Ok, Im about to purchase a DVD burner and am wondering which is the best one out there. Im wanting one that is capable of reading and burning most all the available movies out right now. I am looking at spending around $500. Can someone please recomend which one I need to look at? Thank you.
Try the pioneer DVR-A05 (I believe that is the correct model) also, If you plan on ripping, get a seperate dvd drive, the DVD burners are limited in that respect to 2X ripping. For a DVD drive, I would recomend the pioneer DVD-117 with this, you can get the updated (Region Free) firmware and not have to worry about the 2X ripping limit of the burner, plus most burners do not have region free firmware out yet. try these links for the burner, the dvd drive, and the region free firmware; all can be had for much less than $500(total price with shipping $308.95) both links are to the same store(great price) for minimal shipping http://store.yahoo.com/jazztechnology/piondv2xinei.html http://store.yahoo.com/jazztechnology/piondv16xine1.html for the region free firmware of the dvd-117: http://forum.firmware-flash.com/dl_firmware.php?download_id=149 best price search engine on the web: http://www.froogle.google.com
Another one to look at is the Sony DRU500 (A or UL). The sony is the only one that can burn +R/RW and -R/RW. I don't think the pioneer can do that.
I GOT THE PIONEER A05, glad I did too. I concur with msb5150. It only does DVD-R,-RW but those are the most inexpensive media. It also burns at 4X and I get good 4X media for $2.50 each at ESBuy. After reading hundreds of forun posts, the Sony DRU500 is mentioned quite often relating to problems. You don't need DVD+R,+RW. I see the A05 from $250 to $350, retail. The software it comes with is not full version. Yes, get a good DVD-ROM too. You'll need it in the long run cause combo DVD is a little slow on reading.
There are trade-offs between the + and - . Try this link. It answered every question I ever had before I decided on a +R/RW burner: http://www.dvdplusrw.org/index.html . I went the + route because + media works in all + burners - even the off brand media. This is not the case with - media, and may be harder to find for some players. I know people who've bought the - media, only to toss it. I've never had to do this with any of the + stuff. Also, 2nd generation +R/RW burners can now be purchased for $250 to $350 US. The following link shows mfgr's for the next(3rd) generation of burners, and the above mentioned Sony DRU500 is listed. There are others with the same capabilities: http://www.dvdplusrw.org/pc/overview_next_gen.html
