which dvd writer will work well with Dell inspiron 1000

[chezi]

I have recently returned a Sony dvd writer to the supplier because of problems i.e would not successfully burn to dvd-r.
After buying this writer and installing Nero 6 to my Dell Inspiron 1000 laptop I had no success burning images of either cdr or dvd-r discs. I then installed Alcohol 120% and was able to burn cdr and dvd+r only, dvd-r would fail after approx 30% using various makes of discs. I informed the supplier and returned it to get checked. It was returned to me with a note saying it checked out OK and different media supplied. Still no success with dvd-r. I informed the supplier of this and was told it was my computer that was to blame but they would sell me an aluminium enclosure for £24 part exchange, which I turned down and returned the unit for refund less 20%. So all in all it cost me £41 for nothing plus approx 15 wasted dvd-r and 3 cdr's.
PLEASE could somebody out there advise me which writer to buy ??????
I am a newbie living in Scotland. Friends say to go for a Pioneer unit. Wotcha think?????
Cheers.
chezi.

[obs]

I think you should nuke the Dell preload and reinstall Windows clean. In any event, your friends are right. Pioneer is among the best for DVD RWs. NEC is also a solid choice.

[whompus]

I recommend the pioneers as well. It could however be that there is just to much running in the background. I would recommend if you don't want to do as other suggestion and start with fresh install of os you should at least use enditall. It will close down all the processes running in background. That would stop any compatibility problems or system resources being to low. Can find it with any search engine.