Are all DVD writers the same these days?

Zarathustra[H]

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
Joined
Oct 29, 2000
Messages
38,835
Old Plextor DVD writerjust died.

I had long since taken it out of my case, as I have no need for an optical drive. I stuck it in an external enclosure and just hooked it up on the rare occasion I needed an optical drive or to burn a disc.

Well, it just died. I was toying with whether or not its' even worth replacing, but decided to do so after all the trouble I've had installing Windows 7 to my girlfriends moms laptop using a USB stick, necessitating burning a physical Windows disc to boot from.

(system boots fine from the USB stick, but during the install process gives an error message about being unable to create a system partition on the hard drive) For whatever reason it works fine from a disc though.

So question is, is there really a difference between the brands these days? Back in the day Plextor used to be king. Is that still the case? Are there any better or worse drives?
 
You can get by with any decent brand. I'm still using some older Plextors, but Pioneer, LG, Lite-On all make pretty serviceable drives--especially if you're not using them very often.

I have two externals (converted), just finished burning my whole CD collection. I had some of it burned, but just recently went through the whole FLAC process. My wife's collection is up next. In the future, I still plan on buying CDs, at least until they start releasing more online lossless stuff (does anyone sell lossless audio online?). That means I'll still need the drives from time to time. I might do some BlueRay backups here and there eventually, and I also have issues with USB sticks occasionally.
 
everything is ok, except Lite-on.

Stay away from drives like HP, Memorex etc...

Get either Pioneer, LG, Asus (usually Pioneer based), Buffalo (Pioneer or LG based)
 
I"ve always had good luck with Sony, Pioneer and LG drives. The last one I bought was a Sony over 2 years ago for burning my mom's LP's & VHS to disc (1700+ albums/movies/concerts etc) nottaproblemo :)
 
Only a few have their own internals now. The rest buy it and then just label their name on it. Also the choice would be narrowed down a good bit depending on what you need to do with the drive. As some will do it and some will not.
 
DVDs I use Optiarc

BD I use Pioneer

FYI I work in the duplicator industry and those are the best drives to use for quality and long term abuse :)
 
Selling bootleg dvd movies out the truck on a car.......

I been using the newer LG Bluray Burner for a while it is holding up very well for me.

Gravey said:
DVDs I use Optiarc

BD I use Pioneer

FYI I work in the duplicator industry and those are the best drives to use for quality and long term abuse :)
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Down8
like this
iroc409 said:
You can get by with any decent brand. I'm still using some older Plextors, but Pioneer, LG, Lite-On all make pretty serviceable drives--especially if you're not using them very often.

I have two externals (converted), just finished burning my whole CD collection. I had some of it burned, but just recently went through the whole FLAC process. My wife's collection is up next. In the future, I still plan on buying CDs, at least until they start releasing more online lossless stuff (does anyone sell lossless audio online?). That means I'll still need the drives from time to time. I might do some BlueRay backups here and there eventually, and I also have issues with USB sticks occasionally.
Click to expand...

Lite-ON in particular is known for not only being a DVD OEM of note (they supply drives to ASUS, among others), but selling quality drives/burners under their own brand (in both OEM and retail flavors) - same applies to Pioneer. I took a quick peek at OEM DVD/BD burners and was floored to find that the lowest price SATA DVD/BD burner available from my usual optical drive and media source (MicroCenter) was not only from Pioneer, but squarely in what is normal retail DVD-burner turf - $49.99USD before taxes. Between that and BD replacing DVD in home theater, I'm running out of excuses to replace my still-going-strong Samsung SH-223B with a DVD/BD burner (or even tag-team it, since I do have sata data and power ports available even now).

The Drive In Question - Pioneer's BDC-208D (black) - http://www.microcenter.com/product/412865/BDR-208DBK_15x_Internal_Blu-ray_Burner
 
Last edited:
Zarathustra[H] said:
Old Plextor DVD writerjust died.

I had long since taken it out of my case, as I have no need for an optical drive. I stuck it in an external enclosure and just hooked it up on the rare occasion I needed an optical drive or to burn a disc.

Well, it just died. I was toying with whether or not its' even worth replacing, but decided to do so after all the trouble I've had installing Windows 7 to my girlfriends moms laptop using a USB stick, necessitating burning a physical Windows disc to boot from.

(system boots fine from the USB stick, but during the install process gives an error message about being unable to create a system partition on the hard drive) For whatever reason it works fine from a disc though.

So question is, is there really a difference between the brands these days? Back in the day Plextor used to be king. Is that still the case? Are there any better or worse drives?
Click to expand...

No. The best, as I understand it, are those that can do 1:1 writes and have a firmware version that doesn't limit the hardware. Apparently, some writers are designed without limitations, and that enables things like playing movies with any region and even making backups of your movies so you can preserve your originals. But then a firmware update is made that imposes these limitations. So, do some Internet searches before you ever update your optical media drives. I learned that the hard way.

Also, apparently laptop internal writers stop writing after only several writes . . . or has that only been my experience? Nonetheless, I've stopped wasting money on them. Now, I only use desktop internal writers. USB writers might be fine, never used them myself.
 
hikes said:
No. The best, as I understand it, are those that can do 1:1 writes and have a firmware version that doesn't limit the hardware. Apparently, some writers are designed without limitations, and that enables things like playing movies with any region and even making backups of your movies so you can preserve your originals. But then a firmware update is made that imposes these limitations. So, do some Internet searches before you ever update your optical media drives. I learned that the hard way.

Also, apparently laptop internal writers stop writing after only several writes . . . or has that only been my experience? Nonetheless, I've stopped wasting money on them. Now, I only use desktop internal writers. USB writers might be fine, never used them myself.
Click to expand...

LOL.

Did you just reply to my post from 2013?

After that drive died, I just didn't replace it. I was on the cusp of there being no point then, but there certainly isn't now :p
 
I love the necro threads on [H]. I forgot all about CloneCD, Lite-on drives, and 1:1 writes to get around DRM on some CDs until this post.
 
I’m building a entertainment center
PC for my brother. Wanted to give him the option of having a optical drive. Found this one NIB at a goodwill store. I thought about a slim front loading drive for my next build.
 

Attachments

  • 9E1AFACD-E737-465D-86AD-389A02767CEC.jpeg
    9E1AFACD-E737-465D-86AD-389A02767CEC.jpeg
    330.2 KB · Views: 0
Randy6309 said:
I’m building a entertainment center
PC for my brother. Wanted to give him the option of having a optical drive. Found this one NIB at a goodwill store. I thought about a slim front loading drive for my next build.
Click to expand...
Wow, HD-DVD too. If it can do 4k blu-ray it's all the formats in one!
 
Randy6309 said:
I’m building a entertainment center
PC for my brother. Wanted to give him the option of having a optical drive. Found this one NIB at a goodwill store. I thought about a slim front loading drive for my next build.
Click to expand...
I have the non-BD writer version still. not sure if it still works, but it was working when I pulled it out of my PC 5-6 years ago.
IMG_0440.JPG


I also have a pair of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drives, I wonder if the Xbox Series X would recognize the drive and maybe play an HD-DVD movie?
htpc-360-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
I used to have a CD/DVD drive in my home server/htpc - just in case type of deal. Then, I was doing power consumption, and realized that the drive was using 5W of power at idle, just as soon as power was connected to it. Disconnected it right then and there.

It is a hassle to find a working/hooked up DVD drive these days for the super rare occasions when I need one. So, I say, let this thread live on!
 
Zepher said:
I have the non-BD writer version still. not sure if it still works, but it was working when I pulled it out of my PC 5-6 years ago.
View attachment 503043

I also have a pair of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drives, I wonder if the Xbox Series X would recognize the drive and maybe play an HD-DVD movie?
View attachment 503045
Click to expand...

I wish I could find a cheap HD-DVD drive as I got a few HD-DVD movies at a Dollar Tree store for $1 each this was before I changed their name to "Dollar Twenty-five Tree" to match their new prices LoL!

Want to pass that drive my way LoL!
 
Toriessian said:
I love the necro threads on [H]. I forgot all about CloneCD, Lite-on drives, and 1:1 writes to get around DRM on some CDs until this post.
Click to expand...
How about Apple II floppy copying where you had to know which were 13 sector tracks and which were 16 sector, and half-track writing as well. If we're going necro, we might as well go back all the way!
 
Format _C: said:
I wish I could find a cheap HD-DVD drive as I got a few HD-DVD movies at a Dollar Tree store for $1 each this was before I changed their name to "Dollar Twenty-five Tree" to match their new prices LoL!

Want to pass that drive my way LoL!
Click to expand...
I am saving them since I have some HD-DVD's as well.
blurays.jpg

Oh, and I got the Blue Planet Bluray for cheap, like $5 I think when Warner Bros was doing that Red to Blu promo.
You send in the cover of an HD-DVD movie in their list along with like $5/title and they send you the Bluray version.
 
Last edited:
Format _C: said:
I wish I could find a cheap HD-DVD drive as I got a few HD-DVD movies at a Dollar Tree store for $1 each this was before I changed their name to "Dollar Twenty-five Tree" to match their new prices LoL!

Want to pass that drive my way LoL!
Click to expand...

Zepher said:
I am saving them since I have some HD-DVD's as well.
View attachment 503332
Oh, and I got the Blue Planet Bluray for cheap, like $5 I think when Warner Bros was doing that Red to Blu promo.
You send in the cover of an HD-DVD movie in their list along with like $5/title and they send you the Bluray version.
Click to expand...

Why even watch SD content anymore, when all these films can be grabbed at either 1080p or 4k?

I have a bunch of DVD's from the late 90's / early 2000's that are just sitting in a box. Neither worth selling nor actually watching at this point, but somehow it feels wrong to throw them out.
 
I've got an HD DVD player around here somewhere....and a few movies to go with it. The Betamax of optical disks, lol......
 
Yes,


I mean mostly,

Except when they aren't


Like when you buy a Chinese Unbranded drive from the back of a van.


But even then it might work, 50% of the time, every time.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Why even watch SD content anymore, when all these films can be grabbed at either 1080p or 4k?

I have a bunch of DVD's from the late 90's / early 2000's that are just sitting in a box. Neither worth selling nor actually watching at this point, but somehow it feels wrong to throw them out.
Click to expand...
HD-DVD is 1080p.

I also have some old media that I won't toss either. Just have no working player anymore.
laserdiscs2.jpg
 
Laser disc! I remember when those first cane out a buddy of mine had one and we watched 2001 Space Odyssey. Mind altering substances may have been present that night.
 
Randy6309 said:
Laser disc! I remember when those first cane out a buddy of mine had one and we watched 2001 Space Odyssey. Mind altering substances may have been present that night.
Click to expand...
1981 is the first time I saw a Laserdisc. The Chiefs lounge in my dads boat had one. I bought my first player and a few discs in 1992, saw it in the classifieds back when people used newspapers to sell stuff.
 
Timely, I was just going through my pile of disc burners to toss a few out (how many do you need???) and found one is a HD-DVD/BD drive. Quite heavy. Might keep that one.

To this day I still have not bought a blu-ray disc. I'm glad I decided to skip all those years ago.

I actually even unplugged the blu-ray/dvd burner in my workstation a few days ago. Every little power saving helps when I'm told my power bill next year could be half my annual earnings.
 
Zepher said:
1981 is the first time I saw a Laserdisc. The Chiefs lounge in my dads boat had one. I bought my first player and a few discs in 1992, saw it in the classifieds back when people used newspapers to sell stuff.
Click to expand...

Heh,

I never actually used a Laser Disk (though I do remember seeing them at the local AV Store back in the early 90's)

I remember being really surprised when I found out that Laser Disks predated CD's, as video seems like such a more complicated format compared to just audio.

Crazy format. Not only is it an optical disk the size of an LP that came out in the late 70's, but it also carries ANALOG video. Nuts.

In the mid 90's a good friend of mines older brother was heavily involved in the BBS Warez scene, running a major regional distribution BBS. He would always have movies ripped from laserdisk for us to watch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top