multiformat DVDRW drives

T

t5brick

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 26, 2001
Messages
7,447
ok, i've been looking into picking up one of the 8x multiformat burners. i'm pretty much set on the Plextor PX-708A even though it doesn't do 8x DVD-R or 4x DVD-RW like the NEC drives can. after reading through some reviews and other various info, i still have 3 questions.

what exactly is the difference between DVD-R/W and DVD+R/W?

is MT Rainer support actually very useful?

basically, am i going to regret buying the Plextor, and wish i had picked up the NEC or TDK?
 
Okay, here's a set of links that might help :

Official Site for DVD+R/RW

Official Site for DVD-R/RW

Should you go for plus or minus?

Good comparision of the recordable DVD formats

Mt.Rainier is useful only on CDRW discs. No drive manufacturer has been able to successfully implement Mt.Rainier for DVD+RW discs, even though it is part of the DVD+RW specification set.Plextor claimed to have implemented it on the 708A, but then their tech-support quietly announced that it was broken, and that they had no plans to fix it in the near future.

Which TDK drive are you talking about? The TDK 840G is a rebadged 708A anyway, and the new 880N is a rebadged NEC2500A. The 2500A rocks IMO, awesome burn quality even on shitty disks, and the 8X -R capability is a big plus. It's cheap too, ~100-105$ at the Egg... I'd definitely recommend it over the Plextor.
 
Originally posted by TechHead
The 2500A rocks IMO, awesome burn quality even on shitty disks, and the 8X -R capability is a big plus. It's cheap too, ~100-105$ at the Egg... I'd definitely recommend it over the Plextor.
Click to expand...

this is exactly what i'm looking for.

i'm going to be using this drive for -
  • ripping audio CDs
  • burning audio CDs
  • backing up software(some of which is copy protected)
  • burning backups of my data on CD-R/W and/or DVD-R/W
  • burning DVDs containg home movies

and thats about all i can think of. does the NEC 2500A have any weaknesses in any of these areas?
 
The NEC isn't very good with copy-protected games.DAE is ok, not very fast, but the Plex is better. CDFreaks has a review up of this drive (www.cdfreaks.com ->click on reviews),that might help you make your mind up. However, if you want a good ripping drive, cheaper than the Plex, might I suggest the Lite-On 811/851S? It's also a good drive, exact same specs as the 708A. Slightly cheaper too.

NEC 2500A review

Lite-On 811S review

Heh.. both the URLs are also in the Optical Drive sticky.
;)

Let us know what you decide.
 
thanks for teh links TechHead!

i'll have to stop by Office Max and see if they've got one of these:

Pacific Digital U-30201 - SKU #20678401
Serial number starts with: 4813 = Lite-On 851 Black

gotta match my case, ya know. ;)

i'm also going to see what kind of discount i can get on the Plextor at work. i'll check to see if the LiteON or NEC are available as well.
 
thanks again for all your help TechHead!

i still haven't made it to office max, but i plan on going in the next few days. i just hope they have the LiteOn burner in black. if they do, i'll probably pick one up, otherwise i think i'm still set on the plextor because it's better than the NEC for DAE.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top