which is better for reading disks?

[subferno]

In general, do DVD Writing drives read/play DVDs better than standard DVD Rom drives?

I have a Lite On SOHD 167T DVD drive (standard) that skips randomly when playing movies. I would like to replace it with my old Sony DVD DRU500 (writer), hoping that the skipping problem would go away.

Would rip speed and quality differ between these 2 kinds of DVD drives?

Thanks
Gary H

[chas0039]

The Liteon 167T is a very good reader so yours may have problems or be dealing with dirty discs. If the discs are like new, I see very little difference between readers and burners of any of the top brands. The Liteon 16P9S is a very good reader for a ROM and the BenQ 1620 is considered the best reader in the burner catagory for damaged discs..

[redwudz]

I prefer using a DVD-ROM for reading as it always reads at full speed. Also saves wear on my burner.

Quality would be the same either way, but speed is usually faster from a ROM drive, up to 16X. Many burners read at 2X without modified firmware. I don't bother with burner firmware upgrades unless I have to. Never have yet.

Two drives also have the benefit on not having to exchange discs when using a program like DVDShrink to make backups.

[chas0039]

I prefer using a DVD-ROM for reading as it always reads at full speed.

Not quite true. Many ROM drives will not read 16X and those that are able to usually need upgraded firmware. The only ROM drive I have seen that will read Dual Layer discs without a firmware fix is the AOpen 1648 AAP and that drive will only reach 14.75X. Keep in mind there are differences in read speed between SL, DL, -/+R. and RW discs.

BenQ and Liteon will read much faster than 2X with their burners and stock firmware as will the Pioneer A09XL.

BTW, there are often serious problems with firmware and often significant benefits with newer firmware. It would be a shame to never benefit from improvements.