looking to buy a dual layer DVD burner, questions

What's a good DL DVD Burner to buy? When I do get it, is it a good idea to burn something besides dual layer media? I have a Playstation 2 and I was told that if I want to prolong the life of the console that I should play only PS2 games. Don't play PS1 games, don't play DVD movies and no CD music because the console switches lenses between all the media. I do that for my CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-RW too. Is this the case for the DL DVD Burner too?

 

I have only had my BenQ 1655 for a little over a week, but I highly recommend it.

Prior to purchasing the BenQ, I never had anything but a Plextor for burning. My Plextor 716A went belly up after about 15 months, so it soured me on them. lol (Well, maybe just temporarily.)

 

Probably the most popular and economical choices are: Benq DW1650/1655, NEC ND-3550A, Pioneer 111D, Lite-On SHW160P6S05 and maybe the LG-4167B. All support up to 16x DVD+/-R and DL. The Benq is reputed for being tolerant of any kind of media. The NEC (which I have) does not like Ritek G05 and does not support booktyping DVD+R SL, though there are numerous hacked firmwares to resolve that, and is otherwise a solid burner with fast loading/unloading times. The Pioneer has a good all-around reputation and supports DVD-RAM too. The Lite-On has a somewhat more mixed rep but is solid overall. The LG has a good rep although I have a 4163B and the DL capability failed after about 10 burns rendering it a single-layer drive. It supports DVD-RAM too.
All of these go for < $40 at most online retailers (typically $35 or less at mwave.com or chiefvalue.com). Lightscribe-enabled versions are about $5-$10 more. And I believe Tigerdirect has the NEC for $29 after rebate.

 

@GrandpaBW

How long did you have your Plex, and how many burns. I have been reading posts in other forums stating the lifespan of their Plex's has been short somewhere from 6 months to a year.

Edit:

@LOCOENG

As far as I know NEC has not made a drive that will bitset, unless it is a newer model. They will bitset a DL disk but not single layer unless you use modified fw, but I could be wrong.

 

I wish it was true, the only thing that holds me back on the NEC is the fact that it does not bitset, they are excellent burners. Mine is old but it still works after 3 years, however there is no modified for the 1300a. I don't know why NEC is so adament on not having single layer bitsetting included, yet they will bitset a DL. It is not a leap to have their drives bitset single layer.

 

Yeah, I never really understood that about NEC either. NEC is an OEM for lots of other brands which do bitset. In any case, the Liggy's and Dee's firmware WILL take care of the NEC's single-layer bitsetting problem. I just haven't bothered with it because I use DVD-R for almost everything.

 

That is what I do with my 1300a, just use -R TY's or Verbs. I did purchase my Plextor's for bitsetting they do it automatically. NEC really should include this, considering there are still a lot of older players that will not play +R. My Toshiba and Panasonic DVD Recorder won't.

 

You guys took too long to respond. I bought one already. It's the NEC 3550A. Is that okay? And it was OEM. Is that okay too?

What the heck is all this?

And bitset?

I am going out of my mind. Should I return it and get the BenQ?

 

@LOCOENG

Thanks for the info, that has the 1.0C fw which is supposed to add bitsetting but did not work on my drive, I think it is just too old. When replacement time comes it is BenQ for me, Mertiline has an external for 80.00 am thinking about getting this one. They also have and external 3550 NEC which I know modified fw will work on, it is only 60.00 may also give this one a try. Drives are so cheap and it is always nice to have a spare, and a spare, and a spare

 

@LOCOENG

When I had my previous Dell I purchased a TDK burner, it gave me grief and I went out and bought my NEC which worked great. I swore I would not buy another internal, then bought my USB Plex and it also works fine. I finally broke down and bought an internal Plex it works fine also, but I just have a liking for USB, I can transfer them between my computers.

 

@LOCOENG

OK cool.

What's the difference between 1 and 3 on that link besides the price?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...?keywords=NEC+ND-3550A&image1.x=11&image1.y=9

 

I bought the NEC 3500A before everyone posted a reply and I was going to gripe at the fact that I could have gotten it for $29 at Tigerdirect, link provided by Dunker. But the real price at Tigerdirect is $49 and it's only $29 after the rebate. But with shipping it brings it up to $42 after the rebate. I got mine at newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152060 for a total of $37 so I am happy.

This retail vs OEM is still confusing. I know it's always a good idea to buy CPU and vid card retail but I am not too informed when it comes to CD/DVD drives/burners.

 

@arniebear: I did very light burning with the Plextor. I probably had less than 30 "heavy burns", and maybe 150 other burns. I am really disappointed with Plextor right now.

@Loco: I will do that, shortly.