance of having in their inventory. Heck for a while today I found about three sites that offered any one of 10 BENQ’s, and everyone I went to was “on order” or “out of stock”, you’d think they’d keep up to date with that stuff. Anyways I’m Rambling, but I do thank you and will go with one of your choices, I’ll let you know how it goes. If you know of a site where I can get a good price on the drives, and the media (that usually saves shipping cost) I’d appreciate it and especially a site that has reviews of current models available written by buyers & users who like yourselves are “Aware”, cause I don’t necessarily trust their ratings.

Uncle Bob

[oldandinthe way]

Asking for a pair - burner and media is a good idea.

Pioneer + TY or Verbatim work. Pioneer + some other brands of media - no way.

I wouldn;t waste time searching for Benq drives. Benq is now just another badge for Lite-On, if you like a specific BenQ drive which is still in production you could track down the Lite-On equivalent.

My opinion of reviews of DVDwriters is they are useless. There is little understanding of the technology by most reviewers and a lot of fanboy behavior.

You can do just as well deciding randomly what to buy, and then looking at the appropriate forum on cdfreaks to justify your decision.

I have standardized on renassas chipset based LG drives because they burn any media I throw in them to completion and I don;t have failures a year later. The usual rap against them is based on the riplock which limits the rip speed, but I patch the firmware to disable it. The other reported problems relate to scanning CDs burned on these drives. But I and many others in the industry do not accept the validity of scanning on another drive.

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer or Sony-branded Samsung drives.
Verbatim, Sony (Taiwan) or Taiyo Yuden media.

The end.

[uncleB]

Ok I’m getting down to the Nitty Gritty. First, you have to understand that I’m one of those people that drove on the “Special” bus when I was in school so be patient with me. For starters I noticed you distinguished the Drives as PATA, or SATA, what’s the difference, and which would again give me the best results? My Computer is a Gateway GT5056 Personal Computer with Dual Core technology, and my Burner (the one that came with the unit) is a TSST corp. CD/DVDW TS-H552B (which I believe is a Samsung). How do I go about finding out if it’s a SATA or a PATA, or how do I find out what my computer is hooked up for, so I can determine which of these drives to get? If one is preferable to the other can it be adapted to my machine? Do I have to open up the computer to find out, or is there some way of accessing the specs through Windows XP or some web site that (if I tell it I have the TS-H552B) will give me that information. Like I said “Mentally I am but a mere child”. My problem with this Drive is that even with good Media (I use Tayo Yuden & Verbatim) the CD’s that I’ve burned, even at lower speeds, begin to screw up after about 10 to 15 plays and DVD’s I burn work in some player and not in others. I’ve read the reviews on this little baby and they’re not very good. So again I ask for your patience and help.
Thanks
Uncle Bob

[budz]

uncleB: According to the gateway site your TSST corp. CD/DVDW TS-H552B is a PATA dvd burner.
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/9310Series/TMETS-H552B/TMETS-H552Bsp2.shtml

The PATA dvd burners are hooked up to the motherboards IDE channels via a IDE cable. SATA dvd burners are hooked up via a SATA port on the motherboard. For you I think it be best for you to just get another PATA dvd burner like a PIONEER 115 because it would be easier for you to connect it. From the motherboard picture I saw I don't think it has SATA support.

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1008835/1008835nv.shtml

SATA dvd burners are great as long as you have the correct hardware/software specs. on a motherboard. So it's just easier for you to get another PATA dvd burner without getting into the technical stuff on SATA dvd burners.

Here's the definition of PATA & SATA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT_Attachment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

Here's article on SATA vs PATA:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BRZ/is_11_22/ai_98977132

[oldandinthe way]

Some DVDplayers will not read any burned DVDs. Some will not read some burned DVDs. Some players will only read burned DVD-R DVDs. Some players work best with book-typed DVD+R DVDs.

If any of your players are over 3 years old, you might expect that you will be unable to write DVDs which read in all of your players.

Your Samsung drive was a decent drive in its day, and if you have had Gateway's automatic updates enabled is likely to have the latest firmware. It may however be aging or your power supply may be in the process of dying. DVD writers are sensitive to low power levels. You may be burning marginal CDs.

In your situation I would definitely replace it with another PATA drive. I certainly would consider another Samsung drive. I would not consider any rebranded drive like a Sony badged Samsung, an IOMagic, LaCie etc due to potential firmware update issues. Based on your description of your limitations the potential efforts if the rebrander fails to provide you with updates will lead to confusion and frustration. A retail packaged Samsung from Best-Buy might be most appropriate - they run sales on them about once a month.

[louv68]

I hate Best Buy. They're a bunch of strokes. I've had many a bad experience with them.

If you have a Micro Center by you, you may want to try them.

Or try Newegg Some writers start at $24.99 + shipping. Some even have free shipping. Great online store.

[oldandinthe way]

I don't like BestBuy, but this user is best served by a drive in retail packaging with an identifiable manufacturer and its warranty and tech support. Far to many retailers sell only retail product from rebranders and they complicate problem solving. Last time I looked at Microcenter they had lots of rebranded product.

NewEgg typically ships bulk pack product, no documentation, no manufactuer's warranty (they do stand behind their products). I buy from them, I only recommend them to other people who are technically adept.

[ronnylov]

Based on the review on CDFreaks.com I would take a closer look at the Samsung 203 series of DVD writers. It seems both fast and makes good burns. The review did many tests with different types of media.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Samsung-SH-S203B-DVD-Burner-Review

Personally I have not tried that burner. I am using a NEC 3540A and get good burns on Verbatim 16X DVD+R at 8X burning speed. But I am thinking of buying a Samsung 203P to my next computer build.

[budz]

Based on the review on CDFreaks.com I would take a closer look at the Samsung 203 series of DVD writers. It seems both fast and makes good burns. The review did many tests with different types of media.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Samsung-SH-S203B-DVD-Burner-Review

Personally I have not tried that burner. I am using a NEC 3540A and get good burns on Verbatim 16X DVD+R at 8X burning speed. But I am thinking of buying a Samsung 203P to my next computer build.

Based on the OP wanting a good reliable and fairly easy drive the PIONEER 115 will serve him well. SAMSUNG S203 drives are great but with my experience the SATA drives are much better. Updating the SAMSUNG drives can be a pain to some which is why I've recommended the PIONEER 115.

[uncleB]

First of all I thank you all for your advice and I agree with you budz/IGA-Ninja, let’s keep it simple for this guy. No luck with Best Buy, I couldn’t find it locally or on their site, + they’ve given me the runaround more than once which makes me tend to agree with you oldandintheway-Dissenter. I went to NewEgg and found both the Drive & the Media I want, that you all suggested: Pioneer DVR-115DBK (actually listed – Pioneer 20X DVD+_ DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-115DBK – OEM) & Verbatim & Taiyo Yuden’s. Just a few more questions: 1. Is DBK a designation indicating merely color, meaning basically it’s the same machine? 2. OEM means no frills, bells or whistles; it comes as it would generally in a computer package? 3. If I get this one will I need any cables or things to connect it? 4. Last but not least, which Media do you suggest with this drive for burning CD’s & which for burning DVD-R’s, different or the same, and what speeds will give me the best results? As far as CD’s go it’s sound quality reproduction as compared to speed for me, and as far as DVD, although I want good reproduction I want even more the ability to allow it to play in a larger variety of Stand Alone Players. I guess that’s everything but burping me. I’ll let you know once I’ve gotten it, connected it (My Son the Geek will do that), and burned and played something from both.
Thanks again
Uncle Bob

[budz]

DBK indicates a black face plate for the PIONEER 115 dvd burner. OEM drives get no cables or nero trial cd disc, all you get is the drive. Buy TAIYO YUDEN CD-R's & DVD-R from www.rima.com. If you get the PIONEER 115 drive all you need is a 80 wire ide cable and don't let anyone else tell you it's not needed. Make sure you set the jumper correctly on the back of the 115 drive.

[[_chef_]]

115DBK == 115D black
115D == 115D beige
115DSV == 115 silver
115 == 115 model with DVD-RAM write support

Same counts for 215/215D models.

[cdanddvdpublisher]

If you just want a simple burner then Nero is the way to go. If you're looking for a printer then I'd say XLNT Idea. But then I'm partial.

[budz]

If you just want a simple burner then Nero is the way to go.

Nope!:P
IMGBURN is the way to go for dvd burning.

[uncleB]

Hey I just happened to be looking for the best price on that Pioneer 115 when an add popped up for a DVR-112DBK 16X it’s also a OEM but it does come with burn software (I really don’t care I’ve got Nero 7 Ultra already). Anyway it’s from a place called Checkout Store.com for $33.00 I don’t know how much for shipping. Do you think this is a better burner and have you heard of this Store? You guys tell me it’s either the 115 from NewEgg, or the 112 from them and if I go with it do I still need the 80 wire ide cable?

Thanks
Uncle Bob

[budz]

Hey I just happened to be looking for the best price on that Pioneer 115 when an add popped up for a DVR-112DBK 16X it’s also a OEM but it does come with burn software (I really don’t care I’ve got Nero 7 Ultra already). Anyway it’s from a place called Checkout Store.com for $33.00 I don’t know how much for shipping. Do you think this is a better burner and have you heard of this Store? You guys tell me it’s either the 115 from NewEgg, or the 112 from them and if I go with it do I still need the 80 wire ide cable?

Thanks
Uncle Bob

Yes you still need a 80 wire ide cable for either drive.

I've never heard of Checkout store.com. IMHO stick to the reputable online retailers like NEWEGG. BEST BUY just got the PIONEER 1910 drives which is the retail version of the PIONEER 115. Retail you get a nice box, trial nero cd and I think that's about it. From what I've read only the retail drives have that "Quiet drive feature", the OEM versions some reason do not have that. If you're not in a rush to buy a new drive wait until BEST BUY has the PIONEER 1910 on sale. I've only bought the retail PIONEER drives because I had BEST BUY gift cards to use. Now I'm gonna have to wait a little longer to use my last gift card because I'm waiting on BEST BUY to stock the PIONEER SATA 215 drive.

[uncleB]

Actually Budz I went back to NewEgg.com just to see if they had a 112 and they had one for a little less but it was a Pioneer 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model DVR-112D - OEM, and it was about $27.00 what do you think? Also the Taiyo Yuden CD & DVD media is reasonable too. On the DVD media they had 16X & 8X, which one do you think gives better results.
Uncle Bob

[budz]

I've never had problems with OEM drives but with my PIONEER 212 drive I had to send it back to PIONEER for repair. The PIONEER 112/212 series had CD-R hardware problems. The drives would be able to read/write to DVD media but eventually it would stop reading/writing to CD-R's. Supposedly it depended on the manufacturing date on the drive would determine if it qualified for the recall. I actually thought I was going to get a brand new 212 replacement but instead they just repaired it.

I'd still suggest getting the PIONEER 115 at this point. It's gotten good reviews from the PIONEER FORUM at Cdfreaks.com. I've read about how the even numbered models of PIONEER dvd burners have seemed to always have hardware problems. I dunno how true that is but it does seem strange the odd numbered models didn't have problems. I only started out with the PIONEER 107 and didn't buy another one till the 111 & 112 models.

I've always used TY dvd media 8x speed which some burners can overburn at 12x. I have some DVD-R TY 16x speed discs but most times I will only burn at 8x - 12x when I'm not using my SAMSUNG S203B drives. The SAMSUNG drives can burn decent 16x speed if you change the write strategy by using MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT. Buy a spindle of both and see for yourself which one will work for you.

[uncleB]

I’ve been meaning to ask you all about something my son and some others have said to me. Like I said I’ve got that Samsung that really doesn’t have that good a rating and I’ve read even updating the Firmware doesn’t help and can hurt. Anyway they’ve told me that there is no need for 2 Writers, but I figured you can use them to copy direct from one to the other in some cases and might have more luck with certain media in one as compared to the other. I notice a lot of you have multiple Drives. Are they on the same computer and if so how do you use them? I think I’m going to keep the Samsung and add the 115, unless you think I’m better off just getting and using the 115 by itself.
Have a nice weekend
Uncle Bob

[budz]

I notice a lot of you have multiple Drives. Are they on the same computer and if so how do you use them? I think I’m going to keep the Samsung and add the 115, unless you think I’m better off just getting and using the 115 by itself.
Have a nice weekend
Uncle Bob

I have multiple computers so I spread the wealth around. I don't do on the fly copies (burning from one dvd burner to another) because most will probably fail or won't be reliable as far as playing back correctly. Although I do on the fly copies for cd-r media. I have certain dvd burners that I use strictly for ripping dvd files. The other dvd burners I use for strictly dvd burning. I have come across dvd movies that I've bought that sometimes are difficult to rip due to it being dirty/scratched so all the dvd burners come in handy for ripping purposes. I'm usually able to find one of my 26 dvd burners that will do the job.

My suggestion is to keep the SAMSUNG OEM dvd burner you have to use for strictly ripping dvd files. Then buy the PATA PIONEER 115 dvd burner to use for dvd burning. Make sure you set the PIONEER 115 jumper setting on the back of the drive to MASTER & use a 80 wire ide cable. Also change the jumper setting on the SAMSUNG drive to SLAVE. I think many members of this forum use one drive for dvd ripping & another one for dvd burning. I used to use TOSHIBA DVD-ROM's to do my ripping but eventually faster ripping speeds were w/newer model dvd burners.

[MysticE]

Well my latest drive is a 115D.

These are my discs of choice, priced right and reliable.

http://www.rima.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=R&Product_Code=1736-1...ode=TAIYOYUDEN

The 115D will burn these 8X discs @ 12X.

Here's a scan (in my Benq) of a Pioneer 12X burn (it actually got up to 12.6X at the end with ImgBurn set at MAX).
Note this is with the original 1.06 FW.



Needless to say I'm pleased with the results.