What is the "DVD Burner" to get?

fibroptikl

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Mar 9, 2000
Messages
7,339
What is the best bang for the buck, with excellent quality? I know Pioneer, and Lite On and NEC make a good burner.

Any specific suggestions? I'll be using it to :gasp: burn DVD's of a bunch of data I have.

Thanks.
 
I am getting the toshiba 16x dual layer black DVD+-RW drive great price and toshiba has a good rep...I also like how quiet they are, and they look sleek and unobtrusive.
 
Anything by NEC. Great quality at a good price, with excellent media compatibility.
 
Or Pioneer DVR-108.. Same speeds as the NEC 3500A if you are a Pioneer products lover.
 
Thanks.

I'll give the 3520 a look at.

Oh, and my first thread in 6 years of intarweb to be moved.
 
End of the month or so. LG 4163B with faster RW speeds and 5X DVD-RAM is already out.
 
I plan on buying that drive, as it seems to have a big bang for the buck. But I have a few Qs, and these are really newbie qs...so bear with me :)
1 Can it read CDs?
2 Does it burn CDs?
3 Is it just as good, if not better then a CD drive?
Thanks.
 
KillerTomato said:
I plan on buying that drive, as it seems to have a big bang for the buck. But I have a few Qs, and these are really newbie qs...so bear with me :)
1 Can it read CDs?
2 Does it burn CDs?
3 Is it just as good, if not better then a CD drive?
Thanks.


You could actually READ the specs of the drive... and get the answer yourself

From the first link (newegg product page)

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3500A BK, OEM

Model# ND-3500A BK
Item # N82E16827152032

Specifications:
Write Speed: 16X DVD+R, 4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD+R9, 16X DVD-R, 4X DVD-RW, 48X CD-R, 24X CD-RW
Meaning it WRITES DVD+r's at 16x, DVD+RWs @ 4x, .. etc.. You get the point?
Read Speed: 48X CD-ROM, 16X DVD-ROM

Meaning it READS cd-roms and DVD's

Wouldn't be a very useful drive if it could BURN cd's/dvd's, but not READ them, would it?
 
I picked up the Plextor PX-716A the other day. I must say, I am impressed. (LOL Lot of rhymes there.) 16x Dual Layer, Dual Format. I burned a full DVD@16x in no time. $100 at Best Buy after $30 MIR. :)
 
I just finally got a DVD Burner. I feel so behind in technology for burners.

I got the Sony dru-710a. $60 AR w/ Free 50pack DVD-R AR.
 
Just purchased an LG 16x dual layer burner, gotta figure out all this stuff all over again:D
 
Hey guys, a few more question as I'm looking to upgrade myself...

1. Do they make DVD-R9 or just DVD+R9? I heard that "Dash R" was in the works, and if this is true I would like to find a drive that can write DVD-R9 as well as DVD+R9.

2. Any suggestions with an 8mb buffer as opposed to the standard 2mb buffer?

3. SATA might be good :)


Anything that fits these?
 
^Plextor PX716SA.

One thing.. 2MB buffer will protect you for 1.5 seconds @ 1X DVD writing speed (1.355MBPs), while 8MB will protect you for 6 seconds. Therefore, 2MB v. 8MB buffer makes no difference.
 
The Plextor's expensive but does come with some nifty toys. I haven't installed my 716A yet, but looking at the manual it seems it's got some nifty software included with it.
The most interesting features (IMHO) are:

* GigaRec: Up to ~1GB on an 80-minute CD-R. Woah. The catch is it only works in DAO, disables burnproof, and won't read in a lot of drives.

* Burn error reporting. Tells you how many correctable errors have been made in the burning process. Nice for seeing how well a particular type of media really works in a particular drive. Burns with lots of errors may read more slowly and are more likely to wind up unreadable if scratched.

* Silent Mode: For when you just don't want to listen to a drive spinning at 48x.

Do NEC/Phillips/Benq/etc. do stuff like this?
 
zandor said:
The Plextor's expensive but does come with some nifty toys. I haven't installed my 716A yet, but looking at the manual it seems it's got some nifty software included with it.
The most interesting features (IMHO) are:

* GigaRec: Up to ~1GB on an 80-minute CD-R. Woah. The catch is it only works in DAO, disables burnproof, and won't read in a lot of drives.

* Burn error reporting. Tells you how many correctable errors have been made in the burning process. Nice for seeing how well a particular type of media really works in a particular drive. Burns with lots of errors may read more slowly and are more likely to wind up unreadable if scratched.

* Silent Mode: For when you just don't want to listen to a drive spinning at 48x.

Do NEC/Phillips/Benq/etc. do stuff like this?

Philips and Benq drives are essentially the same, and yes, Lite-On, Benq, Pioneer drives can use Nero CD-Speed to report the PI/PIF errors. You can use Drivespeed to limit the reading speed as well.
 
I will have to give another vote for the Plextor PX-716A.

The best feature I found out about this drive is that it burns my personal favorite media (TDK 8X DVD+R) at 12x speed.
 
I have a NEC-2500 DVD-/+RW drive and I find it doesn't read DVDs so great.. Every time I try ripping a DVD, DVD Decrypter gives me errors.. I use my standalone Sony DVD-ROM, no problems....

Just a thought
 
I did some research about which drive is the best and all signs pointed to the 3500A. So I suggested one to my buddy who needed a new burner. We put it in a did a bunch of ripping and writting and I must say the read speads on that drive suck ass. After a little more research (mostly at videohelp.com) I found that the drive comes riplocked which apparently limits how fast it can rip a DVD. You can flash it to solve the problem however. I wish I'd learned this before I recommended the drive to my friend :mad:

I think its still a nice drive but frankly its annoying when you have to flash a brand new product just so it will work as you expect. I should have just gone with a plextor rather than reading all those reviews.

-Marshall
 
Well if your all set in stone over the NEC, do yourself a favor and get the 3500A and not the 3520A. The 3520 has been known to be ploblematic. Although Id personally suggest the lIte-On, they ahvent done a wrong doing yet
 
Back
Top