Deciding between Lite On SOHW-812S and Samsung SH-W08ARNS

[daimyodrum]

Well, I have read the specs and reviews till my eyes bled, can any of you kind folk sum it up for me? I can't decide between these two DVD Burners
as an entry level affordable choice.

They seem to be equally matched, pretty much, tho newegg has the Lite On
for a little less than the Samsung..and Lite On looks like it has a little more
manufacturer support online.

There IS a note to the effect that you can only exchange the Samsung,
the Lite On does not have this limit. Hmmmmnnnn.

Help?

[Shocker Milwaukee]

All things being equal, LiteOn has a variety of free tools available.

[ViRaL1]

Is the Samsung Double-Layer upgradeable?

[code65536]

I don't think so.

The 812S is a great drive. DL-capable. Write quality has improved quite a bit, especially with a bit of help from hacked firmwares. Perfect CD performance. It's a good all-rounder.

[johns0]

I agree,just bought my 812s and getting great burns with it,highly recommended.

[daimyodrum]

OK, it's on the way...
Now, what about this help from hacked firmwares?
what exactly are you speaking of?

Thanks again...

[code65536]

Read the first post in this thread:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=100190

And then read the other posts for results. This is what I mean by improving the write quality. This kind of firmware modification is also how Herrie managed to get the NEC write quality to be so good.

[daimyodrum]

OK< well, before the firmware, I need to get some info on this situ:

This thing won't play DVDs! I am informed by a friend that I need something called a driver, and he was wondering why the burner didn't come with a CD
too...<sigh> OK, i'm trying not to get frustrated, its all a learning process.

I read things that indicated that windows HAS a driver for DVD in it,
so what am I missing here? I am running XP PRO.

[ViRaL1]

WindowsXP includes a DVD driver. You should be able to read DVDs once the drive is installed. HOWEVER if you're talking about playing movies you'll need a software or hadware MPEG decoder (e.g. a software DVD player such as WinDVD).