Which of the FOUR internal DVD burners is best ?

[MacPCConsultants]

Hi. My first post on this website, so I hope this is the best Forum to ask this. My Pioneer DVR-111DVK internal DVD burner in my WinXP tower began giving "power calibration error" notifications.

It was replaced with a Philips SPD2413BD internal drive, but at 40x to 48x the vibration and noise was intolerable. A second Philips of the same model did the same thing... marked noise and vibration with any blank or disc.

The drives will be used for audio and video disks, 50% dual layer. Rewriteable disks are not used. Plextor drives are not available at this store (Fry's).

Please tell me which drive would you recommend of these four internal dual layer DVD burners and why. The reviews at another site did not seem to indicate there was a clear winner of these three models, but many of you will have more experience:


• Samsung SH-S182M/BSBN

• LG GSA-H55LI

• Sony DRU840A

• Pioneer DVR-710


.

Thank you

[lordsmurf]

The Pioneer S710 is a Pioneer 111 drive. -- EXCELLENT DRIVE!
- Excellent burn quality.
- Very fast reading and ripping.
- Very good read quality.

The Sony is a LiteOn. It or Samsung would be next.
The LG would be last.

[budz]

The Pioneer S710 is a Pioneer 111 drive. -- EXCELLENT DRIVE!
- Excellent burn quality.
- Very fast reading and ripping.
- Very good read quality.

The Sony is a LiteOn. It or Samsung would be next.
The LG would be last.

:P The SONY DRU840A is not a LITEON drive. It's a SAMSUNG SH-S202 PATA drive.
Get your facts straight before you give information to others!

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f105/sony-dru-840a-dru-840u-scans-discussion-227017/

[lordsmurf]

Sony keeps rebadging, and I quit keeping track. Thanks for the update.

[nicky57]

The Pioneer is easily the best DL burner out there by far.

[Marvingj]

Pioneer has always been good to me, I still have my 110...

[MacPCConsultants]

Thank you all. I prefer to buy at Fry's.

Fry's doesn't carry the Pioneer 710, BUT does have the DVR-2810.

Please advise on buying the Pioneer DVR 2810 instead of the 710.

[budz]

Thank you all. I prefer to buy at Fry's.

Fry's doesn't carry the Pioneer 710, BUT does have the DVR-2810.

Please advise on buying the Pioneer DVR 2810 instead of the 710.

The PIONEER 2810 is a SATA DVD burner which is just the retail drive of the PIONEER 212 and the PIONEER 1810 is a Internal PATA dvd burner which is just the retail PIONEER 112 drive. So depending on if you have SATA connectors on your mobo you can use the PIONEER SATA drive. But also depends on the SATA chipset controller on your mobo, not all chipsets are compatible when it comes to SATA dvd burners. You may want to stick with a Internal PATA dvd burner like the PIONEER 112.

[MacPCConsultants]

Thank you. From what all of you have said, I should forget the Samsung, LG, and Sony.


Therefore I shall use a Pioneer 1810 as one drive on the top bay, and a Pioneer DVR 710 in the second bay.

Okay ?

[on30trainman]

I bought the Pioneer 1810 (112D) drive at Fry's in Austin, TX on a recent trip there to visit my kids. It works great for me, but have only used it with forum recommended media (TY 8X DVD-R and Verbatim 8X DVD+R DL) so far.

[budz]

Thank you. From what all of you have said, I should forget the Samsung, LG, and Sony.


Therefore I shall use a Pioneer 1810 as one drive on the top bay, and a Pioneer DVR 710 in the second bay.

Okay ?

FYI there was a recall for the PIONEER 1810 which is actually the PIONEER 112 so make sure you test out your new drive when you get it from Fry's Electronics. Below is the link regarding defective PIONEER 112 drive.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f87/pioneer-usa-replacing-defective-112-drives-226683/

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/top/cat/article/0,,2076_310069579_484923529,00.html

[MacPCConsultants]

Fry's has the 1810 burner, but inside the sealed box is a 114D model. Is this an error ? Or are they the same drives ?


I can imagine many returns to Fry's when the consumer sees 1810 on the box, but there's a 114D inside.

[budz]

Fry's has the 1810 burner, but inside the sealed box is a 114D model. Is this an error ? Or are they the same drives ?


I can imagine many returns to Fry's when the consumer sees 1810 on the box, but there's a 114D inside.

There's no such 114D model dvd burner but there's a PIONEER DVD-ROM 114.

[lordsmurf]

How old would a DVD-114 be? I've got a DVD-115, and it's from 2001. Great drive, still works, but it almost pre-dates DVD burners (came out at the same time the DVR-103 did).

[MacPCConsultants]

How old would a DVD-114 be? I've got a DVD-115, and it's from 2001. Great drive, still works, but it almost pre-dates DVD burners (came out at the same time the DVR-103 did).

Sorry. I meant there's a DVR 112D in each of the DVR 1810 boxes. Now does this make sense ?

[coodbe]

The Sony DRU 840A is an IDE drive. I have two of them that I just installed on my Dell Dimension 8400 with Windows XP. Here are two links:

http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Sony-DRU-840A-Multi-Format-DVD-Burner

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f44/cd-freaks-presents-sony-dru-840a-burner-review-228348/

[budz]

How old would a DVD-114 be? I've got a DVD-115, and it's from 2001. Great drive, still works, but it almost pre-dates DVD burners (came out at the same time the DVR-103 did).

Sorry. I meant there's a DVR 112D in each of the DVR 1810 boxes. Now does this make sense ?

:P Yes it makes sense. If you read my posts correctly I told you the PIONEER 1810 is just the retail version of the PIONEER 112D drive. Retail means you get software with your drive. OEM is just the drive w/no software. The hardware is the same there's no difference. BEST BUY & FRY'S sell the retail PIONEER drive w/model number 1810 which is the 112D and the 710 is the 111D drive.

[MacPCConsultants]

What about the Samsung SH-S203B compared to the Pioneer 112D ?

[budz]

What about the Samsung SH-S203B compared to the Pioneer 112D ?

That's already been debated at Cdfreaks.com. My suggestion is to check out that thread & let you decide for yourself which drive will fit your needs.

I have both of those drives which I tend to favor the SAMSUNG S203B drive over the PIONEER 112D. If you're only going to use DVD-R media then buy the PIONEER 112D. If you're going to use DVD+R media then buy the SAMSUNG S203B drive since bitsetting to dvdrom is enabled via IMGBURN. PIONEER 112D has automatic bitsetting to DVD-ROM for only DUAL LAYER DVD+R media. There's a hacked firmware to enable the PIONEER 112D to enable bitsetting to DVD-ROM for SINGLE LAYER DVD+R media. You would have to crossflash the PIONEER 112D to the PIONEER 112L to enable it.

[lordsmurf]

That's great, but you make it sound like bitsetting single-layer media is actually important. It's really not needed unless you're in a special situation that demands it. Booktype changes are about on par with LightScribe, so-called "quiet" burner tech, scanning functions, etc ..... frilly features that most people find unnecessary for the basic operation of reading and burning.

[budz]

That's great, but you make it sound like bitsetting single-layer media is actually important. It's really not needed unless you're in a special situation that demands it. Booktype changes are about on par with LightScribe, so-called "quiet" burner tech, scanning functions, etc ..... frilly features that most people find unnecessary for the basic operation of reading and burning.

The guy is asking about the drives so I basically gave him the scoops on them. Who said bitsetting was important? Sounds like you're the one making a big freaking ass deal about it. Geez, give it a rest LS.

[lordsmurf]

I'm just tired of seeing salesmen (most of them idiots) in stores telling consumers all these great features they can get with a certain product, whether or not such features are even necessary. Or worse, where the extra features add to the price, basically making somebody pay more for something they neither need nor use.

I just like folks to understand what some of this stuff is, especially if it's optional or frilly in nature.

Some of this stuff is like selling a Hummer or Ferrari to a little old lady who only drives on Sunday.

[MacPCConsultants]

That's great, but you make it sound like bitsetting single-layer media is actually important. It's really not needed unless you're in a special situation that demands it. Booktype changes are about on par with LightScribe, so-called "quiet" burner tech, scanning functions, etc ..... frilly features that most people find unnecessary for the basic operation of reading and burning.

Budz:

I can't understand that technical stuff. Do you mean that the Pioneer drive will NOT burn DVR -R, just +R's ? And won't burn CD's ?

[OneSickPup]

What about the Samsung SH-S203B compared to the Pioneer 112D ?

You do realize the Samsung SH-S203B is a SATA drive and the Pioneer 112D is PATA/E-IDE. You may have both available in your Tower but I thought I would bring it to your attention. Either drive would be a good choice. The 112D did have some CD burning issues on early production runs but I think that has been rectified. The Pioneer burns DVD+R - it just doesn't auto-bitset - meaning the automatic setting of booktype to dvdrom on dvd+r burned media. The debate above concerns how important this feature is. Good luck.

[lordsmurf]

I can't understand that technical stuff. Do you mean that the Pioneer drive will NOT burn DVR -R, just +R's ? And won't burn CD's ?

This is why I don't overload people with techie features.

The Pioneer 112 burns CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. It burns very well.
It can also read DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM.

There's really nothing else to know about the DVD burner itself. Some of these people here are going to pound you with tech and techie features. I won't.

When you get the drive, don't use Nero or Roxio for burning data or already-authored DVD-Video folders (a "DVD" that you play in a DVD player), use ImgBurn instead because it burns properly while the others do not. ImgBurn is also free! For audio CDs, Nero or whatever is fine. For DVD-Video, some software will both author and burn (it depends on what you use). Some of this is for a later discussion, but I wanted to quickly mention software in here, as it's just as important as the drive is.

Also only use the best DVD media, such as Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim, and nothing else. Again, as important as the drive.

Does that make it more clear?

[budz]

Budz:

I can't understand that technical stuff. Do you mean that the Pioneer drive will NOT burn DVR -R, just +R's ? And won't burn CD's ?

I never said the PIONEER 112D will not burn DVD-R or CD's. I only talked about bitsetting to DVD-ROM for DVD+R media. It can burn DVD-R/+R media as well as CD's. There was a mass recall on the earlier productions of PIONEER 112D drives where they could not burn CD's correctly. Therefore PIONEER is allowing replacements for those defective 112D drives. So be careful if you're buying the PIONEER 112D drive test it out before the store warranty expires. But then again you can get a replacement from PIONEER.

To LS: Technical or not if this OP had a older dvd player that could only playback DVD-R media and he wanted to use DVD+R media & he bought a PIONEER 112D drive. He would have to use the hacked firmware to achieve the bitsetting to DVD-ROM for DVD+R media so it can be played back. I give all the options one can use on any dvd burner whether or not this person can understand tech stuff. This is what a forum is all about to ask questions. Then when someone gets a answer but wants more info then more questions are asked. Isn't this what a forum is all about!!!!! :P

[MacPCConsultants]

I don't know about bitsetting, but I'm delighted to report that I acquire four of the Pioneer 1810's for net $40 each.

They are so quiet, especially compared to that Philips.

Thank you everyone, and I'm sorry that the stuff on bitsetting completely eludes me.

[budz]

I don't know about bitsetting, but I'm delighted to report that I acquire four of the Pioneer 1810's for net $40 each.

They are so quiet, especially compared to that Philips.

Thank you everyone, and I'm sorry that the stuff on bitsetting completely eludes me.

If you ever wanna find out about the bitsetting, do a google search.

[MacPCConsultants]

That's great, but you make it sound like bitsetting single-layer media is actually important. It's really not needed unless you're in a special situation that demands it. Booktype changes are about on par with LightScribe, so-called "quiet" burner tech, scanning functions, etc ..... frilly features that most people find unnecessary for the basic operation of reading and burning.

Will ImgBurn do everything Nero Ultra does ?

[lacywest]

Sony keeps rebadging, and I quit keeping track. Thanks for the update.

I used to think that Sony was Lite-On ... too.

Didn't HP drives get made by Sony ... than Sony stopped making drives and Lite-On took over ... hmmm

... So ... who is making HP drives now ??