My optical burner died and I got a second one hand that burns out shitty discs (jumping tracks and such) so Im looking for a new one. Interface: I prefer PATA as I still have a PATA port and my optical burner worked perfectly with it. If I have to go SATA, so be it. CD : Most important aspect as I burn CD-R and CD-RW constantly. Top speed, top quality. Ripping from CDs to perfect 1:1 FLACs is also preferred. DVD : Im burning less DVDs but still I need them if I want to make a EP or something like that. Must support all formats -RW DL to +RW DL Blu-Ray : I haven't needed to burn a Blu-Ray yet but I imagine with all the consoles coming with Blu-Ray that time will come. If cost does not limit me, it must support BDXL (reading and writing) for future purposes. Tray style loading. Cost: I don't want to spend much on something this stupid but I don't want to spend either 9 bucks so it can burn shitty CDs. My old burner was a NEC (I believe) and I was in loved with it.
i prefer lg as have had no issues with them. pata drives are getting hard to find as 1 computer store i deal with does not sell them any more just sata & black face at that.
used NEC cd burner 2004-2008 no issues with it i used a pc with a lite on dvd burner from 2006-2007 had no issues with it. currently using a pioneer dvd burner since 2010 again no issues with it. dvd burners are dirt cheap but if you are thinking about the future you can should probably get a blu ray burner. Edit :correction has issues with NEC cd burner as some of the newer software didn't recognise the drive.
I've used samsung & lite-ons more than happy some go back to 04 pioneer get good comments & benq are rebranded lite-ons
