Opinions/Experience on best dvd-writers to date?

[morkys]

I have an LG 4163B in my PC, and I wouldn't mind getting another dvd writer for other PC's in the family, or just having a second dvd writer in my PC for backing up directly from disc to disc.

Any advice on what the better drives are? I have heard that the BenQ 1655 is nice and the Pioneer 110 (is there a 111?) are nice too. Apparantly there are mixed reviews regarding the LG 4167B. Some say it has difficulties unless your PSU has decent specs, and/or the 4167B can be really noisy. Sounds like it hasn't got the greatest cd error correction, but dvd error correction is ok. Plextor is way expensive. NEC ok?

So what dvd writer would you recommend?

Also, is there a dvd drive out there, burner or otherwise, that regardless of burner abilities, has really good cd/dvd error correction for extracting/ripping?

thanx in advance for any feedback,

[ROF]

My best advice is to not pay more than $50 for whatever burner you choose. If you do you are paying for some name either plastered on the bezel or on some sticker. It won't make the drive better because it has this name on it.

Keeping this in mind there are plenty of burners in the $40 price range. The NEC 3550, the LG4167, and the Pionner 111D are all good burners and all available for under $40.

[oldfart13]

Even in Canadian $$ converted from USA $$ I haven't seen them that low. But then we don't have the volume business the USA does. Most of the stores here sell them for around $90CAD. Discounters aren't an option as you lose in the shipping costs or there simply aren't any...

[ROF]

That's right. I went to Canada earlier this year and laughed at the prices. The store I was in(forgot the name) had three burners all over $80. All of them are available south of the border under $40. It's sad the prices you guys are paying for media, technology, and other things too.

I'd still buy the cheapest one though. Later this year, next gen DVDs are available with burners soon to follow. I'd not waste alot of money on old technology.

[hap]

ncix.com has good prices for burners, with quite a few in the sub-50 CAD range. They occasionally run shipping promos, too.

[morkys]

No worries about stores and prices. I can find whatever model at the lowest price. Not a problem. Canada Computers has the LG 4167B for $44.95 oem. Infonec has good prices too.

What I am looking for is info on what I should avoid, and what are generally the good burners right now.

Is the LG 4167B problematic for anybody? Noisey? Other issues? I heard there were some issues, but I am checking here for feedback.

What are some models to consider? BenQ? Nec? Pioneer? Which models? I will take the suggestions from here and shop around.

thanx,

[Weapon]

My opinion would be to go with an NEC drive. I have used the 2510 now for 3 years and is perfect. Did I mention that the 3550 is 36 dollars at Newegg with free shipping!! You can't go wrong.

[Rich86]

I have had a Sony DVD burner in the past and although the burner was fine, Sony support did not exist. That burner got retired because Sony could not be bothered to offer firmware updates to use newer media.

I currently use a Benq 1620 - and it has been excellent. I would look hard at the Benq line - but probably not the DQ60 (as there appear to be some issues). I understand a model 1670 is due to appear, and the initial description sounds very attractive.

[OneSickPup]

What I am looking for is info on what I should avoid, and what are generally the good burners right now.

Is the LG 4167B problematic for anybody? Noisey? Other issues? I heard there were some issues, but I am checking here for feedback.

What are some models to consider? BenQ? Nec? Pioneer? Which models? I will take the suggestions from here and shop around.

thanx,

You're asking some tough questions. It's really hard to differentiate much between most of the major brand models these days. I'll give it a try though. I have an LQ 4167B. I don't notice anything noisy about my drive. I have not had any power issues with mine but have read alot of people complaining about it as being quite power hungry. It is a good ripper (reading and error correction) as long as speed is not incredibly important. It is one of the slowest rippers out there. Great quality burns as long as good media is used. One of if not THE fastest drive for 16x burning on the market. Not especially tolerant of lesser quality media. No quality scanning capability. Does bitset out of the box. Supports DVD-Ram. Overall a pretty good choice if you can live with the slow read/rip issue and avoid the weak psu problems people have had. That problem usually appears quickly as an inability to identify media (keyword usually).

In Canada you have the Benq 1650 (not released yet in the US) and the 1655. A very versatile burner that does pretty much everything well. Benq does have some quality control issues from time to time but most makers have that as well. Very active firmware support system. Tweakers paradise with Qsuite software. I don't own one but I would say a very solid choice.

I have a NEC 3550. Good at most everything but not as flashy as the Benq. Good solid choice though. Mine is not a reliable scanner.

Don't own a Pioneer 111d but early tests look promising. Very similar to the 110d but with a newer NEC chipset. Would make a good choice also.

[morkys]

Yes, I know they are tough questions. Its hard to think of this as statistics, because there are 1000's if not 10's of thousands of people with drives, so experience with each has to be taken with a grain of salt. What I look for are the glaring obvious flags to avoid certain drives, like the BenQ DQ for example, or advice on well regarded drives that are widely known for reliability.

I mainly want good quality reads and writes. I am not concerned with speed. I don't burn often enough and always prefer to burn slower just to increase the likelyhood of a burn doing well (not always the case, but...you know what I mean).

I may try the 4167B anyhow, as the problems with it have not been universal. I have the 4163B and have yet to burn a disc. Just going out now to grab some media and do some burning. I am being the curve with dvd burning. By the time I get the swing of the ripping/processing and burning software, which type of discs work in my 3 different dvd players and which brands, it will be too late, HD-DVD and Blue-Ray will be out...lol..

But seriously, thanx for the advice.

What about my idea of looking for another drive whcih has really good reading/ripping/error correction to pair up with my 4163B? May aswell just go with a burner based on overall performance?

One issue I saw was only average error correction reading CD's with the 4167B. Is it sometimes possible to improve on that by lowering the read speed?

thanx for all the useful feedback,



P.S. Where can I learn more about the media? Why would I chose DVD-R over DVD+R and what is the difference? What about -RW and +RW?

[OneSickPup]

What about my idea of looking for another drive whcih has really good reading/ripping/error correction to pair up with my 4163B? May aswell just go with a burner based on overall performance?

One issue I saw was only average error correction reading CD's with the 4167B. Is it sometimes possible to improve on that by lowering the read speed?

thanx for all the useful feedback,



P.S. Where can I learn more about the media? Why would I chose DVD-R over DVD+R and what is the difference? What about -RW and +RW?

Not sure about that review rip comment on the 4167B. I find it to be a good reader - slow but better than a lot of burners. To be honest, I keep my LITE-ON SOHD-167T dvd-rom for really tough ripping or extreme read problems. That thing will read anything.

But if reading ripping and error correction are all heavy factors in your choice of a burner then go the Benq 1650/55 route or in a different direction altogether. The Liteon 165P6S or 160P6S drives excel in those areas. They just aren't quite as good in burning some media. They also are excellent scanners.

[morkys]

Right. The comment I am refering to was just a note in the "con" section of the conclusion to a review. It said "average cd error correction."