What burner would work for me?

[nouseforaname]

I know, there are a ton of topics about which is the best, which will work and the cheapest to buy. I used to have a Pioneer DVR-111D and that was the only and best dvd burner I've ever had. I've used it for years and it never died out on me. DVDs would only fail because of the media codes that I learnt about later on but that burner is long gone and it wouldn't work in my current computer now.

My current desktop only has SATA connections, no IDE - otherwise I'd definitely buy another Pioneer. I used that Pioneer burner a lot - all the time. So it has to last as I work on a lot of custom dvd work.

Price isn't a problem really. It's like that saying, "You get what you pay for," you know? But I'm willing to spend $60 or so for one.


What I'm looking for is:

• SATA connection only
• Must be internal
• Needs to burn dual layer discs
• Optional lightscribe but I've never used it (I'd like a separate burner to be lightscribe so please mention a good lightscribe burner as well)
• I don't need something to burn at 500x lol. That Pioneer that I had was 16x fastest and I've never burned anything that fast so burn speed for dvds isn't important though it's not harmful.
• And hopefully have a huge list of media it can burn.

It's a lot to ask but at the same time it's not. I've read around that Samsung is doing pretty good now and correct me if I'm wrong but NEC is the best as I do have one of those in my laptop and works great.

That's about all I'm looking for. I guess I am looking for "the best". So if anyone can help me out, thanks in advanced.

[budz]

Get the SONY OPTIARC drive which is a collaboration of SONY & NEC. It's the best dvd burner in the market right now and it burns DVD+R DUAL Layer media very well. Myce.com formerly known as CDFREAKS.COM rates this as the best dvd burner in the market right now. I'll be picking up this drive with my next order at Newegg. It's currently $27.99 but a few days ago it was $25.00 with free shipping. I'd buy this drive over a Samsung.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030


PIONEER, PLEXTOR, BENQ & TOSHIBA no longer manufacture their own optical drives. They all use rebadged LITEON & SAMSUNG drives. LG is the only one that still manufactures their optical drives.

[nouseforaname]

I was literally just looking at this drive at Newegg two minutes ago. As long as it burns everything then it's all good. And that price beats what I spent on the Pioneer years ago.

Any other ones though? And what's a good lightscribe burner? My thought is to get two burners - one for burning and one for lightscribe work, if any. I don't want to be stuck with one burner and have it fail because of the lightscribe option.

[budz]

Get a LG drive that has lightscribe option. LG drives have their read speeds locked but it can be unlocked using MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT. I use LITEON drives for ripping. For burning I use my PIONEER 115, 116, 215, 216 & BENQ 1640 & LG H62L drives.

[nouseforaname]

Does it matter which LG? I'm not familiar with lightscribe at all, I just know for a fact that that option kills the life of the drive hence why I'd want two. I don't want to spend too much on it either and if it's any good at doing what it does, I'd use it whenever possible.

[budz]

Get this one since it's cheaper at $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

or Sony drive with lightscribe but it's $32.00 w/$1.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118032

[nouseforaname]

Get a LG drive that has lightscribe option. LG drives have their read speeds locked but it can be unlocked using MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT. I use LITEON drives for ripping. For burning I use my PIONEER 115, 116, 215, 216 & BENQ 1640 & LG H62L drives.

I'm just trying to get an all-around burner that will burn DL discs. I noticed some burners don't have that option, that's why I said that. Though, how would I lose if I would have two dvd burners, you know?

So you're recommending the Sony Optiarc AD-7240S for best DL burner and LG GH24NS50 for lightscribe. Any all-around dvd burner you'd recommend that's SATA?

[budz]

IMHO there isn't any all around burner. I have many flavors of dvd burners because some are better than others for instance like ripping dvd discs, reading scratched discs and burning capabilities. The SONY OPTIARC drive is the best burner period in the market right now especially with dual layer media. You asked about lightscribe so I gave you my suggestion. I don't use lightscribe because it's a waste of time but that's just me.

Buy whatever drive you feel will satisfy your needs. I gave you my suggestions and gave you information regarding other brands of dvd burners. I'm sure others will give you their opinions as well. Samsung drives at one time were good but I have not bought one in the last few years because the PIONEER drives were better. Again that's based on my opinions and experiences. And the fact I liked using hacked firmware on different models/brands of drives.

For more info. go to myce.com which is formerly CDFREAKS.COM and check out their dvd burner forums like SONY, LITEON, LG, PIONEER & SAMSUNG.

[nouseforaname]

IMHO there isn't any all around burner. I have many flavors of dvd burners because some are better than others for instance like ripping dvd discs, reading scratched discs and burning capabilities. The SONY OPTIARC drive is the best burner period in the market right now especially with dual layer media. You asked about lightscribe so I gave you my suggestion. I don't use lightscribe because it's a waste of time but that's just me.

Buy whatever drive you feel will satisfy your needs. I gave you my suggestions and gave you information regarding other brands of dvd burners. I'm sure others will give you their opinions as well. Samsung drives at one time were good but I have not bought one in the last few years because the PIONEER drives were better. Again that's based on my opinions and experiences. And the fact I liked using hacked firmware on different models/brands of drives.

For more info. go to myce.com which is formerly CDFREAKS.COM and check out their dvd burner forums like SONY, LITEON, LG, PIONEER & SAMSUNG.

You say all of that as if someone's going to bash your words lol No worries. Your help is appreciated. I've looked at that Sony one for a while actually but I wasn't sure because I'm not much of a Sony person. All I know is NEC is the best chipset or so to speak. I really liked my Pioneer but it was old and the drive wouldn't close by itself whenever the pc would be turned off but I didn't care at all. It did the job very nicely.

I'll probably get that Sony Optiarc you mentioned and one of those lightscribe burners as well. I'd just want to get the whole set with the SATA cables and software so if they're in a store I'd get it from there. I've never bought from Newegg but I use their ratings as a reference all the time and they're useful. I guess buying a lightscribe for $30 is just like throwing away that money. We'll see what happens though. Thanks for all the help. Maybe more people will post more suggestions, I'd like to hear more.

[budz]

Didn't mean to sound like a tard ass.
It is frustrating when you want to get the best bang for your buck. It's a freaking shame those manufacturers have outsourced to other companies. Pioneer & Benq made good drives back in the day. Have fun with your new drives!

[nouseforaname]

lol Nah dude, you're alright. Again, thanks for your help. I just want to say that the only reason I'd want the lightscribe is to do full images on the discs. I used to have those high-gloss covers you'd print and "stomp" on the dvds but those were hard enough to get on correctly.

[lordsmurf]

LG is a really crappy reader and burner. Yeah, it does LightScribe, but it sucks at everything else.

[nouseforaname]

I'm hesitent on the lightscribe. Not because of whatever burner can do it but because the fact I'd use it for just that and it'd eventually die soon.

[budz]

LS that's your opinion....it's a good reader for me with scratch discs....as well as a good burner....remember now most of the other manufacturers outsource their optical drives to LITEON & SAMSUNG. I'm not commenting on SAMSUNG since the only burners I have from them are the 183L & S203B drives. I haven't bought any of their recent drives. I am the DVD WHORE since I have so many different burners.

[lordsmurf]

I guess you missed this recent post: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/316059-What-burner-should-I-buys

[nouseforaname]

Did anyone get the Sony Optiarc AD-7240S yet? I'm about to buy it right now but double checking everything before I do. I'm reading reviews from Newegg saying that it fails burning with Nero but those users all have Windows 7 while I still have XP. Could it be the OS or the burner?

Anyways, someone let me know what's up. I guess right now I'm just looking for a long term burner with no lightscribe. With how things look now, I don't think I'll be able to do a bunch of DL burning.


EDIT: I just bought it from Newegg for $23.99 free shipping. I included the 1-year warranty just incase because I've read a few reviews about it. Hopefully this burner works. All I need is the sata cable and I'm good to go.

[nouseforaname]

I got the Sony Optiarc in the mail today. Just burned my first data dvd on a bunch of dvds that wouldn't work in my other NEC. The front bezel is black, yes, but the rest of the plast is beige so it looks like it was switched out or something. Glad I got the warranty. The only thing I'm afraid of is the tray breaking since it feels so damn flimsy and feels like a dvd case cover. Over all - you get what you pay for. Don't know how to check if this is NEC at all. Shows up as Optiarc in the hardware devices window.

[budz]

^^^The SONY OPTIARC uses the NEC chipset so you won't be finding it in the hardware devices window. If you really wanna see the name NEC then you'll have to open up the drive to see the chipset.

[nouseforaname]

I'll take your word for it. What I found strange was that sticker that shows all the information is on the bottom of the driver and not on the top.

[nouseforaname]

Yes, I bought the Sony Optiarc and so far no issues. I haven't done any massive burning on it just yet but it's great but like I said before, the only problem I feel that could have been fixed is the tray being flimsy. My pc have doors for the drives so whenever they open, I'm afraid it'll actually break in the process haha