Which drive to get Sony or Pioneer?

[jolo]

I hope the force is with me.

Something needs to be with me !!

[rhegedus]

Quote" At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Sony Chief Operating Officer Kunitake Ando said recordable DVD Blu-ray Disc products will likely appear this year, initially in Japan. Ando said the technology is ready, but some licensing issues still need to be worked out."

Call me cynical or stubborn, but we're not going to see BlueRay at affordable prices for a few years yet.

Roxics, whatever burner you buy will be a good choice. As you say, compatibility isn't an issue for you (and your Apex plays all formats), so I'd go for the Cendyne and spend the change on 2 -RW disks (all you'll ever need) and a truckload of -R. I've averaged 3 burns a day over the past month!

Regards,

Rob

[SaSi]

Get the Pioneer, Sony's is way over priced why do you want to write to + media when their 3 times the price of - media. The sony is a nice drive but not worth that kind of money.

That's interesting. Over here, in Greece, it's hard to get to DVD media, yet, and I have found DVD-R X1 almost no-name (Creation) media cost 2.5 Euro (wholesale price) while DVD+R media cost 2.6 Euro (Verbatim).

For 6 euro you get a rewritable.

Additionally, if I believe "official" sites, DVD+R media are more compatible with stand-alone players. Both DVD+R and DVD+RW media, after recording, have the same phusical characteristics with dual layer DVD-Video disks.

Regarding the comment for not using RW media, I wonder why. It has been some time that I was not using CDRW media as well (too slow) but as soon as High Speed media and recorders became available, I frequently did transfers with RW media. I already have a few +RW disks that I use for proof recording and they are fast (faster than the X1 that I can find or the X2 I can beg for) and save me quite some cash from errors.

Regarding the SONY, the new firmware upgrades it recording speed for +R and +RW to be compatible with new release of X4 media, which is even nicer. It's more expensive than the Pioneer (depends on the store how much more) and I was initially decided to buy the Pioneer but could not find it, so settled for the SONY that had it's price drop close to the Pioneer by then (late December).

So, my bottom line: Don't discard the +R capability, especially if such media are not overprice where you live. -R will probably make it in the long run (unless for some reason all companies decide to support both media in the future). If the SONY is not overpriced, get it. If it is and you are on a tight budget, get the Pioneer. (It also reads DVD much faster than the SONY).

[jolo]

SaSi,

Excellent points on your comments. No one doubts how good the Sony drive is.

But, if you can get the Pioneer/Cenadyne 105 for less than 1/2 the price, do you think the Sony is more than twice as good ?

Jon

[Seraphic]

I think that the added functionality of Dual writer is worth $50 more.

In Sony's defence, I think $150 for the Cendyne 4x is a killer deal but not a price that you can walk into any store and buy it for. It has to be on special, it needs to have a MIR and you need a cooperative instant rebate coupon code to get the price this low.

The cendyne is normally selling for $299 so in comparison Sony's price is fair for added functionality and for SONY brand name bragging rights.

So the real Problem is Staples and OfficeMAX do not sell them so your all shit out of luck getting deep discount schemes for DRU-500ax.

[jolo]

Shi-t out of luck ?

Huh ?

What are you talking about.

[soundforbjt]

Wait 2 or 3 months and get the Lite-On 4X -/+ burner for a retail of $199.00.

[roxics]

Today I just picked up the cendyne at staples for $240 then of course the $50 mail in rebate to bring it to $190. I didn't get any other sort of coupon deals.

Still a great price for a 4X drive I can have right now. It's likely that if this deal was around there will be more like it.

Now just to find some good cheap media to use with it.

[SaSi]

Some additional points regarding not the SONY itself but the point in using all media.

I am currently having trouble with DVD+R media. I had problems writing to Verbatim DVD+R. I solved them by upgrading the firmware (from version D to version F). I was able to write to DVD+R but only in simulation mode. What I mean is that nero actually RECORDED while in simulation. Something blundered, and I don't really care what.

Following that, I now have trouble writing to DVD-R media that succesfully recorded before the firmware upgrade. I upgraded nero and things are a little better. I cannot now record DVD+R while in simulation mode (which is good), but DVD-R media don't verify properly. They appear to play on DVD players, but I doubt I will record 4.7Gb of data that I cannot verify.

Bottom line: Recorders, recording s/w and media are immature as of yet. Lesson learnt: Spend as little as possible and wait for standards and quality to settle.

Having learnt this lesson, I recommend against the SONY because it is more expensive. I also recommend buying a recorder and using s/w that others have verified are working ok. And, when buyng media, buy one disk, test it, if it is ok, buy a couple and only if ok buy more. Then stick to it. Otherwise the recorder becomes an excercise rather than tool.

[spiderman2k1]

get Cendyne at office max or staple's if your buying you blank's in the store's sony is good if you buy blank DVD with rebate's. if your buying only line then the Cendyne would be the way to go DVD-R is cheepper but if you only buy your blank's in the store there the same price and if they sell out of DVD-R just buy DVD+R. k Hypermedia are good DVD-R blank's and there are the cheepest I have ever seen in the store's and they work great. Right now I have a AO4 work's great and I just bought a Sony DRA500AX. I go to http://www.salescircular.com/ to see what blank DVD's are on sale some time they only have DVD-R on sale some time's only DVD+R on sale

[jacknjt]

i dotn know when yall live but i live in the US. dvd+r brand name medias here are darn cheaper than dvd-r. if you like cheap medias then order online it's cheaper cause of quality. i can get dvd+r verbatim 4x for less than 2bucks a peice. you cant buy a dvd-r verbatim 4x for less than 4bucks each anywhere. GO ahead and buy dvd+r if you live in usa.

[letgoofmyears]

Being an avid eBay shopper, I bought both of my burners (104,105) as well as all of my media from there. I think the Cendyne's are great drives, and I wouldn't trade them for a Sony for anything. However, my ex-wife, who obviously has more money than me because she gets most of mine, bought the Sony, and she feels the same way about hers. But it should be pointed out that she no longer burns to +r or +rw, since neither of her stand-alones would play them. So, that being said, she has now spent a buttload more of my money on a drive that does what my Cendyne can do, yet I payed much less for it. Well....I guess I actually paid for hers too, plus the cost of mine, plus tax......hang on, I've run out of fingers. Let me pull off a sock.

[vcd4me]

soundforbjt wrote:

I'd wait for a least 2 to 3 months before buying a new dvd writer. Why? Lite-On is going to debut their 4X -/+ burners in the 2nd quarter of this year for a retail price of $199.00 USD. I got this info from calling Lite-O

Wait 2 or 3 months and get the Lite-On 4X -/+ burner for a retail of $199.00.

Why wait, if you want it buy it .

If you say wait 2-3 months that would be May. According to January's issue of pc world page 95 in the 4th quarter of this year dvd recorders will be available with 8x . The fourth quarter begins in the month of September(only 6 months from now). Now in turn that should cause the price of the 4x writer and media to drop. I am just hoping the price of the media will drop.

So far it seems to me that this discussion is a prefrence thing. For my I don't like sony products . My aunts husband works for sony (computer division) and his cost is 60% off retail so a $300 dvd recorder would cost
$120. Again as stated I don't like Sony's (business ethics suck). I personally don't own anything sony even at 60% off retail !

Just buy one now, don't wait go now , buy what you like and be happy with it. Technology is always moving and just when you think your ahead of the game and you stop to take a breath your now behind again

BTH - I saw the flyer for cendyne for $189 at staples too late. I did some reading about it only to find out that it's actually a PIONEER 8) , and that since christmas there have been 3 diffrents sales all for under $200. The next time I see one on sale(rebate for under $200) I am probably going to buy one.

Just my two cents
Now if I can only gather up another $199.98 I can get the dvd-r burner.

Signed
VCD4ME

[spiderman2k1]

I would get the AO5 also CenDYe is the same model as pioneer at staple and office youcan get one for 180 buck's I just bought a DRU500AX it does not burn crap. I got a bad one bring it back to the store

[dcsos]

MY 2 cents.....
I have an A03 and a DRU-500
the DRU-500 is a better drive
It recognizes more kinds of media, and write more formats as well.
We're talking about $50 price difference here!!
I have 4 AO5's at work.. They work very well also

However, I hate the idea that my a03 might die if i put 4x media in it without flashing the firmware!
What company(PIONEER) puts out media that destroys their own DRIVES?

[jacknjt]

neither the sony nor the pioneer is good.
get VERBATIM DVD+RW made by NEC, i had no problem with it.

[rhegedus]

neither the sony nor the pioneer is good.

And you know this because...........?

Regards,

Rob

[mrdisky]

Bottom line.....

$150 ish for the Cendyne/Pioneer is a good choice, decent burner, at a price which ensures you get your moneys worth... As the market for DVD burners grows, so does the R&D put into the technology by manufacturers. We'll probably see a repeat of the CD burners evolution here, IE: faster burners, lower prices.... But at $150 to get into the arena you can afford to buy a shiny new drive 6 months or a year down the road if need be....... Sony is a extremely nice burner, but way overpriced for the pace of the technology....

[w00tski]

is that a real fair comparison thou? $150 is after rebates and coupons etc etc. Not to mention its a rebadged drive, to be fair, i would compare Pioneer with Sony pricewise. Pioneer should still win this, but as it should, it doesnt have the same features as the sony. Its a bit overpriced, but its a safer bet.

[THE RIPPER]

Pioneer or cendyne, in my opinion sony's equipment's quality has diminished over the years.