Sony 510 or Pioneer 106, which would you get if same price?

[bnbhoha]

I have a choice of getting a retail version of the Sony 510A recorder or a Pioneer oem recorder for around $133. I'm undecided on which one to get. I read reviews and both of them have their ups and downs.


Sony: good recorder, 8mb buffer, many people reported that the writer went bad after a a few months.

Pioneer: The new A06 isn't quite as good as the A05 (something to do with them switch packet writing..) 2mb buffer, hacked firmware, I read that it doesn't handle ritek G03s that well, which is my primary media; I'm not sure if a firmware upgrade could help this or if this fact is even true.

Any suggestions?

[dun4cheap]

They are both good recorders, but the fact is the Sony has an 8meg cache. My dru500a and new u14a are working flawlessly so I would say the sony. Plus I have not really had any media problems

[alinero]

go with pioneer a06 it burns all dvd-r u can throw at it

[mybook4]

I own a 106d. It is the best burner I have ever owned. I had a 104 before my 106. My 106 burns everymedia under the sun like it is the best media on the market. I burn even crappy brands with no errors at all. Perfect example. The new HQ 4x DVD-R have been known to have bad batches and bad burns. I have not burn a single coaster with any of them. That Ritek G03 rumor is not true. I have burned Ritek fine. Also, so what it has a 2 meg buffer. You shouldn't be multitasking that much during a DVD burn anyway. I have never had a buffer underrun.

[clanger]

I've got a 106D which i'm very happy with, although I've had a problem with some media, wont burn to it no matter what I do !
Ritek G03's are perfect tho, never yet had a coaster...... I've been using Traxdata disc's which seem to work really well in my standalone drive as well (and old REC)
the problem disc's are Memorex 4x DVD-R's (CMC i think).
Doesn't matter what speed i try and burn at, it fails after a couple of seconds. (doesn't even do the lead in bit !), but it could just be the disc's....
the bigger buffer on the sony might be a benefit, but i've yet to have a buffer underrun error, (does the burn proof thingy work on dvd's as well as cd's ??)

[handyguy]

If you got Sony dvd players, ps2, etc obviously you want a Sony.

Use Accu dvds on your Sony, they are great I use hundreds of them. They are about $74/100

[The_Pioneer]

No problems with burning G03's here. I haven't updated the firmware on my 106 (using 1.05) because I've had no problems writing/erasing anything. Only coasters I've burnt were the result of my own ignorance - yes, I orignally thought backing up a dvd was a matter of copying the files and pasting them onto a blank DVD! Since I got more educated in these matters I've had nothing but success.

I cant advise against the sony though - glad I didn't have the same decision to make when buying my writer.

[dun4cheap]

Even the pioneer guys agree. Buy the pioneer and don't multi task, or buy the Sony and don't worry at all. Fact is they are both good burners, the sony burns cheep media well and has an 8meg cache. If your price is the same then I would certainly go with the sony.

[Northstar]

Sony all the way. I have a Sony (not that version). I can do all sorts on my pc while burning in the background and not worry about it doing its job. Plus i havent had any problem with cheap media (fingers crossed) yet.

[synistr]

Sony is great, the 8mb buffer is the clincher.....like other posters say, you can multitask, but where it really is important is when you use multiple drives to record

[dun4cheap]

Yes indeed, I have been doing the multi recorder using both my sonys. One I put in an external usb1,2 and firewire box and the other is on my ide. Works great. Dru500 and the new oem 14ua or whatever.