PC-Magazin (GER) 5/2004 review of burners and media

[Vanderlow]

PC-Magazin (GER) 5/2004 did a review of drives and used a CATS analyzer. Someone tagged it the same thread where C't magazine did a review of drives using a CATS also. BenQ and LG rated high for + media on both reviews (and - 2x in the C't review).

PC-Magazin (GER) 5/2004:

BEST drives (grouped together, not in order of performance)
===========
- LG 4801 / only fails on VDSPMSAB01 (DVD-R), MCC01RG20 (DVD-R), OPTODISCR004 (DVD-R) and MCI4XG01 (DVD-R). Very good dual format drive, if you avoid the crappiest media
- BenQ DW-800A / excellent drive for DVD+R burning (just as LG4801). Now if only all burns had jitter within specs and this was a true 8x dual-format drive...


WORST drives (in order of performance as rated by me based on burn test results)
============
1. Sony DRU-530 / only really burns ok on Ritek R02 and MCC002 (both DVD+R). REally bad drive
2. LiteOn LDW-811s / only really burns good on TYG01 (DVD-R), Ritek G04 (DVD-R), POMSC001 (DVD+R) and Ritek R02 (DVD+R). IMHO, not a trustworthy drive.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13405&start=25


Newegg is carrying the DW822A (dual layer upgradeable) now for $99 + $4 shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-101-622&depa=1

[louv68]

I religiously watch the TechTV cable channel here in the States. "The Screen Savers" is one of their shows. They had reviews of several 8x drives and the Sony DRU-530A came out on top. It is a true 8x drive in that it burns both -R and +R at 8x. It was the highest recommended drive, at least a few weeks ago.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/products/story/0,24330,3646325,00.html

[Vanderlow]

The only thing is at least with the linked TechTv article they did no analysis of burn quality, just burn speed.