Best DVD writer for my budget

[nyfeh]

I have a limit of spending of $200 for a DVD writer and I want to get the best writer I can for the money... I don't know a whole lot or anything about writers... Can someone help me here?

[windstar]

Plextor 712-A

[redwudz]

Pioneer 108

[Bodyslide]

I have over 1500 burns on my Pioneer 107, just bought a new 108. Have 200 burns on it. I have had no problems with the Pioneer drives using DVD-R media.

[aanaravs]

NEC 3500AG

[pchan]

Pioneer DVR-108 is a good choice. Stick to DL and 16x since you have a $200 budget. Not Benq... plenty of media compatibility issue.

[Gritz]

I've had good results with both the Pioneer (A05) and a Lite On (an older 451S - I think). You could spend $68 for the Lite On at www.newegg.com and buy a nice supply of disks with the balance. I think the newest model of either brand would serve you well.

[Bob W]

A great writer at a bargain price is this OptoRite 12X dual layer burner here http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=27-182-025&depa=0 . As a bonus it will rip a DVD at speeds up to 15X plus it comes with Nero and PowerDVD software all for $67.

Another good writer is the NEC 3500a which burns some 8X media at 16X but is locked at 2X or so for ripping. I have both.

[Dens]

NEC ND-3500A.
One of the best 16x burners for only $75.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-031&depa=0

[nyfeh]

Thanks guys, but I looks like there's a one day sale on that Pioneer 108 and it seems like a good drive... Looks like the one.

[handyguy]

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters

[Mawdryn]

Thanks guys, but I looks like there's a one day sale on that Pioneer 108 and it seems like a good drive... Looks like the one.

$82 plus $4 shipping for the Pioneer 108! I paid $86 plus $5 shipping 2 weeks ago and I thought I got a good deal.

Seriously, you can't go wrong with the 108 in my opinion. I've burned about 40 DVDs of all types (+, -, +RW, -RW, & +DL), qualities (CMC, Ricoh, Ritek, MCC, & TY), and speeds, under all kinds of conditions, and every one has burned perfectly. (I don't have the ability to do a K-Probe scan. By perfectly, I mean no errors in Nero disk scan and/or movie plays back perfectly on stand alone player.)

Even Memorex (CMC) +R 8x media burned perfectly at 12x. My Sony 530a really hated that stuff, giving me about 15 coasters out of about 20 disks burned (at 8x).

I've intentionally tried to make the 108 produce a coaster by doing heavy duty multi-tasking on the computer while either burning at 12x, doing a Nero Recode and burning on the fly, or just doing a straight 4x copy on the fly. I couldn't do it. (Heavy multitasking virtually guaranteed coasters on my Sony 530a.) I've even done the potentially costly experiment of directly copying a dual layer disk on the fly (at 2.4x without multitasking), with perfect results.

My advice: for $200, get the 108 and some good quality disks. (Or get the $180 retail A08 with the fancy face plate if you want to spend the extra money on the burner.) The Verbatim (MCC) +R 8x work quite nicely at 12x. That's mostly what I use. I just got some TY +R 8x and burned 1 at 16X with good results too. Good luck!

[waheed]

I have a limit of spending of $200 for a DVD writer and I want to get the best writer I can for the money... I don't know a whole lot or anything about writers... Can someone help me here?

Not a really useful question to ask, if a dozen people reply to this post, you're likely to get a dozen different replies each recommending a different burner as already is the case for this thread

[overloaded_ide]

Buy 2 different burners costing under $100 each! First you have 2 burners and both will probably work great. If one does not like some type of media you buy, then the other probably will. So then you don't get stuck with a 100 pk of disks you can't burn.

If one goes dead, you have the other for a backup while waiting to RMA the bad one. And of course if your making multple copies of an original work you might be able to burn 2 disks at once. Though for that I normally recomend the drives and media be the same. Not really something I do myself yet though.

And the big one, you won't feel so bad in about a year when you think how much you paid for a drive and so little it does!!
I paid $179 for my Toshiba 5002 -R 2x only burner. Great burner, but now look at what you get for under $100!!!!

8X Toshiba +R-R for $59 and $2 shipping at Newegg.