DVD-rom advice

[ElTopo]

Ok, if someone cares to share their advice with a newbie... I'm planning on buying a DVD-Rom Drive for my computer mainly for ripping DVDs, and want to keep it on the budget side. Up to now i've seen some generic drives around 12X, but I don't really know what I should be looking for.

If anyone could give me some advice as to what minimum requirements or specific characteristics i should consider, or what brands/models I should definitely avoid, how different characteristics affect performance etc... I would really appreciate it. Also (to save you all some time) if someone could direct me to a web source that covers the matter in a clear and comprehensive way, that would be really nice too.

[JJ_3_RIP]

ElTopo,

Please refer to the following topic: https://www.videohelp.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=71843&forum=11.

Opinion for best DVD-ROm's: Pioneer, LiteOn or BTC. Also, see http://www.cdrinfo.com (comparison).

[poopyhead]

hrm...i'm gonna hafta disagree with JJ_3_RIP on suggesting the BTC. they're not good. stick with either Pioneer's or Lite-On's 16x dvd-rom drives. they're relatively cheap at maybe $60-$70. however, the dvd-rom you should definitely avoid is toshiba, they can't rip anything over 2x.