DVD Burners And What Do You Recommend?

[AlexGT]

I never really understood the difference between the + and the -, I have been using the -R with absolutely no problems at all.

I bought some TDk's that were made in japan by Tayo yuden and they are very good quality.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Why is it easier to make good +R media?

BTW most of the DVD coasters that I've burned have been caused by incorrect choices of blank media in terms of it's speed rating. There seems to have been a major change in write strategy between the 1-4x media and everything else that's faster than that.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

I have a Sony DRU-820A that I got a few months ago for $80. It burns every format I could think of, and it came with some very nice Nero software. My dad recently got a new HP, and it came with a LightScribe. He's had nothing but trouble trying to get that feature to work. My personal labeling technique is Sharpies.

I use SmartRipper, then FlaskMPEG, then VirtualDub to rip movies. It works great for me, but others' computers seem to have trouble playing back the results.

It's so much nicer to browse to a file than to play a DVD.

 

[eluminator]

Why is it easier to make good +R media?

I don't know. Just something I read at cdfreaks.com.

BTW most of the DVD coasters that I've burned have been caused by incorrect choices of blank media in terms of it's speed rating. There seems to have been a major change in write strategy between the 1-4x media and everything else that's faster than that.

The drive has to have the correct write strategy for the particular disk or it can't produce a good burn. It's generally a good idea to update the firmware in your drive with the latest from the manufacturer. Every blank disc has the manufacturer's ID (MID) recorded on it, and the drive uses this to get the correct write strategy.

Apparently drive manufacturers stop issuing updates after a couple of years. So if your drive is old and you want to burn new media, you have to replace the drive. The good news is the new drives generally do a better job and they are fairly cheap.

 

[James S]

Well, maybe. Some think the +R is more robust, but there has never been any proof of that. I think the error correction is the same. Two layers of Reed-Solomon.

I'm not sure that is correct. Just the other day I read an article that went into some depth on the low level data and error correction specs for the 2 different specifications. DVD-R has an ecc block for only some of the data of each block, and a checksum for other parts. It was an earlier system and the hardware simply wasn't up to doing what they then could do in DVD+R.

In DVD+R the entire data block is protected with an ECC data block. That means that you can scratch either the ecc block or the data block, and the full data can be rebuilt with the code. Where scratches or degredations in the DVD-R substrate can cause real loss of data. It's not so important with video if you get a scratch and loose a few frames it might still be watchable, but for computer data it's a very bad thing

 

[LEDoutlet]

I have had many Lite-on Drives over the years and not one has let me down. Each of our 10 computers has one (or 2!) drives in them and i've never had a problem. IMO Lite-on = poor mans plextor.

 

[bitslammer]

I never liked the external drives, but now with USB2.0 the speeds are fine. The other nice thing with an external is it can be moved around and located where you want. Just simpler to deal with as there's no installation. I like keeping my drive bays free for HDD upgrades.

 

[greg_in_canada]

This article (http://adterrasperaspera.com/blog/2006/10/30/how-to-choose-cddvd-archival-media/) says +R is better due to better error correction and wobble tracking.

Greg

 

[LEDcandle]

I use an LG4163B DVD-burner (its outdated by now) but it was one of the better burners in its time. I believe the latest incarnation of the LG is still as good. Stable, supports DVD-Ram and provides high-quality burns, according to tests by enthusiasts.

On a separate note, + Media seems to support more functions on a DVD-Recorder (not burner, as in VCR type DVD Recorder) like chapter marking and scrolling, erasing over old titles etc.. Seems like the - media has more limitations. Well at least with my DVD-Recorder.

 

[raggie33]

im waiting for blu ray 75 gig per disk

 

[eluminator]

I think a Lite-on is a good choice. It's the best reader. That's handy if you have some old degraded or badly burned discs. Sometimes a Litey will read discs that no other drive will read.

I also like the fact that it can do burn quality scanning, where it reports the number of level one and level two errors.

Personally I would be hesitant to buy the 18x and 20x drives though because they are loud.

 

[blake711]

I think a Lite-on is a good choice. It's the best reader. That's handy if you have some old degraded or badly burned discs. Sometimes a Litey will read discs that no other drive will read.

I also like the fact that it can do burn quality scanning, where it reports the number of level one and level two errors.

Personally I would be hesitant to buy the 18x and 20x drives though because they are loud.

Wow and you use liteons... Those things sound like F/A-18 Hornets taking off an Aircraft Carrier.

 

[eluminator]

Mine aren't loud. Which one are you talking about? Lite-on has three series in production now. The only ones I know of that are loud are the new LH-18 and LH-20. These are apparently based on Benq technology and seem to be quite different from the traditional Lite-ons.

 

[Gene]

This is why I ask questions here concerning these things because you guys are great!

A lot of your responses are highly technical and I don't quite understand all of them but they are all appreciated!

blake711,
Your response is highly appreciated! Was simple and to the point but I'd like to know more!

First off, I'm pretty sure I can install a drive in my computer. I may be tech challenged concerning computers but I'm pretty handy with tools. As James S stated, I'm good with a magic marker and really don't need all those scribers listed here.

Is NewEgg a reliable seller? They have some great deals on their site and their shipping is free.

Are the NEC drives good readers as I would be burning from fairly new DVDs but would include the occasional scratched DVD from copies or new DVDs?

There's so many opinions here so what's the concensus on the correct blank DVDs to use?

Thanks to all that have responded!!!

 

[greenlight]

Newegg has the Samsung SH-S183L 18x SATA DVD+/-RW Drive (oem) for $40 w/ free shipping. I'm sure there are other options, too.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

Newegg is excellent. They're rated very highly on resellerratings.com, with by far the most reviews.

If you want to view DVDs on a set-top player, you might need either -R or +R. Our Panasonic has those little stickers on it that shout the features, and one of them specifies - or +, I don't recall which. We once used the wrong type, and although the disc played, it was jumpy, choppy, and basically headache-inducing. Switching to the correct type fixed the problem completely.

Most burners are okay with most formats (the one I got can do pretty much anything! :rock: ), but check your set-top DVD player. It'll tell you which disc type it prefers.

 

[blake711]

Gene,
Newegg is great I have spent tons of money there.. Its safe they ship fast and customer service is good. One poster recomended a SATA Drive. Your pc will not have SATA ports. So disregard that as an option for your usage. As for the brand of drive I think you will see NEC got high regaurds in this thread. I suggest get an NEC what ever color matches your pc. It will read anything as good as any other drive you can put up against it.


Next question is how many drives do you have installed right now? 1 or 2? Do you want to add one or replace one or both or with 2 new ones? Depending on how many are installed. It really can be as easy as take the old one out, set the jumper on the new drive and then put it in the place of the old one. Plug the pc back in and turn it on. Windows will do the rest. Well assuming you aren't running windows95.. What version of windows are you on just to make sure.

As for what type of DVD blanks to purchase, I use -r almost exclusively because of personal preference. My experience is if you plan to watch these dvds on a normal DVD player hooked to a TV that -R works best. Again this is just my experience. I have 3 players in my house and this is what works best for me. In the end I belive if you purchase name brand media you should be fine. check www.salescircular.com for the best deals in your area.

 

[tiktok 22]

Practically all my stuff comes from Newegg. They're great!!

 

[Gene]

Thanks so much to all you gents for your help!

Blake,
I have TWO drives. A DVD player drive and a CD burner/player drive. I'm running Windows XP. I'll add whatever it takes but I'd like to add just the burner and have DVD burning/playing and CD burning/player capabilities. Awhile back I bought a pack of DVD+R DVDs so I guess I did right in that aspect. Thanks so much brother for all your help and your explanations are so easy to understand! Will await your next recommendations.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I stopped by a CompUSA today to buy some blank media and I discovered that H-P has reformulated their LightScribe coating. The package claims "Faster labeling and sharper images than original LightScribe media." So I bought a few packages of them to try out for comparison. We'll see...

**EDIT**

Ok, I burned one of the "improved" discs at the high resolution setting. It still took about 21 minutes (versus about 26-28) on a 2Ghz machine and I see NO subjective improvements in image quality. Some of the text actually looks a little worse. :duh2: