I have a question about DVD burners. Does the quality of the burner matter as long as the DVD burns without errors and still plays once it's finished writing? Or, would say, a $12 no-name brand's burnings have a shorter life-span than a more expensive brands burnings?
The burnt discs life-span has more to do with the quality of the disc than the burner that created it. I would venture a guess that the $12 no-name burner is: 1)a close-out of some out-of-date model. The top burn speed is probably 4X or 8X. Discs rated at a 4X speed are becoming very hard to find. Soon, 8X rated ones will be the same way. 2)cheaply made (most likely China or Korea). 3)Not supported with firmware updates. It is very important to keep a burners' firmware up-to-date. Disc manufactures change the write stratgy of discs with new versions. The burner must be able to keep up with this or it isn't able to write to the disc properly. 4)not able to write to todays media. See above. With quality burners selling for around $35 (such as the BenQ DW1650), it doesn't make sense to buy something that you aren't going to be happy with for a long time. Hope this helps.
Ah, okay. I was mainly referring to a cheap burner I got installed in this computer when they used to be more expensive. Maybe 2+ years ago? But if you say it shouldn't matter, as long as it writes properly, I guess I'm fine with it for now, as I usually check everything I write and it plays fine.
I'd say yeah go with what works for you. If it makes quality burns then heck yeah keep it till it goes. I think some types of burners though do have certain problems with certain types of media. I suggest once you find a quality media you stick to that brand, especially if your burner likes it. You don't wanna end up wasting money on media you can't use.
