Recommend a good drive for reading 'bad' media please

[Captain Satellite]

Well, it's starting. I go to pull out one of my prized discs that I burned a couple of years ago and neither of my drives will read it. I tried a few others from the same period and got the same thing. The good thing is that they still play in the DVD player. Yes, this was before I knew about 'good' media. So are there any drives that are any better than others in dealng with this problem? Worst case scenario is that I will have to play them and record them again on my DVD recorder and re-encode them - yuk.

[lordsmurf]

BTC ROMs or burners are the best readers on the market. Easily. Thankfully they are both cheap. Under $50 for either one.

BTC also = Emprex, some MicroAdvantage

[Captain Satellite]

Thanks for the reply, smurf. I now use the bright yellow MIJ Maxell you recommend, I've been using those for about a year now. I can't find an online retailer for this burner, do you have a link? I have Fry's about 15 minutes away, maybe I'll take a drive. Thanks again.

[ccbadd]

Fry's carry Emprex burners which are BTC and they are cheap. Keep in mind that they are horrible for burning but absolutely awesome at reading bad disks. I know this is true for the 1004IM which is not sold anymore as I had one, but I have no first hand knowledge of any of the newer ones.

[lordsmurf]

The BTC is really good at burns with recent firmware. But with one exception: Taiyo Yuden media. It just turns those discs in coasters. All other discs are fine in them.

Fry's carries BTC 8x drives and EMPREX 16x drivers for $40-100 ... watch for sales, they are on sale often.

[Captain Satellite]

Weird stuff going on with these discs people, I need to be educated. Before I started this thread, I made damn sure that I tried the discs in both drives mutiple times with no luck. I then tried playing a known good DVD in the Sony drive, ejected it, then put in the 'bad' disc and it played - huh? The Matsushita drive still refuses. So I loaded the 'bad' disc into the Sony that was able to read it, put a blank yellow top Maxell into my Matsushita drive and burned a copy. What I don't understand is why the Matsushita that just burned a copy onto good media will still not play. The copy will play in the Sony and my DVD players. I know that this got long and I was trying to be concise! What do you think of this burner? Thanks for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it.

https://www.thetechgeek.com/content/product.php?pid=5315&cid=26

How the heck is that going to fit into the slot with those readers I don't need?

[ccbadd]

Captain, Contrary to what the Smurf said, the BTC are no where near good burner for all but a very slight few types of media. I have one of these and it reads and writes great. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6853434&type=product&productCategoryId=c...=1093468843698

The Benq 1620 is supposed to be a good reader also, which is based on the same chipset. Here is a good deal on a Benq which is said to be a great drive. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-101-635&depa=0

[Captain Satellite]

Thanks so much for the help, smurf and CC. Due to a royal brain fart, BOTH readers now read all discs. This all started after I restored my C:drive - you know the rest!