Good DVD-ROM recommendation please

[alchemistresearch]

Having just upgraded my writer recently, I think the time has come to replace the DVD-ROM drive.

There are lots (Asus, LG, Samsung, Benq) around the £20 mark, but I thought i'd gauge opinion from users on here to see what they'd recommend to get or steer clear of (no need to mention Sony!)

Thanks everyone.

PS Forgot to mention, I'll most likely be buying from Microdirect:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/productlister.aspx?GroupID=42

the link shows the writers they currently stock.

[indolikaa]

They don't sell a Lite-On DVD-ROM?


Well, in that case, I'd go with the Asus DVD-ROM.

[Nilfennasion]

Lite-On = crap. I've been told they sell most of their drives in the USA, which says it all for me. I've tried three times to make a Lite-On DVD-ROM drive RPC-1, and every time it has failed.

LG, on the other hand, are piss-easy to flash to RPC-1 status. Their burners are also compatible with all five formats. Can't recommend them highly enough.

[tompika]

TOSHIBA SD-M1802

Rip Lock and RPC1 patch by The Dangerous Brothers
http://tdb.rpc1.org/firmware/XS1034RS.ZIP

[Nilfennasion]

Does it support +R/RW? Toshiba seem a bit afraid to support the formats they don't endorse...

[tompika]

It DOES with or without fw hack although the drive info doesn't mention it.

[indolikaa]

Then my vote goes to the Toshiba drive.

My SD-M1502 is still hummin' along, firmware-hacked to rip at a respectable speeds.

[budz]

Toshiba dvdrom 1712 or if you can find a 1612. Liteon is a another good choice. Here's hijackers site for the TOSHIBA drives.
http://hijacker.rpc1.org/toshiba_nolimit/



__________________________________________________ _____

on pent 933 pc

[gastorgrab]

Still no patched firmware for the Toshiba SD-M1711 (12X/48X) SCSI?

I keep checking at http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php, is there another source?

Put my vote down for Toshiba as well. Toshiba SD-M1712 with patched firmware is much faster and reliable than i expected.

I've heard that SD-M1502 and up drives are capable of reading DVD-Ram.

-------------edit-------------

Sorry, i should have checked the stock at your link before i posted.

[alchemistresearch]

I have the Toshiba 1612 but it is around two years old and has been struggling to read this past week or so. Cleaning hasn't helped.

Another computer store in Manchester (www.spotonuk.com) sell the new Toshiba 1712 for £28, but that's a retail model and it's out of stock.

[glockjs]

my 16x btc dvd rom works pretty good for $30(us). i really cant complain.