Cheapest DVD+RW or -RW, I think mine is dead, help!

[Abouna]

My TDK +RW is dying I think. It will burn CDs and read them but no dice on DVDs.

Looking for a good but cheap replacement. Should I should get DVD±RW for ease sake? Maybe DVD + is good enough?

Any suggestions for a reliable (the TDK is several years old and was never stellar) but inexpensive drive?

Cheers.

[budz]

Get a PIONEER 112D or LG42L. Most dvd burners are inexpensive these days. I'd recommend a BENQ drive but there no longer manufacture their own burners.

LG42L-w/lightscribe technology
http://e3wwwtest.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136114

PIONEER 112D
http://e3wwwtest.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129007

The 2 drives above are riplocked. In other words they rip commerical discs slow. But if you use MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT the read speed be increased. You'd have to check the MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT site to see if those 2 drives can be used w/their software. Some brands are not included with that software.

If you want a good reader with fast ripping speeds then get a LITEON 18x or 20x dvd burner.

LITEON dvd burners:
http://e3wwwtest.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010100005+50001336+...k=&srchInDesc=

[Abouna]

Whoa! That was fast!

LG42N or LG42L: I'm assuming the difference here is the L version is the lightscribe one?

Which one will produce the most stable home DVDs for a stand alone player? This is my main application. The old TDK I had was hit and miss.

[budz]

Yup, the L is for lightscribe.

I'd get the PIONEER 112D but if you want to bitsetting to dvdrom for DVD+R media then you'll have to apply a firmware hack to achieve this. Thus it will avoid the original PIONEER warranty. I've crossflashed many PIONEER, BENQ, LG & LITEON burners with no problems or failed flashing. The LG will bitset to dvdrom for DVD+R media without any hacked firmware. It can be achieved when using IMGBURN & NERO you can set it to bitset to dvdrom.

IMHO I like the PIONEER drive over the LG. I have many flavors of dvd burners with the BENQ drives as my all time favorites. The PIONEER is right behind it.

[Abouna]

Well I'm not a heavy DVD user (not even sure about the whole bitset issue).

Just looking for a good reliable burner for home movies, something that will burn relatively fast, no coasters, and play well on typical home DVD players.

h, I don't watch many movies on my PC but would like the ability to do so. Will the Panny playback DVDs (I read it doesn't somewhere, which sounds pretty weird).

[budz]

Do some reading on bitsetting to dvdrom for DVD+R media.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Increased-compatibility-DVD-bitsetting

If you have a older model dvd player it may not be able to playback DVD+R media, it probably plays only DVD-R. By bitsetting it to dvd rom then it may be able to playback on older models of dvd players. Most newer model dvd players can now playback DVD+R media thus no need to worry about bitsetting it to dvd rom.

[bevills1]

Nearly a year ago I decided on the Pioneer 111D which I consider best overall for DVD backup after reading all reviews of different burners at CDFreaks and considering number of problems posted in forums there. BTW the 111D can be cross flashed to 111L to gain bit setting for +R SL media. FYI http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4099553 shows Pioneer DVR-710 (DVR-111) for $25 after rebate or $15 after rebate with Google checkout