Compare Ratings Of DVD-CDR Burners

[Louis Bybee]

I have tried a number of hardware sites looking for in depth comparisons of
DVD-CDR burners without much luck.

I am trying to decide on a solid unit with decent software (using with Win
XP Pro), but being unfamiliar with the many units being offered it's tough
to make a decision! I'm making the assumption that a combo unit is
preferable to two separate units? It seems as if everyone offers them, even
some brands that I've never heard of before (Lite-On ?). If the burners are
like other hardware items some are a pleasure to work with, and others would
make smashing your thumb with a hammer seem preferable rather than using
them! :-]

I'm not interested in emptying out my wallet, but I don't mind paying for
quality either. Anyone have knowledge of a hardware web site that does a
good job presenting comparisons?

Any suggestions appreciated!

Thank you.

Louis--
*********************************************
Remove the two fish in address to respond

 

[We Live For The One We Die For The One]

Lite-On thet BEST CDR-CDRW drives you can buy.

DVD RW not sure about that.

 

[J. Clarke]

I have tried a number of hardware sites looking for in depth comparisons
of DVD-CDR burners without much luck.

I am trying to decide on a solid unit with decent software (using with Win
XP Pro), but being unfamiliar with the many units being offered it's tough
to make a decision! I'm making the assumption that a combo unit is
preferable to two separate units? It seems as if everyone offers them,
even some brands that I've never heard of before (Lite-On ?). If the
burners are like other hardware items some are a pleasure to work with,
and others would make smashing your thumb with a hammer seem preferable
rather than using
them! :-]

I'm not interested in emptying out my wallet, but I don't mind paying for
quality either. Anyone have knowledge of a hardware web site that does a
good job presenting comparisons?

Any suggestions appreciated!

It's not really clear what you're looking for. Are you looking for a drive
that burns both CDs and DVDs or are you looking for a drive that burns CDs
and reads DVDs but can't write them?

On the question of combo drive vs separate drives, back when burners were
expensive the logic was that you used a cheap drive to read and the
expensive drive only to write. With all-format burners going for $130
these days and likely to be $60 or below by the time that one fails, that's
no longer really that much of a concern. From a performance viewpoint the
fastest read-only drives are a bit faster than the fastest burners, or were
last time I checked, but in real world terms that doesn't make a whole lot
of difference for most uses.

Personally I've found the DVD readers with CD-RW from Ricoh to be a bit
flakey--a lot of people report good results with Lite-On but I haven't
tried their drives so can't comment. The LGs work well but they had a
command-set problem (they did something nonstandard) on some of their early
drives that has since been corrected on the newer ones--there are patched
ROMs available on their site for some but not all of the older drives.

I've only worked personally with two DVD burners--any current model DVD
burner can also burn CD by the ways--the HP 200i and the LG 8040B--both
work fine--I like the flexibility of the LG, which handles all the common
DVD formats, but it's not as fast as some of the drives dedicated to a
particular format.

As for the software, the two major products are Roxio and Nero--both work,
neither is perfect, for some reason Nero users seem to develop a loyalty to
the product that I don't see developing with Roxio users. Any drive that
comes with either of those should work with little hassle--just don't
expect to use the "packet writing" software that allows you to treat a CD
or DVD as a diskette--if you want to work that way then get a DVD-RAM drive
(the LG can handle DVD-RAM) or bite the bullet and shell out for
magneto-optical.

 

[Ski]

I have tried a number of hardware sites looking for in depth comparisons
Plextor...can't go wrong.


Ski
"The only way to find out how far is too far...
is to go there"
(remove spleen to e-mail)

 

[John Turco]

Plextor...can't go wrong.

Ski
"The only way to find out how far is too far...
is to go there"
(remove spleen to e-mail)

Hello, Ski:

Panasonic, all the way! :-J


Cordially,
John Turco <[email protected]>

 

[Louis Bybee]

I have tried a number of hardware sites looking for in depth comparisons
of DVD-CDR burners without much luck.

I am trying to decide on a solid unit with decent software (using with Win
XP Pro), but being unfamiliar with the many units being offered it's tough
to make a decision! I'm making the assumption that a combo unit is
preferable to two separate units? It seems as if everyone offers them,
even some brands that I've never heard of before (Lite-On ?). If the
burners are like other hardware items some are a pleasure to work with,
and others would make smashing your thumb with a hammer seem preferable
rather than using
them! :-]

I'm not interested in emptying out my wallet, but I don't mind paying for
quality either. Anyone have knowledge of a hardware web site that does a
good job presenting comparisons?

Any suggestions appreciated!

It's not really clear what you're looking for. Are you looking for a drive
that burns both CDs and DVDs or are you looking for a drive that burns CDs
and reads DVDs but can't write them?

On the question of combo drive vs separate drives, back when burners were
expensive the logic was that you used a cheap drive to read and the
expensive drive only to write. With all-format burners going for $130
these days and likely to be $60 or below by the time that one fails, that's
no longer really that much of a concern. From a performance viewpoint the
fastest read-only drives are a bit faster than the fastest burners, or were
last time I checked, but in real world terms that doesn't make a whole lot
of difference for most uses.

Personally I've found the DVD readers with CD-RW from Ricoh to be a bit
flakey--a lot of people report good results with Lite-On but I haven't
tried their drives so can't comment. The LGs work well but they had a
command-set problem (they did something nonstandard) on some of their early
drives that has since been corrected on the newer ones--there are patched
ROMs available on their site for some but not all of the older drives.

I've only worked personally with two DVD burners--any current model DVD
burner can also burn CD by the ways--the HP 200i and the LG 8040B--both
work fine--I like the flexibility of the LG, which handles all the common
DVD formats, but it's not as fast as some of the drives dedicated to a
particular format.

As for the software, the two major products are Roxio and Nero--both work,
neither is perfect, for some reason Nero users seem to develop a loyalty to
the product that I don't see developing with Roxio users. Any drive that
comes with either of those should work with little hassle--just don't
expect to use the "packet writing" software that allows you to treat a CD
or DVD as a diskette--if you want to work that way then get a DVD-RAM drive
(the LG can handle DVD-RAM) or bite the bullet and shell out for
magneto-optical.

Thank you.

Louis--
*********************************************
Remove the two fish in address to respond

I thought it was perfectly clear that I wasn't clear on what I was looking
for! :-]

I am clear however, on what I would like to accomplish.

I would like the capability to read and write both DVD and CDR/W. I would
prefer a combo drive to save space. I do have a CDR/W drive, and it took a
few frustrating failures before arriving at one that would do the job
without a major production!

I was hoping to use the wisdom of people frequenting this group to avoid
duplicating failures they may have made.

Thank you.

Louis--
*********************************************
Remove the two fish in address to respond

 

[Bruceh]

I thought it was perfectly clear that I wasn't clear on what I was looking

for! :-]

I am clear however, on what I would like to accomplish.

I would like the capability to read and write both DVD and CDR/W. I would
prefer a combo drive to save space. I do have a CDR/W drive, and it took a
few frustrating failures before arriving at one that would do the job
without a major production!

I was hoping to use the wisdom of people frequenting this group to avoid
duplicating failures they may have made.

First I would suggest that you peruse the newsgroup alt.comp.periphs.cdr .
Next peruse through the webpage http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html .

By indicating what you are going to do with it can help narrow suggestions
to you. If you are using it for long time data archive or using it to duplicate
dvd videos can indicate whether you want a high-end system or a brand-x.
It also can indicate what type of media for there are high and low quality
medias out there.

Personally I have on order a Plextor 708UF. It's a high quality (and high
price at $332). But I purchased it because I want to burn for long time
archive and because it's an external device so I can use it with my desktop
as well as my laptop. It burns both R & RW as well as both + & - formats.
And... it has both Firewire & USB2. I can't wait till it gets here.

Good luck!

bruceh