Choosing a DVD Burner

[Dave C.]

What information do I use to choose an internal DVD - CD burner? For
example, Staples (local retailer) have I/O Magic, Memorex, Sony, and maybe
others. Prices run between $60 to $90 not on sale. Speeds seem to be
similar, dual layer is available, etc.

My present old CD burner right now rated at 48x speed tests at about 26x
average speed and does not get above 30x peak using Nero software....don't
know why. I just want a DVD - CD burner that performs at the specs or close
to it.

Also, any user comments about brand names would be helpful.

Thanks,

Dave C.

 

[Rod Speed]

What information do I use to choose an internal DVD - CD burner?

Just the usual capability and performance stuff.

For example, Staples (local retailer) have I/O Magic, Memorex, Sony, and maybe others.
Prices run between $60 to $90 not on sale. Speeds seem to be similar, dual layer is
available, etc.

Yeah, there isnt much in it speed wise currently.

I like the LGs myself currently.

My present old CD burner right now rated at 48x speed tests at about 26x average speed
and does not get above 30x peak using Nero software....don't know why. I just want a
DVD - CD burner that performs at the specs or close to it.

Then avoid the pioneers, for some reason they dont bother
to burn CDs at the full speed that the blank is capable of.

 

[Poly-poly man]

What information do I use to choose an internal DVD - CD burner? For
example, Staples (local retailer) have I/O Magic, Memorex, Sony, and maybe
others. Prices run between $60 to $90 not on sale. Speeds seem to be
similar, dual layer is available, etc.

My present old CD burner right now rated at 48x speed tests at about 26x
average speed and does not get above 30x peak using Nero software....don't
know why. I just want a DVD - CD burner that performs at the specs or
close to it.

Also, any user comments about brand names would be helpful.

Thanks,

Dave C.

Do NOT get phillips dvd drives. Dell used them for their Dimension 3000's,
and everyone I know who bought one had several components on the board
literally explode!

You may find that most drives only perform NEAR the specs at the outside (or
was it inside) of the drive. This has to do with the "the record goes
faster towards the outside" principle.

poly-p man

 

[John McGaw]

What information do I use to choose an internal DVD - CD burner? For
example, Staples (local retailer) have I/O Magic, Memorex, Sony, and maybe
others. Prices run between $60 to $90 not on sale. Speeds seem to be
similar, dual layer is available, etc.

My present old CD burner right now rated at 48x speed tests at about 26x
average speed and does not get above 30x peak using Nero software....don't
know why. I just want a DVD - CD burner that performs at the specs or close
to it.

Also, any user comments about brand names would be helpful.

Thanks,

Dave C.

I've been a big believer in Plextor drives for a long time but recently
I was in a hurry and short on money so I bought a "NEC ND-3550A Black
Dual Layer" after reading a lot of good things about it here. I've got
to say it is a _very_ good drive, especially given the price of $44.00
which is less than half what a similar Plextor would cost. I bought mine
from PC Direct but don't know if they still have them or what the price
might now be.

Oh, the NEC burns single-layer Taiyo Yuden DVDs at the full rated 16X. I
really haven't paid attention to the CD speeds but they certainly seem
acceptable.

 

[kony]

What information do I use to choose an internal DVD - CD burner? For
example, Staples (local retailer)

1) At local retailers you'll usually pay a premium or have
to deal with a rebate for the same final cost as online w/o
rebate. You might also end up with a poor brand at no lower
price.

have I/O Magic, Memorex, Sony, and maybe
others.

Beware of product relablers. Sony are still made by lite-on
(you could do worse though) and I/O Magic and Memorex aren't
really known for quality products at all, whatever they made
a deal on at any point in time would determine what's in the
box, you'll want to research that so you know ahead of time,
not merely trusting the I/O Magic or Memorex name,
especially Memorex who has sold some junk over recent
years).

Prices run between $60 to $90 not on sale. Speeds seem to be
similar, dual layer is available, etc.

$35 or so is the going rate for a decent drive like a NEC or
LG. That is, online. $90 is just way too high for a DVD
burner.

My present old CD burner right now rated at 48x speed tests at about 26x
average speed and does not get above 30x peak using Nero software....don't
know why.

Because 48X was never meant to be an average speed, it's a
peak. Even the best 52X CDRW burners cannot burn as fast as
48X average.

More important is whether it burns well, is compatible with
a wide variety of media. A fast burner with more errors
might mean an unreadable disc, sooner.

I just want a DVD - CD burner that performs at the specs or close
to it.

Then you will have to pretend you don't know what the specs
are because these days, everything is spec'd in the most
optimistic light possible, not average or most reliable or
most media-compatibility @ speed, etc.

Get a NEC ND-3550 from Newegg.com

 

[Paul]

What information do I use to choose an internal DVD - CD burner? For
example, Staples (local retailer) have I/O Magic, Memorex, Sony, and maybe
others. Prices run between $60 to $90 not on sale. Speeds seem to be
similar, dual layer is available, etc.

My present old CD burner right now rated at 48x speed tests at about 26x
average speed and does not get above 30x peak using Nero software....don't
know why. I just want a DVD - CD burner that performs at the specs or close
to it.

Also, any user comments about brand names would be helpful.

Thanks,

Dave C.

There are review articles on this site. I think there is another
site that does optical drives too as a specialty.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/search/B

Some of the recent reviews have been abbreviated, while some
of the older ones were more extensive. Personally, I think
a buyer needs as much feedback as possible on usable media,
because you can go through a small fortune in sample packs
of media, finding stuff that works. (Considering the current
price of drives, I spent more on media tuning up a drive for
a family member, than the cost of the drive.) It has been a
while since I played with one (I don't own a DVD burner, just
CDRW), but it is possible to scan the media after a burn and
plot the errors versus position on the disk. This is an
example of Kprobe in action. If you ever do a burn, and when
reading the results later you notice the optical drive is
freezing up near the end of the disk, that is because of
excessive errors. Doing an error scan like this, will show
100K errors near the end of the disk, which makes the drive
go crazy. If memory serves, I think this isn't a bad scan.

http://gfx.cdfreaks.com/reviews/nec_nd-3540a/image222.png

A lot of new drives are released with half finished firmware
in them. Which means not only will you be buying a drive,
you'll also be learning how to flash them. It is a good
thing the average customer likes to flash their new purchase
- it's what we live for... (/sarcasm).

Also, one thing to watch for when using burning software,
is there can be interaction between "virtual CD" software
and the burner software. I had a situation where the drive
seemed to be suffering from buffer underrun, and it turned
out later to be a problem with having a "virtual CD" mounted.
As well, you may want to check into something called "ASPI".
I've forgotten all the details now, so I'll just give you
some teaser links. Now you've got plenty to read.

"Installing a working ASPI layer"
http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/aspisetup.cfm

(28,700 hits here)
http://groups.google.ca/groups?lnk=hpsg&q=aspi+nero

In terms of burn speed, there is CAV, P-CAV and CLV, and
the shape of speed versus position on the disk is different
for each.

This is probably the most prep work you'll ever do, to make
a $50 piece of electronics work.

Once you find a model with good reviews, then you can
track down where to buy one. I was shocked at how
crappy the whole process went for me, so I hope your
experience turns out better. And when you go on a
media buying shopping spree, don't forget to take
your drive's spec sheet summary with you to the
store - nothing worse than trying to remember what
all the burn speeds are, without a crib sheet. I
went to several stores, to try to get a decent
assortment.

Paul

 

[xModem]

1) At local retailers you'll usually pay a premium or have
to deal with a rebate for the same final cost as online w/o
rebate. You might also end up with a poor brand at no lower
price.



Beware of product relablers. Sony are still made by lite-on
(you could do worse though)

<snip>

If buying a Sony OEM drive, and unless this has changed recently, expect zero
support with regard to firmware updates. It was only after I found a patch on
an Asian site that converted my DWU-10A drive to the retail version (DRU-510A)
that I was able to find updates.

 

[Dave C.]

There are review articles on this site. I think there is another
site that does optical drives too as a specialty.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/search/B

Some of the recent reviews have been abbreviated, while some
of the older ones were more extensive. Personally, I think
a buyer needs as much feedback as possible on usable media,
because you can go through a small fortune in sample packs
of media, finding stuff that works. (Considering the current
price of drives, I spent more on media tuning up a drive for
a family member, than the cost of the drive.) It has been a
while since I played with one (I don't own a DVD burner, just
CDRW), but it is possible to scan the media after a burn and
plot the errors versus position on the disk. This is an
example of Kprobe in action. If you ever do a burn, and when
reading the results later you notice the optical drive is
freezing up near the end of the disk, that is because of
excessive errors. Doing an error scan like this, will show
100K errors near the end of the disk, which makes the drive
go crazy. If memory serves, I think this isn't a bad scan.

http://gfx.cdfreaks.com/reviews/nec_nd-3540a/image222.png

A lot of new drives are released with half finished firmware
in them. Which means not only will you be buying a drive,
you'll also be learning how to flash them. It is a good
thing the average customer likes to flash their new purchase
- it's what we live for... (/sarcasm).

Also, one thing to watch for when using burning software,
is there can be interaction between "virtual CD" software
and the burner software. I had a situation where the drive
seemed to be suffering from buffer underrun, and it turned
out later to be a problem with having a "virtual CD" mounted.
As well, you may want to check into something called "ASPI".
I've forgotten all the details now, so I'll just give you
some teaser links. Now you've got plenty to read.

"Installing a working ASPI layer"
http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/aspisetup.cfm

(28,700 hits here)
http://groups.google.ca/groups?lnk=hpsg&q=aspi+nero

In terms of burn speed, there is CAV, P-CAV and CLV, and
the shape of speed versus position on the disk is different
for each.

This is probably the most prep work you'll ever do, to make
a $50 piece of electronics work.

Once you find a model with good reviews, then you can
track down where to buy one. I was shocked at how
crappy the whole process went for me, so I hope your
experience turns out better. And when you go on a
media buying shopping spree, don't forget to take
your drive's spec sheet summary with you to the
store - nothing worse than trying to remember what
all the burn speeds are, without a crib sheet. I
went to several stores, to try to get a decent
assortment.

Paul

Thanks Paul and all others. Life is not simple as it appears and so neither
is buying a DVD bruner. I will take my time and get up to speed with all
these links before I move. Meanhile I am saving all these posting for a
while.

Regards,

Dave

 

[kony]

<snip>

If buying a Sony OEM drive, and unless this has changed recently, expect zero
support with regard to firmware updates. It was only after I found a patch on
an Asian site that converted my DWU-10A drive to the retail version (DRU-510A)
that I was able to find updates.

True, but I always flashed my Sonys to Liteon anyway, and
only bought the Sonys if substantially cheaper than Liteon,
enough that I felt Sony couldn't be making any money on
them. I'd rather Sony just dropped off the face of the
earth, they seem most interested in overcharging for
deliberately or uselessly proprietary technology.

 

[xModem]

True, but I always flashed my Sonys to Liteon anyway,

Interesting. How did you figure out the Liteon models that equated to the
Sonys?

 

[kony]

Interesting. How did you figure out the Liteon models that equated to the
Sonys?

Depends on the drive, usually I wanted to know what I was
buying beforehand, I have no need for a cheap but unreliable
drive. So forum posts, or observations about the drives...
that they're visually identical except for the plastic
bezel, or by taking off the firmware and looking at it.

Plus, once it's been established that Sony was using Liteon
drives, the first thing one tends to do is try to find the
equivalent Liteon and compare the two.