Best DVD burner out there for the money

[mcelrod]

Which is the best and most reliable DVD burner out there for the money? I'm looking for one for my new computer and I want something I can depend on.

[mats.hogberg]

I think you'll find this kind of question ("what's the best ...") is rarely answered, and when it is, it's just a personal opinion.
That's why there's a LISTS section left where users grade hard- and software. For this particular q, check here.

/Mats

[budz]

The BENQ 1640 or the 1655 which has the lightscribe feature. The BENQ 1640 is scarce at this time since the 1655 is their latest drive. COMPUSA has the I/O MAGIC drive that is a rebadged BENQ 1655.

The SONY 810A & PLEXTOR 740A are rebadged BENQ 1640's which can be crossflashed to the official BENQ 1640 drive so you can use the BENQ tool called, "QSUITE" to tweak your burns. Crossflashing will involve using Windwflash exe or the BQFlasher program along with cvt file firmwares. Check out the BENQ FORUM at Cdfreaks.com for the downloads for flasher program and cvt firmwares. The BENQ 1640 drive is the best burner on the market. I think BEST BUY has the SONY 810A drive on sale with rebates. Do some reading at the BENQ FORUM.

[mats.hogberg]

This link might give you further guidance...

/Mats

[INFRATOM]

As mentioned above all those have Phillips inside. The difference would be the quality of the plastic and drive. I never had BenQ but my next one will be since I never heard a complaint and it is the cheapest. Bearing in mind none of these burners are industrial perfect. None pass approval only one is a better over the other price wise. I have a Sony the quality of plastic and drive is better its MIJ and NEC ok but cheap and it takes a long time to initiate. Said all that go 1- BenQ 2- Pioneer. Good luck

[redwudz]

I have a Benq, Sony, Pioneer and they all work equally well.

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer.

[waheed]

Pioneer

[jimmalenko]

I'll 3rd Pioneer, but as mats said, ask 5 different people and you'll get 5 different opinions on this one. It's probably fair to say that technology ATM is such that it really doesn't matter which DVD burner you use these days, as they'll all give decent results. It's probably more important to use the right media.

[Delerious]

Currently, I have Benq , 2 Pioneer, and a Lite-on. I love the Benq, unfortunately the 1640 is extremely hard to find. I'd have no problem buying any of those again and I'd consider the NEC and LG as well, cost is pretty close on all of them. Whichever one you buy, check the various forums around and see what media works best. I use TY, but some burners like +R and others like -R better.

[garryheather]

Whichever one you buy, feed it crap media and you'll pay the price...

[spiritgumm]

I noticed in the dvdwriters list that many Pioneer had NEC chipset. Does this mean they'll have the same reliability and quirks as an NEC writer?

[chas0039]

Pioneer is the only burner I would not buy again. It is hard to bitset, won't scan, and won't rip without loosing bitsetting. Also, none of the burns were exceptional except for MCC 003 and YUDEN000 T02, and every burner I own is great with YUDEN000 T02.

Other than that, if you stick with TY +R media you can choose based on features.

NEC and Pioneer share a chip but use different firmware. Having owned a few of both, I can tell you that there is virtually nothing the two drives share in the burn quality or the way they work.