Lite-On LDW-851S - what you think about it?

[Bongo2]

hey all i ordered my 2nd dvd burner
the Lite-On LDW-851S
what you guys think about it?
is it good for burning movies and watching it on the dvd player?

is it a good purchase or bad???

[code65536]

I'll save Vanderlow some trouble and start off by saying that the LiteOn drives are not the best DVD burners out there, they don't do well with CATS scans, etc.

And Vanderlow is right! While LiteOn reigns surpreme in other optical markets (CDRW, DVDROM, Combo), its DVD-burning is not the best out there... but...

*) The LiteOn DVD burners beat other burners when it comes to CD writing.
*) It also does copy-protected backups superbly.
*) It also has the best error correction, so it can read better and more smoothly than other DVD burners.
*) It burns just fine if you feed it decent DVD media.

And that last point is where the LiteOn DVD burners get their bad name. Many people like using cheap media. Like Princos or even worse. If you feed the LiteOn burner bad media, it'll gag and spit it out at you. If you feed it good media, it will burn them with around the same quality as the other DVD burners. Personally, I never use cheap media anyway, because I'm worried about the questionable longevity of cheap media (who cares if it burns cheap media without coastering if the cheap media is such that it will degrade in just a year?). But if you feed it decent media, it burns them brilliantly.

Bottom line: if you want a well-rounded drive, the 851S is a good choice... just be sure to feed it decent media, preferrably +R, as LiteOn drives seem to have a bias towards +R (it's the better format anyway..hehe)... decent doesn't have to be expensive... I can get decent +R media for $0.80 USD per disc... if you want a burner that is not so well-rounded (perhaps you have another DVD-reader/CD-burner that you can use to fill in the gap) and if you want a burner that can burn the cheap crap DVD-R discs, then get something else...

(BTW, I have a 851S, and I don't regret it one bit)

[Bongo2]

joe man thx for the info man :P

one question tho... Ritek cd's work well with the lite on? well enough to buy a 100 pack???
cuz i dont wanna spend too much money , but want to spend the money on DVD-R that actually work

yo Code can you add me to msn, i have more question
heres my msn messenger josealejandro_54@hotmail.com

thx in advance
iam ordering online btw

[BobK]

I have 2 computers and an 851S in each one. I use both TDK and Ritek 4X with no problems.

[Beavis]

Lately I've been burning cheapo CompUSA DVD-R's and haven't had any problems.

[Bongo2]

Does Ritek G04 DVD-R plays well in most dvd players?

iam thinking of getting a 50 pack first, and then getting a 100 one maybe

[code65536]

I'd go with +R media instead of G04, as G04 is -R media. With bitsetting +R can be just as compatible as -R.

LiteOn drives are biased in favor of +R because that's the format that LiteOn started out with. Similarly, BenQ/Philips are biased towards +R and Pioneer is biased towards -R.

If I were you, I'd try to get RICOHJPNR01 discs. They work quite nicely, and when speedhacked, can be burnt at 8x just fine. RiData-branded 4x +R discs can either be RICOHJPNR01 (good) or RITEKR02 (bad) (RiData 4x +R can be either, but RICOHJPNR01 is more likely). I am personally biased against Ritek because Ritek is very bad when it comes to maintaining good quality control. Their so-called "grade A" media can range from great stuff (like some discs I've had in my most recent Ritek batch) to discs with visible irregularities in the dye (also in the same batch). Riteks are overrated... get Ricohs instead.

On that note, I have used a 50-pack of G04 discs, and they've burned just fine (it was with later Ritek batches that I've developed a bad taste for their poor quality control). I also have a 100-pack of Ricohs (sold under the Fuji brand) that burn even better and can also be burned at 8x.

[Bongo2]

so... where can i get a good deal for Ricoh media then? about a 25-50 pack

guess ill get the R+ ... are you sure that R+ is more compatible in most dvd players?

[Bongo2]

hey man, was checking prices for TY and Ricoh and they are kinda expensive
wich other good media would yo reccomend? i mean brand
and DVD+R ???
so DVD+R is most compatible in most dvd players???


iam ordering online the Discs, thx in advance

[carolann]

In my opinion Lite-On drives are trash. I finally threw mine away and a co-worker returned his. And yes I used decent media and various media. After like 1 to 2 weeks of burning any DVD after that burned on it froze up when played. Didn't help to use different media or burn at 2x rather than 4x. I used several other burners (Philips, NEC ND-2500A, Sony) and had absolutely no problems like this. I would never buy another Lite-On product. In my opinion the NEC ND-2500A is a superb drive especially for the price. I was able to get an OEM version from NEWEGG.COM for about $85.

[code65536]

In my opinion Lite-On drives are trash. I finally threw mine away and a co-worker returned his. And yes I used decent media and various media. After like 1 to 2 weeks of burning any DVD after that burned on it froze up when played. Didn't help to use different media or burn at 2x rather than 4x. I used several other burners (Philips, NEC ND-2500A, Sony) and had absolutely no problems like this. I would never buy another Lite-On product. In my opinion the NEC ND-2500A is a superb drive especially for the price. I was able to get an OEM version from NEWEGG.COM for about $85.

Sorry you feel that way. When it comes to CD-RW drives, DVD-ROM drives, and combo drives, I think I'm not alone in saying that LiteOn is the king of those. Plextor is about the only reasonable challenge to LiteOn's hold on CD-RW burning, but Plextor also costs twice as much.

It is very disappointing to see the LiteOn DVD burners, though. From a company with such a reputation, many people were let down by their 411/811 series (I guess that's what you used to have?). Their 451/851 improved, but didn't catch up to the NEC. Their 812 is a bit better. And the 832 seems to be burning single-layer discs even better than the 812. So I still have confidence in them; they got off on a bad start as they're new to the DVD burning market, but give them some time, and I think they'll fix their problems.

The NEC is good at burning DVDs, but isn't as good as the Litey when it comes to reading (extreeemely picky, the NEC is) or burning CDs. I wouldn't recommend the earlier LiteOns (the 401/411/811), but I think that their later generations are worth a shot.

[Bongo2]

joe code or anyone, can you tell me another media for the LITE ON that isnot that expensive???
cuz i wanna buy a 50 pack and dunno wich brand
can you give me a top 5 list
of the best dvd+r that work with the lite on 851s

any site with offers is welcome
thx :P

[code65536]

I only know of places in the United States...

Best Buy this week is selling a pack of 100 Fuji 4x +R discs for $1/disc. These are Ricohs, and Ricohs sold under Fuji's name tend to be amongst the better ones. Highly recommended.

RiData 4x +R discs from Newegg.com are well-priced, though there is a danger that you might end up getting Riteks instead of Ricohs (most RiData 4x +R are Ricohs, but some are Riteks... Ritek is the manufacturer for both Ritek and Ricoh media, but the dye that Ritek puts into the Ricoh media is differ than the dye it puts into its Ritek media).

Finally, the Samsung 50-pack (not sure about the 25-pack) of 4x +R are Taiyo Yudens. TY discs are the premium in the market--the best of the best. However, note that Samsung and BeAll have a partnership (BeAll used to be a division of Samsung before they were spun off), so there is a chance that they may have switched to BeAll instead of TY as their media supplier for their 50-pack 4x +Rs. Though, just a couple of weeks ago, though when I got a pack, they were still TY.

[DVDDave]

Best Buy this week is selling a pack of 100 Fuji 4x +R discs for $1/disc. These are Ricohs, and Ricohs sold under Fuji's name tend to be amongst the better ones. Highly recommended.


Does anyone know if the FUJI from best buy are richojpn01 or are they 2.4X rated to burn at 4X.

by the way--LITE ON 811S RULES!!!!

[Bongo2]

going to buy the samsun 50 pack
someone has any link?
DVD+R

usa places

[Bongo2]

hey ppls, if i cant find a good deal for samsun 50 pack dvd+r....is there a prob if i get them R- ????

[gmatov]

Maybe you got a screwup somewhere else, and the people who say the drive is garbage, or it only uses "good" media, 1.50 media.

I burn on Khypermedia, no prob, CompUSA -R, no problem, Philips +R, no problem, Ridata +R, no problem.

I have LiteOn 411S, 811S, 851S, all burn to work in my player, a Philips 728.

Usually set bit to ROM for +R, hope it will work on other machines, if it doesn't, no prob, they're mine anyhow, only take them to babysit g'son, and he won't watch my movies.

Cheers,

George

[code65536]

newegg.com for the Samsung.

@gmatov

Philips is CMC. That's decent media. RiData is Ricoh or Ritek, which is also decent media. CompUSA -R is Princo, and that really is bad media. But Princos come in good and bad batches. You might have gotten lucky and got good Princos. Their quality vary quite wildly... Not sure about KHypermedia... I think they're CMC, but I'm too lazy to go check...

When I mean crap media, I mean the stuff you buy online from some shady online retailer using a Yahoo! Shop (with such illustrious crud brands like Sonic, Matrix, Digital Matrix, High Quality, Great Quality, etc., etc.). Stuff you buy in a brick-and-mortar store will generally be decent or good media. For some reason, a lot of people like to buy that kind of junk. And then they complain that they coaster. Go figure.

[gmatov]

Back at you, Code,

For some reason, I can't bring myself to buy those things you mention. For some reason, I don't really like to buy ANYTHING I didn't pick up and look at, as in, in a store.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, burnt too many times as a kid with the Captain Video Secret Decoder Ring and the like, most anything you buy online, to me, is to be regarded with some suspicion.

Maybe the thing to do would be to pressure the vendors to post the specs as read by DVDInfoPro or something in their ad, "This is the data read from this media".

Nah, they'd never do it. Lose too many sales, and the few who bitch, mostly members of sites such as this, would be just a hiccup to them.

Bongos,

You asked for sites in the USA. Check your Computer store circulars for media deals. They are there, but you might have to wait to get your money back in 2 months or so to call it a bargain. Or wait for a buy one-get one sale.

I have NO media that has cost me anywhere near a buck a disk, except for 20 +RWs that did, in fact, cost 1 dollar each. Considering that a 5 pack of Imations was, I think, 19.97, and I got them for 4.99, and 10 packs were some 25 bucks and I got them for 10 or 11, I am happy with that price.

Just don't think ANY disk is worth a buck 50 or more.

I have not had a failed burn. I HAVE had burns that were bad rips, or something, tried to play, got only director's comments, etc. But even those were good burns, just not what I thought I was burning.

I Do have a few disks that did not play properly, hang, stutter, whatever, but blame the encode, shrink, whatever. Burn again, same, delete, re-rip, re-encode, good disk. So, I think it was a bad encode, not a bad burn. Also think it may be the problem a lot of people here are basing their brickbats on for some media brands.

Ah, well, to each his own, as the Lady said, as she kissed the cow's behind.

Cheers,

George