First,as a newly joined member, I would like to say how interesting and informative this site is! I am thinking of buying a new external dvd burner. I have a sony,which works fine,but I'm looking to add another. I'm trying to get into a vhs to dvd conversion business,and I think I should have 2 burners. I'm looking for the best,most compatible,most dependable burner I can get for under $200 (with IEEE and usb2 connections.) Thanks in advance for your input. Ed
Have you considered buying an internal drive and installing it in an external enclosure??? You will save at least 30 - 40%. I got a Pioneer DVR-109 (internal drive) and put in in an external enclosure. I am using it with the laptops in my signature, mainly the Dell. It is MUCH more cost efficient this way!!! If you don't want to do it yourself, here is a link to get internal drives already in enclosures (Pioneer, NEC, LG, BenQ). They are under $90 already installed in USB and Firewire enclosures. Shipping is under $10 in US. I have the Pioneer and I LOVE it!!! http://www.supergooddeal.com/category_s/20.htm Drives only: http://www.supergooddeal.com/category_s/74.htm Enclosures only: http://www.supergooddeal.com/category_s/17.htm This is a vendor that I have PERSONAL experience with. Others out there may have their preferences... Also, you might want to consider getting yourself some genuine [bold]Taiyo Yuden[/bold] media. I use SuperMediaStore.com. [bold]Verbatim[/bold] is excellent as well, and I usually see the best deals on this media at Amazon.com, NewEgg.com, or when it is on sale at Best Buy. There is also Sony and Maxell that you can get from Wal-Mart, but make sure you get the media that is labelled "Made in Japan" right above the barcode. I think that this is usually the DVD+R format. Personally, I only use the Taiyo Yuden ordered from SuperMediaStore exclusively and Verbatim that I catch on sale in stores or online. I only use DVD-R media at the moment so that rules out Sony, Maxell, etc for me as I can't find it "Made in Japan" in -R format. Once again, these are my preferences, and others have success by other means. Speaking of that format, + or -, get what is compatible with your DVD player. If it is fairly new, you should be able to use either format. Well, I have rambled on enough. Others will add input on areas I may have missed... GOOD LUCK!!! P.S.: I hope you are located in the US because, if not, then I have rambled on for nothing!!! LOL
... Getting an internal drive and putting it in a case is good advice ... However, I'd buy a Plextor or a NEC drive (or another that allows bitsetting) .. The Pioneer doesn't allow bitsetting ... http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/205232 http://www.k-probe.com/booktypefaq/bitsetting-booktype-faq-index.php/
