Recommendations On New Writer

[phorkster]

My HP dvd630 recently died and was wondering if anyone could recommend a new drive. I was looking at these models in particular but any other recommendations would be great. Thanks.

LG GSA-H10N
Pioneer DVR-111D

Thats my short list so far.

[yoda313]

I love my pioneer 111d THUMBS UP!!!

[Bodyslide]

Pioneer or Samsung...

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=10

has really good deals.

[OneSickPup]

LG GSA-H10N
Pioneer DVR-111D

Thats my short list so far.

You picked two good ones. Both of those are excellent choices.

[oldandinthe way]

Just bought an H10. So far it has burned everything I've thrown at it. Once I finish this round of tests I'm going to update the firmware to J11 and remove the riplock.

[budz]

Just bought an H10. So far it has burned everything I've thrown at it. Once I finish this round of tests I'm going to update the firmware to J11 and remove the riplock.

Have you considered crossflashing the drive to the H12 which will enable 18x spd burning??
Just wondering since I bought a LG h22li drive.

To the OP: If you can find a BENQ 1655 drive that's another good choice along with the PIO 111 & LG H10N. I'll add the LG H22LI as well. BENQ no longer manufactures their drives so getting a BENQ 1640, 1650 & 1655 is another good choice if you can find them. If you're in the USA, COMPUSA has rebadged BENQ 1650/1655 drives under the NORWOOD MICRO, CONNECT COMPUTER & COMPUSA brands. The NORWOOD MICRO boxes will have DW1650 on it. CONNECT COMPUTERS LIGHTSCRIBE drive is rebadged 1655. From reading at Cdfreaks.com the BENQ 1800 series drives are rebadged LITEON drives. Take a look at the PIONEER, BENQ, SAMSUNG, LG, LITEON/SONY, PLEXTOR, NEC forums at Cdfreaks.com. Good information over there on any of those drives.

[OneSickPup]

Not sure what the OP's options are for Benq. His sig indicates Canada. No idea what rebadge options are available up there. As Budz stated - CDFreaks.com is a good source for info.

Hey Budz - I've been planning on buying an LG with the Panasonic chipset for the past couple months ( Like I need another drive)! I've seen a lot of posters over at CDFreaks swear they get better burns with the H22N vs the H22L. If you compare your scans to the H22N scan thread do you see any indications to support this? Newegg has free shipping on the H22N - yesterday anyway.

[samijubal]

LG blows. I've had 2 LG drives, they both bit it in less than 20 discs. I've only used the 111D for reading. It's already slowed from around 10- 11 minutes per disc to around 14-15 minutes per disc after little use. It sounds like it's going to fall apart when it initializes discs. Get an NEC, but not the 7000 series which are a joint venture with Sony.

[oldandinthe way]

samijubal

I've burned well over a thousand disks on my LG GSA-4163B, and now it seems to need a rail lube, which I will get to shortly. It clearly was a great drive. Very few coasters, tolerant of many media brands. The H10 is a backup drive and so far seems every bit as good as the 4163. I picked the H10 because it uses a Reneasas chipset as did the 4163. Why mess with a good thing.

budz

I actually burn my 16x media at 16x unlike many other folks. When I buy some 18x media I will consider the crossflash. But reversing the crossflash seems to require I crash and burn the drive. I'm uneasy about that.

[OneSickPup]

LG blows. I've had 2 LG drives, they both bit it in less than 20 discs. I've only used the 111D for reading. It's already slowed from around 10- 11 minutes per disc to around 14-15 minutes per disc after little use. It sounds like it's going to fall apart when it initializes discs. Get an NEC, but not the 7000 series which are a joint venture with Sony.

I'm really sorry you had such bad luck with LG writers. I can't help but feel your experience is not typical of LG. I own three currently - my H10 is loaned out. I've had very good success with Renesas chipset LG's: primarily the 4167B and the h10N and to a lesser degree the 4082N. I have a lot of friends with other models of LG's over at CDFreaks.com that feel very strongly about their 4040's - 4163's - 4166's - H22's - etc. You also state issues with the Pioneer 111D which is probably my favorite drive currently. You must have had incredibly bad luck on the drives you have had. Hope the Nec's work out for you.

[budz]

Not sure what the OP's options are for Benq. His sig indicates Canada. No idea what rebadge options are available up there. As Budz stated - CDFreaks.com is a good source for info.

Hey Budz - I've been planning on buying an LG with the Panasonic chipset for the past couple months ( Like I need another drive)! I've seen a lot of posters over at CDFreaks swear they get better burns with the H22N vs the H22L. If you compare your scans to the H22N scan thread do you see any indications to support this? Newegg has free shipping on the H22N - yesterday anyway.

Yes, I've read the posts saying the H22N is better than the H22L. I don't do much scanning. Here's some scans I did for you. All the discs were burned with H22L drive, firmware 1.00 using the latest version of IMGBURN.

1. burned at 16x spd MCC004, scanned w/BENQ 1650



2. burned at 12x spd SONY D21, scanned w/BENQ 1620



3. burned at 12x spd TYG03, scanned w/BENQ 1650



As you can see for yourself this drive doesn't seem to like TAIYO YUDEN TYG03 media. However it does like DVD+R media. I have many dvd burners so it's not a big deal that the TYG03 doesn't burn well w/the LG H22L drive. Maybe I should have bought the H22N but I'm not disappointed with it. I'll have to consider buying one of those tower cases to house all the dvd burners I have.

To the OP: The PIONEER 111D is a good choice as well especially when you crossflash it to the PIONEER 111L drive. You'll enable bitsetting for single layer DVD+R media. You can use the THE DANGEROUS BROTHERS hacked firmware to accomplish the crossflash but you'll void the PIONEER warranty so beware just fyi. Download the 111L 8.19 INT* firmware and the 111L 8.29 INT firmware. First flash the drive with the 111L 8.19 INT* firmware then reboot pc. Then flash with the 111L 8.29 INT firmware and reboot. I flash all my dvd burners in safe mode. Make sure you have no disc in the dvd burner.

http://tdb.rpc1.org/#DVR111L

[OneSickPup]

@budz

Those scans look very typical to me. I think the H22N vs H22L is more hype than substance - IMO. I really like what I have seen from DVD+R (especially MCC 004) on most all Panasonic chipped LG's. The TYG03 scan doesn't surprise me at all. I'm a big fan of TY 8x media but I think Verbatim (MCC 004 and MCC 03RG20) win the 16x race hands down. I do like the fact that you can burn 16x DVD-R on the H22 at 12x. That is my only huge complaint with the Renesas chipped LG's where you are forced to burn TYG03 or MCC 03RG20 at either rated speed or 8x. That's where Benq 1640-50-55 or Pioneer 111's have a huge advantage with better results at 12x. Just my opinion of course.

Thanks for the scans.

[bidefordboy]

Get the Pioneer 111D & flash it to a 111L using the method mentioned above. Here are some scans of a dvd I have just burned using Verbatim 16x dvd-r. All the Verbatim discs that I have burned with the Pioneer have been in the high nineties.