Best DVD Burner for the Money?

[Aztec_gizmo]

I am replacing a Lite-on DVD burner that is giving me problems writing to TDK DVD+R media (CMC E01 00) and also inconsistant burns on DVD-R media. I want to get the best all around drive, but I do not want to spend alot of money. I looked at NEWEGG and they have alot of drives below fifty bucks. I just do not know which one to buy........NEC, BENQ,Pioneer, Plextor, Samsung, LG. There is just to many choices. Please point me in the the right direction if you can. Thanks.

[budz]

In my opinion the BENQ 1640 is the best dvd burner on the market right now.....Take a look at the BENQ, PLEXTOR, NEC, PIONEER, LG, BTC, LITEON FORUMS at CDFREAKS.COM. You'll find lots of information on all of those brands....every brand has their pros and cons and quality control issues.....Those CMC discs you're using aren't the best to use.....Use good quality dvd media and you'll have no problems....cheap media will result in burning coasters....

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer 109. No contest.

[budz]

Pioneer 109. No contest.

Take a look at the PIONEER FORUM at CDFREAKS.COM! :P

[Bodyslide]

See Next Post by me...

[rkgibbons]

I don't think Budz was "Seconding" the motion, but rather implying that the Pioneer crowd isn't that pleased with the 109.

I'd pick the Plextor PX-716s.

Not exactly the cheapest, so perhaps not the best for the dollar, but certainly among the elite drives available.

It's a SATA drive (not IDE) though, so you'll need to have a SATA controller installed. They have a PX-716A for those without the SATA, not sure how it compares to the S version.

[Bodyslide]

I have no issues with both the Pioneer 109's that I have.

[waheed]

I have no issues with the Pioneer 109 either.

[QuaiBoy]

How could the Plextor possibly be the best drive for the money? So many drives do the same or better for 1/3 the cost. Why is it elite... because it costs more? Plextor hasn't been the same since they abandoned SCSI (and that was a LONG time ago). The write quality sucks, the media compatibility sucks, and the build quality sucks.
The Pioneer 108 gets my vote. It's been showing up off and on at Newegg refurbished for less than $40.

-Evan-

[Denvers Dawgs]

Here we go again....my burner is better than yours.....lol....I once again will have to say my BenQ 1620 works flawless for me. Others say thier BenQ sucked....200+ dvds on mine all are 100% perfect (MCC & TY media)

[slacker]

Total waste of time! My daddy's bigger than your daddy. Give me a f#%$ing break!

Read the reviews and make a decision!

[winifreid]

Which Lite-on do you have? Have you tried the solutions offered by the codeguys? I have the Lite-on 1693 and have no problems. I had the 451@832 and had no problem with that.

[wyatt59494097]

I have used LITE ON and NEC DVD burners for going on 2 years now and have burned over 1000 DVDs with absolutly NO coasters at all with either one of them. I own a PC business and have built over 100 PC's using LITE ON and NEC burners with each one. I have not had an issue with one single burner yet to date. The last 30 or so units I have used have all been NEC's. I am very happy with both brands !!!!!

[TBoneit]

I'm using the Pioneer 109, no problems.

OTOH We've sold a lot of lite-ons here in computers and no complaints from customers either.

I have the Pioneer 109 for one reason I had stocked up on the 8X TDK when they were real cheap and the Lite-On doesn't seem to like them, Nor did my older Sony DRU-500A & 510A. In the future I'll be steering clear of the TDK 8X and thinking long and hard about any other TDK Media. OTOH even though they were $42 per 100 at costco on the printable TDK 8X recently O bought because they work in the Pioneer and it was a buy 1 get 1 free so they ended up at $21 per 100 plus tax.

Cheers

[massacres]

I just bought the NEC ND-3540A 16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer IDE Drive for $40 at Newegg and i have to say it is most excellent.. i need some better media to test out the speeds as of yet. but it's burning my 4x media at 4.9x

and i am burning full dvd's at this speed in 14 minutes...

I will reply back after i do more tests but i see no reason to pay more for anything else, you can't beat the bang for your buck on this one..

[MJA]

I agree with massacres NEC is one of the best and cheap too

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152047

[rkgibbons]

Quai,

If you actually read my entire post, you'd see that I mentioned the Plextor was expensive, and because of that it probably wouldn't count as being among the best for the money.

I mentioned the Plextor because it's an excellent drive. It has received some of the best reviews among recent drives. Not sure where you get the idea the write-speed sucks.

But fine, the Plextor sucks. You're right. Don't consider it.

Get whatever Quai has.

[QuaiBoy]

Quai,

If you actually read my entire post, you'd see that I mentioned the Plextor was expensive, and because of that it probably wouldn't count as being among the best for the money.

I mentioned the Plextor because it's an excellent drive. It has received some of the best reviews among recent drives. Not sure where you get the idea the write-speed sucks.

But fine, the Plextor sucks. You're right. Don't consider it.

Get whatever Quai has.

You know what, I didn't mean to be so blunt with my post. I apologize.

-Evan-

[Aztec_gizmo]

I just purchased a BENQ 1640 from NEWEGG. I have read that it is a good drive and it only costs $38.

[GKar]

After reading the below review I decided on the BenQ 1640 myself also. A good article covering the major burners. Not the most recent but decent.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14511

[MOVIEGEEK]

IMO BenQ DW1640.
Excellent burn quality with supported media,burns unsupported media(using SolidBurn) decently,BenQ's support and firmware updates are top notch(read:NEC).The drive also reads faster than most DVD-ROM's.

[Bondiablo]

The NEC 3500 is probably the best so far but since you can't get those anymore, I'd go with the Benq 1640.

[DereX888]

Any cheap drive will burn DVDs. If youre not rich (cant afford to 'waste' money) buy whatever you can afford.
As last as it does the job it is for, what is the problem some ppl have with cheap brands? They all come from same factory in China :P

If youre poor youre better off buying cheap writers every year or every half a year and having your hardware somewhat updated with current mainstream, than buying i.e. $600 Plextor CD-RW writer in 1998 (yes, thats how much it cost) and holding onto it for 10 years to 'make it worth every penny' while technology has moved forward leaving you far behind with outdated hardware in that time.
Just my .02


(thats just example, i have nothing against plextors)

[pchan]

I just purchased a BENQ 1640 from NEWEGG. I have read that it is a good drive and it only costs $38.

Glad to know that ! For Benq drive, it's best that you stick to +R/+RW media.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Oh yea I forgot to mention to use + media with the Benq. I have always only used + with all my burners and have never had problem.

[Aztec_gizmo]

How does the BENQ 1640 handle dvd-r discs (quality of burns)? Because I have a Pioneer burner that uses 4X dvd-r media and it is a pain to get both dvd-r & dvd+r discs.

[GKar]

The BenQ uses a Phillips chipset so it will lean towards DVD+R but this drive has good compatibility for both +/- media.

Don't forget to download Q-Suite (bitsetting utility etc...)!

http://www.benq.us/ServiceAndSupport/Drivers/drivers.cfm?product=782

This article talks about media compatibility:
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14511

[budz]

I just purchased a BENQ 1640 from NEWEGG. I have read that it is a good drive and it only costs $38.

Glad to hear you purchased a BENQ 1640! As mentioned download QSUITE 2.0 and flash your drive to the latest firmware. Check the BENQ FORUM to see how others have faired with the last 2 firmwares, BSKB & BSLB. Depending on what dvd media you use will determine which firmware you'll use. For example on one of my BENQ 1620's I use firmware B7TP on another one I use B7W9. You'll have fun using your BENQ 1640! You can flash the drive as many times as you want with old and new firmware. QSUITE will provide you with better write strategies by using WOPC, OVERSPEED & SOLID BURN. Some disable WOPC, SOLID BURN to get better burns. Check out the BENQ FORUM for more info. The 1640 burns DVD-R very well as long as you use good quality media. My 1640 purrs with MAXELL DVD+R/- (MADE IN JAPAN), VERBATIM DVD+/-R (MADE IN TAIWAN), FUJI & SONY DVD+R (MADE IN JAPAN) which is TAIYO YUDEN. Have fun with your BENQ 1640!

[INFRATOM]

The sure way is to buy one and if lucky that one turns out good under your conditions. I studied a lot here and other sites and finally bought NEC , I had to use other FW and everytime I have to change the writting speed and it doesn't rip as fast as first when I applied the FW by Liggy also the drive is flimsy and it takes a long time to open and close. My next try would be Pioneer if a good ver come out. I have also Sony the quality of drive is very good and open and close is fast. According to Tom's Hardware or Anandtech none of these drives meet the criteria to be Good! just pick one of the cheap ones , I saw less complaint from BenQ also.

[Aztec_gizmo]

Thanks you guys have been very helpful.