... i've never owned a burner. i'm sorry. i could really use some recommendations for a good drive that'll read these obnoxious copy protected discs (so eac can do it's job easily). i also do a lot of photography and 5GB of raw files (+ processed images, etc.) per photoshoot is not uncommon. dvd writing would be a nice bonus, but isn't absolutely required at the moment (still got a couple of months before the firewire drive bursts). here's the current stock list from the best computer store i know in toronto. Internal CD Writers AOpen 52x32x52 CD-RW $42 ASUS 52x32x52 CD-RW $47 HP 16x10x40 CD-RW OEM *90-day warranty $28 LG 52x32x52 CD-RW w/ SuperLink OEM $39 LiteOn 52x32x52 CD-RW OEM $41 LiteOn 52x32x52 CD-RW RETAIL $44 Plextor PlexWriter 52/24/52A CD-RW $91 Plextor PlexWriter Premium 52/32/52A CD-RW $120 Samsung 52x32x52 CD-RW OEM $38.99 Sony 52x24x52 CD-RW OEM $42 Sony 52x32x52 CD-RW OEM $45 --- Combo Drives Acer CR4824 48X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Combo $60 LG 52X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Combo OEM $64 LG GCC-5241 24X CD-RW/8X DVD-ROM Slim USB 2.0 $156 LiteOn 48X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Combo OEM $60 LiteOn 5232K 52X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Combo OEM $65 LiteOn 5232KX 52X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Ext. USB2.0 $109 Sony 48X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Combo Black OEM $60 Sony 52X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Combo OEM $64 --- Internal DVD Writers ASUS DRW-0804P 8X DVD+/-RW $131 BenQ DW822A 8X DVD+/-R / 4X DVD+/-RW w/ 8mb buffer OEM $105 LG 4082B 8X DVD+/-R / 4X DVD+/-RW OEM $102 LiteOn SOHW-812S 8x 4x / 8x 4x + 40x24x40x RETAIL BOX $112 NEC ND-2500A 8X DVD+/-RW OEM $105 NEC ND-2510A 8X DVD+/-R Dual Layer OEM $135 Pioneer DVR-107 8X DVD+/-RW OEM $125 Pioneer DVR-107 8X DVD+/-RW RETAIL BOX $191 Pioneer DVR-A07 8X DVD+/-RW RETAIL BOX $189 Plextor PX-708A 8X/4X DVD+/-RW $175 Plextor PX-712A 12X DVD+R/W, 8X DVD-W, 48X CDRW $279 Samsung SH-W08 8X DVD+/-RW $109 Sony DWU-18A 8X DVD+/-RW OEM $114 Sony DRU-530A 8X DVD+/-RW $219 if anyone's got any suggestions on which of these drives would be good for my uses, please let me know. thanks, mike ps. athlon 2800, xp pro sp1, 512ddr, etc.
Best bang 4 the buck are liteons... You cant go wrong. And for 30 more bucks get the liteon 851s. DVD writer, burns dvds,cds Oh, Im sorry, purchase the liteon at http://www.newegg.com/app/AllBrand.asp?DEPA=0 select liteon
One used to be able to say that safely but not neccesarily the case. Liteys are often targeted for DataCD protection schemes and thus their utility has somewhat gone down. Furthermore, the ASUS burners will easily match (and often outperform) the Liteys in Audio Protection and for a few bucks more, probably a better choice. If you want the best of the best grab the Plextor Premium. For DVD burners, get either an ASUS, Pioneer or Litey and again, if you want the best, a Plexy. I'd stay away from combo drives unless there is a strong reason not to.
thanks for the recommendation, 321sucker. i ended up going with a liteon 52x32x52 cd-rw ($50cdn after tax). cds that were giving me trouble before: beta band - heros to zeros chemical brothers - singles 93-03 radiohead - hail to the thief the drive + eac cut through the copy protection on all these without any problems. actually, the beta band disc took forever to burn (kept getting possible errors) ... i think it was just a lot of stuff going on in the background that eac was worried about, because it all sounded fine when i tested the tracks. --- Lite-On LTR-52327S 52/32/52 CD-RW http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=194 Plextor PlexWriter Premium 52/32/52 CD-RW http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=185 considering the price difference, and some quirks with the plextor, it was an easy choice to go with the liteon. mike
Great decision eyefloatr.. Enjoy that writer and the extra cash that you saved.!! It just fells a lot better when the money is in your pocket and not theirs.
