DVD Burner life

[hibbs]

I have an HP DH-6AYH113C p/n 5188-7536 super multi DVD burner, made by Samsung I think. It has
burned about 600-700 DVDs. It is now burning almost as many coasters as
good disks (I always use either Nero or ImgBurn and verify). In the past it did not seem to be media sensitive as most all
brands I have tried worked with very few failures.

Is this thing at the end of its useful burning life?

Advice/help appreciated, John.

[samijubal]

Have you updated the firmware to the latest version?

[johns0]

Might need to clean the laser or replace the burner,they are worth only $25-30 now adays.

[budz]

If you're using crappy ass MEMOREX or TDK dvd discs that could be the problem. If not then buy a new dvdrw since they're so cheap these days as already stated.

[lordsmurf]

Read in here, too:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/blank-media-19.html
Especially the post about cleaning DVD drives properly.

[hibbs]

Thanks for the replies and links, quite helpful. I bought a new LG SATA Super Multi DVD Rewriter GH22 for CA$37.00, problem solved.
John.

[jman98]

Thanks for the replies and links, quite helpful. I bought a new LG SATA Super Multi DVD Rewriter GH22 for CA$37.00, problem solved.
John.

Good decision. When burners start to go bad they are cheap enough that I don't think it's worth trying to salvage them. Replacement seems to be a good course of action. Although it is unusual, I've seen burners fail as early as after just 2 or 3 months of non-heavy usage. Computer components can fail at almost any time, unfortunately.

[lordsmurf]

Cleaning is the best first choice. If that does not work, then scrap it, yes.