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usually_quiet
Member
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Location: United States
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I am in the process of building a new computer and I need to buy an optical drive with a SATA interface.
I want something around $30. I could buy this Pioneer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129045 or I could buy the Lite-On http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106291 The Lite-On has gathered many reviews (mostly favorable), from New Egg's customers while the Pioneer has very few reviews.
I couldn't find any reviews for the Pioneer using an internet search or on VH. I know we have some Pioneer fans here. Any thoughts on their lower-priced models?
Any other recommendations among less expensive currently available DVD burners? I need to read DVD-RAM and write to DVD-R and DVD-RW. My preferred brands of media are Verbatim DVD-R and Office Depot DVD-RW, which is RITEKW04.
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samijubal
Member
Joined: 25 Jul 2004
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Pioneer sucks. I've had 3 of their drives and all of them burn lousy. I got a Samsung SATA burner that kicks the Pioneers butt and it only cost $18 after rebate. It comes up as a DVD-RAM drive in Windows so I guess it does RAM. I've got tons of RAM discs but I haven't tried one yet.
Technically the Samsung is a little slower than the Pioneers but in real life both of the newer Pioneers I've used stop in the middle of burns and sit there and do nothing for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes up to 3 times per burn so the Samsung actually ends up being faster. When the Pioneer will burn a disc without pausing it's a little faster. I gave up burning at anything over 8x with the pioneer which limits the pausing to sometimes instead of constantly. And no it's not a fragged HD or on PIO or any of that crap. All my other drives, 2 NECs and the Samsung burn just fine in the same PC.
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usually_quiet
Member
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Location: United States
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Thanks. I will not be buying the Pioneer.
I have never tried a Samsung, but I will take a look. The only big complaint I have heard regarding Lite-On drives is noise.
I found a slightly better deal on that Lite-On at Directron, and they have something I need which NewEgg no longer sells. I'll look to see if they carry Samsung.
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johns0
Puppet Master
Joined: 05 Jun 2002
Location: canada
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I bought a samsung sh-s223l and its better than any liteon,lg and nec burner i have had,reads all the dvdrw that the lg cant read and reads cds that liteon cant read.
_________________
Ben Johnson-I didnt take any stereos!
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usually_quiet
Member
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Location: United States
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Thanks for the tip. Directron has the Samsung SH-S223B as well as the Samsung SH-S223L. Other reviews on both are favorable. I think I would prefer the former, since I don't think I will ever use Lightscribe discs.
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redwudz
Mod Neophyte
Joined: 07 Sep 2002
Location: AZ, USA
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I just put a PC together for a relative with a couple of Samsung SH-S223L SATA DVD drives. They are a bit noisy when spinning up, but you will find that with most DVD drives these days as they push for higher RPM/read/write speeds. Usually during playback the noise level isn't objectionable. I use Directron at times and have found they are a good company to deal with.  I suspect you may find that some Sony/Pioneer drives may also be made by Samsung.
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MJA
Member
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Location: IL
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happy samsung user here too.I own both external,and internal one
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johns0
Puppet Master
Joined: 05 Jun 2002
Location: canada
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| redwudz wrote: |
| They are a bit noisy when spinning up, but you will find that with most DVD drives these days as they push for higher RPM/read/write speeds. |
Might be case vibration cause my samsung is very quiet even at high speeds.
_________________
Ben Johnson-I didnt take any stereos!
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budz
IGA Ninja
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Location: In the shadows.....
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usually_quiet
Member
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Location: United States
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I was hoping to hear your opinion budz, thanks. My old computer has an LG PATA drive that I like and would have used if I could, but I can't. I need the single EIDE connction on the motherboard for HDDs as a temporary measure until I can get SATA HDDs, so I must have a SATA burner. One of the Samsung drives sounds like my best option.
Redwudz, thanks for confirming that Directron is a reputable vendor, I need a data cable for my floppy drive and there's no room for the boots on the round cables. Hardly anyone carries ribbon cables now, but Directron does along with lots of other hard-to-find items.
I put everthing that I have in the case. My motherboard posts, the fans spin, the leds light, the buttons work, and it recognizes that the two HDDs are there. Unfortunately, the IN-WIN EM020 MATX case I selected, which is otherwise very nice for an inexpensive chassis, turns out to have one fatal flaw. The 3 1/2 inch drive bays are too small. Even though the specs say each can hold 2 drives, when there are 2 drives in any one of them, there is only 1/8 inch between them. They are going to get too hot if left like that. I will have to temporarily remove the floppy drive after I get my software installed on the boot drive and check for any BIOS updates that affect me. When I get SATA HDDs one can go in an unused optical drive bay and the floppy drive can return.
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hech54
CONFUSED
Joined: 26 Jul 2001
Location: Yank in Europe
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Even though my newest one is the slowest ripper in the history of mankind...I'd still buy another LG. I just use my older LG to rip.
_________________
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Seeker47
Member
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Location: A State of Mind, USA
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| budz wrote: |
There are many other members here who own older model PIONEER drives who will agree with me that those drives burn very well. In your own experience it was shitty for you. I have to say the older drives before the 118 were excellent. I haven't bought the newest pos PIONEER 118 but from what I've read at the PIONEER forum it seems to be okay being it has the mediatek chipset just like the LITEON drives. |
My only experience with a Samsung to date is the SH-S183L (supposedly with very low mileage) that came already installed in a used computer I bought. This computer was said to have been in service for about 8 months, at the time I acquired it. The burner stopped burning at 8x after about 3 months of my owning the computer. I've had to drop it down to a default burn speed of 4x, with TYGO2 or TYGO3, and at that speed it continues to work just fine. (No issues with any other component in the computer.) It was suggested to me that a change of firmware might get it back to 8x burns, but I haven't gotten around to investigating this. It is a SATA burner, unless I'm totally missing something here. Compare that track record with the one of my Pioneer 108 in a 5 year old computer. If it was a car, that 108 would have about half a million miles on it. Maybe it will suddenly up and croak tomorrow, but as of the moment, I can't detect that it has lost even half a step. D/L burns included. Just amazing ! I'm not going to say that either burner is typical of breed, or has any relevance for respective later models, but it is interesting.
_________________
When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum ( http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ ) (http://lasvegas.wikia.com/wiki/Las_Vegas_Pinball_Hall_of_Fame_Museum ) -- over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this gradually disappearing American art form.
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redwudz
Mod Neophyte
Joined: 07 Sep 2002
Location: AZ, USA
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usually_quiet, if your case allows it, see if you can fit a 80mm fan in front of those hard drives. I have even retro fit a few cases and stuck a fan in front of the drives to help cool them. It depends on the mount holes for the HDDs and if you have the room to set the drives back another 25mm. If not, SATA drives generally run cooler, so heat is not a big issue.
Programs like HW Monitor ( http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php) and others will tell you HDD temps most times, depending on the MB used. Cool is about 33C, but they can easily run up in the 40C range with no problems, both SATA and PATA drives. Google ran an extensive study of HDDs and never found higher temps to have much of any affect on reliability, though I would prefer them to run cooler, myself.
I haven't installed floppy drives in any of my PCs in several years, so not much of a problem losing it. I did get a free USB powered external floppy with a laptop I got a few years ago and I use that when I really need floppy access. That's one option if you have to use an occassional floppy.
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lordsmurf
Video Restorer
Joined: 10 Jun 2003
Location: Want my advice? PM me.
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Pioneer is indeed the best drive, when they manufactured their own line. I'd give the nod to Samsung drives next.
And budz is definitely a drive whore, I think he has (currently and in the past) gone through at least as many drives as I have!
Excluding the 109, the only reason I've ever stopped using a Pioneer is because it was too slow of a drive (2x, 4x, 8x). Other drives always croak before that can happen.
_________________
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usually_quiet
Member
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Location: United States
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Well, a Samsung drive it will be, since that seems to be the majority's choice. I will place my order tonight. Thanks to all for your input.
@redwudz Thanks for the suggestions.
I did think about adding a front fan, although the HDD cage is situated such that a fan would only blow air on the bottom drive. Would that be enough to do significant cooling? I was thinking it's doubtful, though it might be nice to have a fan there if I added a TV card some day.
There are mounting holes for for an 80 mm fan and there might be room for a standard 80 x 25 mm fan, but it would be a tight fit. The HDD cage can be removed, but its position relative to the front of the case is not adustable. I measured the space as best I could and it looks like there is 26 mm between the removable HDD drive cage and the chassis. It might be difficult to slide the drive cage back onto its rails with a standard fan installed. That makes me think an 80 x 15 mm slim fan would work better. I still have to figure out the best spot to add a molex splitter to power the fan.
I don't use a floppy often anymore either, but every once in a while I do something that requires one. Initially I thought about buying an external USB floppy drive, but thrift and nostalgia got the better of me. I don't need a card reader, and didn't plan to have more than 2 HDDs, so I said to myself "why not?". Now I know why not. 
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Seeker47
Member
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Location: A State of Mind, USA
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| budz wrote: |
....FYI the newer PIONEER 118 drives aren't even manufactured by PIONEER, they got out of the optical drive business just like BENQ & SONY. The newer PIONEER 118 drive is manufactured by LITEON.
I have to say the older drives before the 118 were excellent. I haven't bought the newest pos PIONEER 118 but from what I've read at the PIONEER forum it seems to be okay being it has the mediatek chipset just like the LITEON drives.
If you really want the PIONEER 218 sata drive, you might as well get a LITEON since they manufacture the drives for PIONEER. |
Well, guess I found this all out too late, as I had bought a 2910 (SATA) several weeks ago. No longer made by Pioneer, no longer so good, 'ay ? It was going to go into an as-yet unbuilt system. And Plextor is no longer really Plextor, either ? Our options seem to have narrowed considerably. I'm encouraged that you had some good things to say about the Samsungs -- only hesitant in that my experience with the one I have was not that impressive.
_________________
When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum ( http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ ) (http://lasvegas.wikia.com/wiki/Las_Vegas_Pinball_Hall_of_Fame_Museum ) -- over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this gradually disappearing American art form.
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orsetto
Member
Joined: 31 Oct 2007
Location: NYC
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Another vote here for the older Pioneer drives: I still have some 107s and 108s deployed after 4-5 years, no problems. Some issues did seem to pop up in the last couple revisions: the otherwise stone-reliable 111 series has a tendency to lose all CD functionality within a year while the DVD functions continue to work perfectly. I gather the 112 also had some CD issues, right out of the box. But for DVD, they're damn nice. Too bad the "real" Pioneer is now kaput: they did a lot to help advance optical media for PC and home video use. R.I.P., Pioneer. 
Going forward, Samsung the one to beat. Strangely difficult to find at retail stores, but easy to get online.
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Seeker47
Member
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Location: A State of Mind, USA
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| orsetto wrote: |
Another vote here for the older Pioneer drives: I still have some 107s and 108s deployed after 4-5 years, no problems. Some issues did seem to pop up in the last couple revisions: the otherwise stone-reliable 111 series has a tendency to lose all CD functionality within a year while the DVD functions continue to work perfectly. I gather the 112 also had some CD issues, right out of the box. But for DVD, they're damn nice. Too bad the "real" Pioneer is now kaput: they did a lot to help advance optical media for PC and home video use. R.I.P., Pioneer.
Going forward, Samsung the one to beat. Strangely difficult to find at retail stores, but easy to get online. |
O.K., it's not pleasant to accept, but I'm accepting it. The company is out of the optical biz, out of the plasma panel biz, out of the receiver biz, and nearly done overall. So, why do we still see announcements like this one, from time to time ?
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/19696.cfm
Is it just more examples of a "ghost" name from the past being resurrected to sell stuff, a la Polaroid ?
Orsetto, I was not previously aware of the CD issues for the 111 and 112, but that will be good to know. I have a couple of the former and one of the latter, which were spares for future projects that did not get done, though I still plan to use them. I think I passed on models after the 112, on several occasions where I almost bought one.
And, just for the record -- Budz . . . anyone -- what were the last Pioneer burner models (PATA and SATA) that were actually manufactured by Pioneer ?
_________________
When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum ( http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ ) (http://lasvegas.wikia.com/wiki/Las_Vegas_Pinball_Hall_of_Fame_Museum ) -- over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this gradually disappearing American art form.
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budz
IGA Ninja
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Location: In the shadows.....
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| Seeker47 wrote: |
| And, just for the record -- Budz . . . anyone -- what were the last Pioneer burner models (PATA and SATA) that were actually manufactured by Pioneer ? |
Last PIONEER models:
PATA: 117
SATA: 217
They're difficult to find the 117/217 series....Don't be buying any of the older model drives from the PIONEER website since they sell refurbished drives and don't know shit about their own models.
The PATA LG drive model GH22LP20 is a decent drive. I used it last month as a replacement for my cousin's broken  BENQ 1640. The LG series GH22LS40 & 50 series supposedly had bluebird spyware in the firmware. But I have read the 50's series now has the firmware that has no bluebird spyware. It's a dime flip now days when it comes to buying a new dvd burner. I've read the SAMSUNG drives aren't as good as before and it's the SONY/OPTIARC series that rules. I've yet to buy that SONY/OPTIARC drive model AD-7240S-0B or any of the newer 22x SAMSUNG's. I have enough dvd burners at the moment. Although my last drive was the PIONEER 216 that I had a cousin of mine snag from a computer shop in San Francisco.
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videobread
Member
Joined: 09 May 2006
Location: United States
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The Pioneer R18-series was designed and produced by QSI in China using a Mediatek chipset. Pioneer R18-series is NOT a LiteON design. The R17-series and prior Pioneer's all used the NEC chipset. Samsung is now using the Mediatek chipset just like Pioneer. I'm sticking with Pioneer.
_________________
Depends what the definition of the word inhale is.
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budz
IGA Ninja
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Location: In the shadows.....
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^^^it uses the same MEDIATEK chipset like LITEON.
Too bad PIONEER decided to outsource their dvd burners...just like BENQ did.
From CDFreaks.com PIONEER FORUM.
http://club.cdfreaks.com/f87/need-buy-new-drive-117d-118lbk-279996/#post2446861
| Quote: |
Thanks for the clarification. The main concern of the layperson is that it doesn't have an NEC-chipset. Whether it's a Lite-On rebadge or a unique drive with a MediaTek-chipset (like the Samsungs) is an empirical fact, but not the thing that keeps people awake at night.
Until this QSI-designed drive can prove that it's as good a burner as the NEC-based Pioneer and Optiarc drives, most people desire to avoid it. That's the main issue of debate. |
I  that until QSI can prove it's just as good as a NEC chipset based drive....  I'll wait to buy another PIONEER.
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videobread
Member
Joined: 09 May 2006
Location: United States
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You are right. Everyone seems to be buying the Samsung. I'll probably do the same.
_________________
Depends what the definition of the word inhale is.
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johns0
Puppet Master
Joined: 05 Jun 2002
Location: canada
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I've bought many cd and dvd drives in the last 10 years and the samsung i bought is the best out of all of them so far for burn reliability and reading even poor burnt discs other drives cant and great for ripping at full speed.
_________________
Ben Johnson-I didnt take any stereos!
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Seeker47
Member
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Location: A State of Mind, USA
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| johns0 wrote: |
| I've bought many cd and dvd drives in the last 10 years and the samsung i bought is the best out of all of them so far for burn reliability and reading even poor burnt discs other drives cant and great for ripping at full speed. |
Yes, but which Samsungs -- current issue, or previous models ?
_________________
When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum ( http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ ) (http://lasvegas.wikia.com/wiki/Las_Vegas_Pinball_Hall_of_Fame_Museum ) -- over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this gradually disappearing American art form.
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samijubal
Member
Joined: 25 Jul 2004
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Well my Samsung lasted less than a month. It starts to burn then stops.
I give up on new burners, they're all crap. I'm going back to my trusty NEC 3500 that NEVER fails a burn. I've got a pretty good size stack of failed Pioneer discs and a few Samsung discs.
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johns0
Puppet Master
Joined: 05 Jun 2002
Location: canada
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| Seeker47 wrote: |
| johns0 wrote: |
| I've bought many cd and dvd drives in the last 10 years and the samsung i bought is the best out of all of them so far for burn reliability and reading even poor burnt discs other drives cant and great for ripping at full speed. |
Yes, but which Samsungs -- current issue, or previous models ? |
| johns0 wrote: |
| I bought a samsung sh-s223l and its better than any liteon,lg and nec burner i have had,reads all the dvdrw that the lg cant read and reads cds that liteon cant read. |
If you were reading all the posts.
_________________
Ben Johnson-I didnt take any stereos!
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budz
IGA Ninja
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Location: In the shadows.....
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| samijubal wrote: |
| I've got a pretty good size stack of failed Pioneer discs and a few Samsung discs. |
Sounds like you're the only one who has had issues with PIONEER drives.
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samijubal
Member
Joined: 25 Jul 2004
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I don't buy that. I've had 3 different ones, they all suck.
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budz
IGA Ninja
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Location: In the shadows.....
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samijubal
Member
Joined: 25 Jul 2004
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Not everyone with a Pioneer burner hangs out in forums.
In 3-4 years of using an NEC I had 1 failed burn for no apparent reason, it could have been the burner or the software. In a few months of using a Pioneer I got a stack of failed discs.
I've sent quite a few discs to other people, no one ever complained about problems when I was using the NEC, with the Pioneer I had someone say the disc froze in places and I sent many times more NEC discs than Pioneer discs.
Those stupid Pioneers pause for up to 2 minutes during burns and sit there and do nothing, that can happen up to 3 times per burn, the 115 and 116 both. My NEC has never once paused during a burn.
You'll have to convince someone else about Pioneers being good burners, I'm not having any part of it.
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Gimme a freaking break...there you go again bashing PIONEER drives....FYI the newer PIONEER 118 drives aren't even manufactured by PIONEER, they got out of the optical drive business just like BENQ & SONY. The newer PIONEER 118 drive is manufactured by LITEON.