HP lightscribe, good or bad?

I am currently looking for a new external dvd burner...anyone have any advice on whats good/bad. What exactly is lightscribe?

 

With lightscribe DVDs you have the option to burn a label on the back of the DVD with the lightscribe drives. You have to have the lightscribe discs which are a bit higher priced. I've got a lightscribe burner, but I usually use the less expensive regular DVDs. Inkjet printable discs with a good printer gives good label results as well. Since you're buying a new burner, I'd suggest getting one that booktypes to DVD ROM. The HPs don't. I use 2 burners, 1 with light scribe and one booktypes. The HP reads better in some cases. So, instead of just a burner and a ROM, I spent a few more bucks and got the extra burner. But since you're just looking for a good external, go with one that booktypes unless lightscribe meets some special need for you. If you can find one that does both good luck. Personally, I'd suggest a Plextor.

 

thanks, i dont have a need for the light scribe, i have heard multiple things about the plextor. what exactly is booktype?

 

Short version, it turns +R & +R DL into DVD ROM discs (universal compatibility). It's discussed over and over here at AD. A Search (top of page, AD navigation bar) using "booktype" will show up a lot of discussions on the topic here at AD..

 

I agree, i just got a BenQ DW1655 that has lightscribe. Although it is a really sweet features and makes a great looking DVD, i don't see myself using it on a daily basis, just for special discs that i might do as gifts.
Plus it takes a 1/2hr to do one.
I had problems with doing +R with my Sony burner, they never worked. i did one in the new BenQ and booketyoed it to DVD-Rom and the Xbox played it just fine.

I can only suppose i booktyped it correctly as this was my first try. (DVD Decrypter)I just went in, went to the BenQ tab, selected drive (for DVD+R), then choose the booktype as DVD-Rom and pressed change, it say successful.
There really should be something in the window that tells you though because that will still reead booktype=DVD+R

 

Check it with DVDInfoPro (free).

 

My HP 740 series LightScribe writer booktypes .. but all it's good for is burning labels since it produces DVDs with waaaaay too many PI errors .. I wouldn't recommend purchasing a HP drive

 

Which 740 is that and what firmware is in use? The 740i I have sure won't booktype. I don't have a problem with errors. You might want to have the drive checked if it's causing problems.

 

It's a 740b with firmware ED24 (which is old) .. but like I said, it ONLY gets used for burning labels ..
And too many PI errors is a relative thing .. I consider over 250,000 on a 4.321 recorder disc outta sight ..
Besides .. I have a total of 8 burners in my collection so .. well .. you know
My collection (in order of preference): BenQ DW1640, DW1655 (cross-flashed to DW1650), LiteOn SOHW1633s, Plextor PX712a, NEC ND3540a, Pioneer DVR108, Ricoh MP5240a and the HP 740b

Cheers...
Victor

 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?cc=us&product=502021&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Different people have reported different firmware versions for the 740B. The 740B is also the 740i which I purchased new. All the paperwork says 740i but software reports it's a 740B. Nothing out of the ordinary on this one, so says HP support. As is obvious from the link above, HP is offering no updated for this drive. Anyone with a factory support link for firmware updates I'd appreciate it. I'm not into cross flashing drives as that's a good way to destroy one. Unless sure or ready to gamble, a person shouldn't try it.

I'm showing my HP 740i (740B) with the window in DVDInfoPro stating it doesn't support booktyping. Would you show a similar one with your 740B where it is ready to set booktype? They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

What other prigram will show this info?
I refuse to pay for InfoPro and I won't intstall adware on my PC ..

All I know is that when I was trying the burner out that when I checked the discs, it said that they had been booktyped to DVD-ROM ...

EDIT
I'm off my wife's PC and back on my office PC .. here's a HP update for ya ... Brobear ..
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=502021&lang=en&printable=yes&encodeUrl=true&
I haven't used it yet since I don't burn with mine ... but it's available

 

Nero and some other programs change booktype and allow you to check it. Did you check the software installation disc that came with the 740. DVDInfoPro was one of the utilities included in the pack I got. DVDInfoPro freeware doesn't have invasive adware. So, there's nothing wrong with it. I used it and later got the retail version. The ads are stills on the window, it doesn't cause popups.

As you can see though, the drive doesn't booktype, at least not the one I have or any I've heard of before. Were those booktyped discs you're talking about burned on the HP burner you have?

 

The drive came with a PC that my wife purchased and then leased to my company, but that's a different story altogether ... no installation disc came with the drive ... That's odd that you've never heard of HP drives booktyping .. from what I've heard they were one of the first to do so .. the older HP drives used to be Ricoh then BenQ/Acer and LG/Hitachi .. the 740 series is a LG4166B/Hitachi drive ...

And, yes the booktyped discs were burned on the HP and verified on a LiteOn ...

This quote was taken from the following article ...
http://www.signvideo.com/btst-d.htm

 

Here's the info from the DVDInfopro site about what I was saying. DVDInfoPro isn't adware. I don't know where you got that idea.
http://www.dvdinfopro.com/
There is no time limit on your use of the free version it is funded by some embedded adverts. It does however expire from time to time to force upgrade to the latest version. This program is NOT ADWARE, it does not download new ads, it does not track or send any information from your computer. It displays some unobtrusive adverts within the application. The registered version does not expire ever and does not have adverts. It is available at any time with a low cost donation.
So, you don't need to worry about adware. As I mentioned, I used it and there's no adware involved. Other programs do the same thing, it's just that DVDInfoPro has a good utility bundle.

I checked the link you gave me. I don't use those media, so I'm not sure I want to do the flash at present. I wouldn't help any. I'm donwloading the firmware though, just in case. I'm surprised the HP site wouldn't link to that info when I did the search. How did you get it?

 

My wife does contract programming work for HP and is privy to lots of cool stuff that is otherwise unavailable from HP ...

And as far as DVD Info Pro .. I have a program intended for screening my business PC and it warns me not to download DVD Info Pro .. So I won't ...

 

I've scanned DVDInfoPro with anti virus software, Ad-Aware SE, Spybot, SpySweeper and other apps and never found anything wrong. Your call and your PC, but nothing is there that will cause a problem.

Do you have Nero? In Nero a user Clicks on Options in the burn window and Recorder Information opens, and there Options shows the booktype options. As you can see when that is selected with the HP 740i there is no booktype option as shown with the Plextor.

 

Apparently my drive is a LG 4166B .. at least that's what it identifies itself as when I just checked it .. It's funny though because it has a HP logo on the front so I assumed that it was a HP drive ... Here is a Softpedia picture/description of a drive that looks like mine ...
http://news.softpedia.com/news/DVD-Writer-16X-with-LightScribe-Technology-from-LG-9449.shtml
Nevertheless, it is a terrible burner .. in fact I've tossed a couple burners that produced better burns than this POS ...

 

Sounds like someone just got in a hurry and put the wrong faceplate on a drive. HP has had different manufacturers for their drives I hear. Reminds me of some Chevrolets I've seen delivered with GMC body parts or vice versa. Only here instead of the equipment being under one manufacturer, the parts can be from any number of DVD drive manufacturers.

 

engernd
Good luck with your purchase. Hope you didn't learn more than you wanted about lightscribe and booktyping. Now you know how to set booktyping with some software and how to check a drive. Hope your recording works out okay. Remember to use good media.