Best External LightScribe From Best Buy?

[DW]

Hey everyone!

I'm looking to get an external Lightscribe DVD burner from Best Buy (it's near my house). Which would you recommend for my MacBook Pro? (USB or firewire is fine). They seem to be big on HP and LG. Which is better?

Thanks!

[budz]

PIONEER
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9254175&type=product&id=1218069254016

[DW]

um, there is no LightScribe on that drive.

[redwudz]

If you're stuck with BB, I would probably go with the LG.

[jman98]

I bought an LG Lightscribe drive and it didn't last. In fact, ALL of my Lightscribe drives have developed various problems in 1 year or less after purchase.

I originally bought a Lightscribe drive more than 3 years ago because at the time the price for printers that could print directly to discs was insanely high - over $300 US for the first such printers. I used Lightscribe for several years and I got tired of the constant problems with the drives. One drive eventually would only burn CDs, another would not burn dual layer DVDs correctly, one had Lightscribe issues, and on and on it seemed.
I switched to ink jet printable media by Taiyo Yuden (I use their Watershield discs) and bought a Canon printer that I hacked (necessary if you live in North America due to patent issues here) to print to ink jet printable discs. I'm really happy with the Canon printer and the results of printing to discs that way.

While it is possible to get some good results out of Lightscribe, you will find out that in many cases the image will not burn as darkly as you want no matter what settings you use. Some people regularly burn their Lightscribe image TWICE - can you image that? I did that once and it did make the image darker, but my drive was never the same after that. Considering that it takes 20+ minutes to burn a Lightscribe image once, you're talking about a big investment in time.

Finally, I've seen some evidence that the image does degrade over time. My earlier burns are already starting to fade somewhat and they're all stored away from the sunlight. I really have to advise against going the Lightscribe route. Keep in mind that I have defended Lightscribe here against various "it just sucks" posts in the past and even I came to the conclusion that it just wasn't worth it. If you must do this, please buy Verbatim discs at least. Few companies support Lightscribe, but the non-Verbatim discs are bad quality media.

[budz]

um, there is no LightScribe on that drive.

I knew that but I posted buy a PIONEER anyway. Because IMHO lightscribe isn't that great to have/use.

[samijubal]

Pioneer sucks. I've had 3 of their burners, they all suck. The 111 burns so erratic I don't even bother to use it, the 115 failed burns every other time I used it, the 116 stops in the middle of burns and does nothing for a minute or two then starts to burn again, it hasn't failed a burn yet but I just got it, I'm betting it will the way it burns.

[budz]

Pioneer sucks. I've had 3 of their burners, they all suck. The 111 burns so erratic I don't even bother to use it, the 115 failed burns every other time I used it, the 116 stops in the middle of burns and does nothing for a minute or two then starts to burn again, it hasn't failed a burn yet but I just got it, I'm betting it will the way it burns.

It's only you that say's Pioneer sucks....go post that CDFREAKS.COM at the PIONEER FORUM. :P
I'd be curious to see the responses you receive!

[samijubal]

I don't need to post anywhere to know they BLOW.

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer is the best drive made, and has been since 2001.
Second-best choices come and go. Right now Samsung (or Sony-rebaged Samsung) is the next best choice.

After that, LiteOn or Optiarc.

LG is last on the list, the drives just don't read or burn worth a crap. The only exception is the BD-ROM/DVD burner, it seems to be okay.

If you must have LightScribe, buy and LG drive and only use the LS feature. Burn the disc in something better, like a Pioneer.