Which DVD Writer

[rrtbusa]

I've been pondering for a while on installing a DVD writer in my pc. I will be taking out the DVD player,& install the DVD writer in its place,& leave the CD burner in its place. Will i have anything special to do withe cd burner even though i'm not messing with it? Also I have several questions ,FIRST: I will be burning most dvds on -Rs,& -RWs, Which would be the most reliable writer to buy for a newbie , with ease of use,& likes -Rs & -RWs, using stock firmware??????Benq1620? Nec 3520? Pioneer 109?
I've heard that some writers make better dvds which are more compatable with the dvd players out there??? Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks

[diat150]

if I were you I would leave the dvd rom in and add the burner also, most if not all dvd burners also burn cd's. the advantage of having the dvd rom is that if you use dvd shrink it will automatically start the burn process if you read from the rom with a blank dvd in the burner. also, I may be wrong on this, generally dvd roms read the dvd's better and faster than some dvd burners.

[budz]

I've been pondering for a while on installing a DVD writer in my pc. I will be taking out the DVD player,& install the DVD writer in its place,& leave the CD burner in its place. Will i have anything special to do withe cd burner even though i'm not messing with it? Also I have several questions ,FIRST: I will be burning most dvds on -Rs,& -RWs, Which would be the most reliable writer to buy for a newbie , with ease of use,& likes -Rs & -RWs, using stock firmware??????Benq1620? Nec 3520? Pioneer 109?
I've heard that some writers make better dvds which are more compatable with the dvd players out there??? Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks

First of all how fast is your CPU speed? Most dvd burners like the BENQ 1620 the minimum CPU speed is Pentium 3 550mhz or higher. What brand is your dvdrom drive? Some dvdrom & dvd burners are capable of ripping at faster speeds via 3rd party firmwares (hacked firmware). Check this site for 3rd party firmwares:
http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_all.php

Some dvd burners will write to DVD-R media better and some will write better to DVD+R media. LITEON & BENQ tend to write better to DVD+R media while the PIONEER & PLEXTOR drives tend to like DVD-R. Although BENQ's 1620 does write DVD-R well with the latest firmware upgrades. Is this confusing? LoL! Do some research at CDFREAKS.com, they have forums for BENQ, LITEON, PIONEER, PLEXTOR , LG, NEC & BTC drives.

If your dvdrom is good then keep it and just add in a dvd burner. You can get a RETAIL BENQ 1620 for $44.99 from Newegg.com. It has BITSETTING out of the box and has frequent official firmware upgrades to keep up with the latest DVD MEDIA.

[rrtbusa]

Thanks budz, I do have a pent III,733mhzt,383 memory. But i think i only have 2 slots, & one is the cd burner, the other the dvd player. So one will have to go,?My dvd player is a nec 5700a( only plays +r & +rw). All my collection is -Rs & -RWs.My CD burner is a Sony CRX-140E
Again I'm very new to all this , but i do like making movies and burning on my stand alone Sony HX-900. I want a burner on my PC so i can back up some of MY & my Kids movies..

[QuaiBoy]

The CRX-140E, while a stable CD-writer, is a dog compared to the CD-writing speeds of the latest DVD-writers. Keep the DVD-ROM drive, ditch the CRX-140E.
I recommend the Pioneer line for DVD-Rs. Little experience with +R media, so look for other comments if that's the way you'd like to go.

Best of Luck,
-Evan-

[Denvers Dawgs]

With my benq1620 I have only used +media, because I heard that it likes them better. Also, I have only used +media for the past 4 years on my hp adn the benq writer, and haven't found a player that will not play them. (verbatim-MMC, fuji-TY). They have played on 14 players from Sony and PS2 to cyberhome dvdplayers. So I really don't think the +/-media matters for playback much now, unless you have a old dvd player.

[ntscuser]

The NEC 3520 seems to have the most positive feedback from users in this forum (97%) and that coincides wiht my personal experience. I run a video newsgrouop and have found that discs recorded on the NEC 3520 play back on a wider variety of other people's players than other writers either they or I have tried.

[slacker]

The Plextor is the BEST and most expensive IMO. I had one but turned it in for a Lightscribe DVD burner, the HP dvd640E (which is a BenQ), because I have Lightscribe requirements. Love it to pieces! Burns PERFECTLY.

If Plextor ever comes out with a Lightscribe drive, it's mine!

Happy burning!

[studmonkey76]

I found a lightscribe benq 1625 for around 53.00 bucks. Great deal!!!