I waas wandering if anyone use this type of dvd burner and do they have problems burning dvds. I sometimes use sony dvd blanks and they work well. I use the dvd-r brand because if i use + kind i have problem playing them in my panasonic 5 dick dvd palyer. I get a good amount of coasters no matter if its fuji,memorex or maxwell. Sony works best. I get alot of coasters using them also. When i play other poeples fuji,memorex or maxwell burners they work in my panasonic player. So any suggestions on what kind of burner to buy, because i know its not my dvd home player.
I started out with one of those I/O Magic burners and learned quickly that they aren't very good drives...they are actually rebadged BTC drives. I would suggest BenQ DW 1650/1655, they can be found online for less than $40...or the NEC 3550 for around the same price, I think this drive can actually be found for about $20 on Tiger Direct.
The first dvd drive I purchased was an I/O Magic 16x. This drive was made by BenQ. It had the genuine phillips chip set and genuine Benq Firmware. It still is a fantastic drive after 4000+ backups. Those backups were booktyped to dvd-rom using plus format. They played everywhere. Now the drive that came with that pc was a Khypemedia 8x. Low stand alone compatability rate. I wanted 2 drives that I didn't have to worry about what format and what drive they came from. So I went 3 months later to the same staple's store and got another I/O 16x drive. This drive was made by EMPA of Middle East FIZO. A total pc of crap. Then you got the BTC drives,utter crap. Bad thing about I/O Magic,you may get lucky with a quality benq,or a pc of crap from some corp you never heard of. Now, I buy only genuine Benq drives. For the highest possible stand alone compatability rate,using plus format,booktyping them to dvd-rom,and long lasting drives. 1620/1640/1650/and 1655 all fantastic drives.I can't even wear them out. They'll burn anything you throw at them. All these drives are/were under $50. Last I saw,benq 1650 at newegg was under $35 There's huge quality differences between drives. Another reason is updated firmware,which Benq keeps on top of. This helps with the newer media that comes out-like 16x and 18x. Some manufacturers update firmware for their drives once in a while. My girlfriend wants to know where she can find one of those, LOL Issue easily solved: Benq 1650/plus format media-booktyped to dvd-rom.They'll have at least a 95%+ stand alone compatability rate.You may even want to ditch the dash format after seeing those booktyped backups perform. It'll drastically reduce those coasters as well.Mine love the sony D21, +16x accucore media. Avg scores of 95 on my scans. Edit: BTW: If you get a second burner,use that I/O as the reader drive,and the new burner strictly for burning only.It'll make the dvd backup process a lot easier.
Thanks alot got a Benq dw 1650 and works like a charm. Thank you very much. I had gotten the i/o magic from best buy and tell your girl to stay from that thing many coasters after using it for a month or two of burning.
ARAHAN: I'm glad you got that compatability issue solved. If you got the tower space,you could use that I/O drive as the reader and the Benq 1650 for burning only. That'll save a lot of wear and tear on the Benq,and it'll last a heck of a lot longer. It also makes the dvd backup process a whole lot easier. Not the burner drive, I meant that panasonic dvd 5 dick player, LOL.She'd probably love one of those!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What woman wouldn't?
Well if she do get the i/o magic try to get the sony dvd-r blanks they seem to work really well with that burner and the quality is perfect. When you install the i/o magic burner and the drive read IDE 16XDVD RW. Return it until you get one with a name. Good luck, but trust me when I tell you this the quality with i/o magic is great. Just wish it would be consistant with its burning. Good Luck.
