any new drives better than Lite-On for ripping?

[spiffy]

Hi everyone,

To make a long story short, are there any new drives out currently that are better than Lite-On for ripping? I am having trouble backing up some discs that seem to be in perfect condition, yet both Plextor and Lite-On drives are stalling on certain vobs. I am wondering if a different brand other than the two mentioned above might be more robust? (No luck with Pioneer either.)

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Spiffy

[lawnman]

Maybe it's the protection on the DVD not your drives.

[spiffy]

Protection is not the issue -- these are discs from overseas, where there's little protection if at all to the discs. I think the main problem is the discs are badly manufactured -- in fact, that's the main reason I'm trying to back them up, because some of the originals don't play well in the stand alone players (video stuttering, freezing, etc.) In the past I had fixed this problem by backing up the entire disc on quality media, and that seemed to have solved the issue.

[AlanHK]

Try Isopuzzle to back up to hard disk.

It's very tenacious and if the disk is readable at all it'll get it eventually.

Also, is the DVD surface scratched? If so, clean it, try a light polish with toothpaste. More serious scratches, use Brasso. Rinse and dry thoroughly after, of course.

[spiffy]

That's the thing -- the surfaces are not scratched at all, they're completely pristine -- which leads me to think that they just aren't made very well.

Thanks for the tip on Isopuzzle -- I will definitely give that a try! I haven't try the toothpaste method in a long time, will give that a shot if all else fails. Haven't done the Brasso method yet, but I've just read about it recently.

I am in the market for a new drive though -- I usually use Lite-On DVD-Rom for ripping, and Plextor for burning -- this combo has worked well for me generally. I was planning on either getting another Lite-On, or splurge and hoard another real Plextor before they're completely gone. But I thought if even something my trusty Lite-On cannot read, I may have to explore other brands as options.

[budz]

The real PLEXTOR's are already gone and they're using rebadged drives from NEC & I think from LITEON.

If you want a good dvdrom for ripping & have a SATA connection on your motherboard get a SAMSUNG S203B 20x dvd burner. There's no riplock speed so it can rip quite fast & is a good reader. It burns very well at 16x-18x speed using good quality dvd media like TAIYO YUDEN & VERBATIM. With the price dvd burners so cheap these days it's a waste to buy a dvd-rom. If you don't have a SATA connection then buy any 18x-20x LITEON dvd burner to use for ripping. Then you could buy either a PIONEER 112D, LG-H62L or SAMSUNG 183L drive to do your burning.

[AlanHK]

That's the thing -- the surfaces are not scratched at all, they're completely pristine -- which leads me to think that they just aren't made very well.

Thanks for the tip on Isopuzzle -- I will definitely give that a try! I haven't try the toothpaste method in a long time, will give that a shot if all else fails. Haven't done the Brasso method yet, but I've just read about it recently.

Well, the toothpaste and Brasso are for scratches. So if you can't see any of those, I wouldn't advise it.
Also of course it probably isn't good for the longevity of the discs, though if they're unreadable that's moot.

The discs might be greasy or otherwise contaminated though. I wash gently by hand in tepid water with some dishwashing liquid, rinse and dry with a linen towel.

All very low tech but it often works.