Hi all, time for a new burner. My old Sony DW-U14A is not liking 16x media at all and there are no more firmware updates for it. I read Rippers sticky, and it would seem booktyping to dvd-rom would be a desirable feature indeed. I've checked out some drives at newegg, etc., but I can't find in any of the descriptions where they tell you if the drive has that ability. How do you tell? Will it say anything about it on the box? I could go to a brick & mortar store tomorrow, as price isn't that big of a deal, but I'm not sure what info to look for. I'm just looking for an internal drive that will handle the 2 100 pack spindles of verbatim 16x MIT dvd+R that I got for xmas. The last spindle I bought lasted 4 years, and were 4x. Worked great, but you can't get 4x anymore. (and who would want to, I guess,lol.) Also, as I really don't do all that much burning, I'm undecided on SL or DL. A DL burner will work on SL discs, correct?..or is a SL drive better for doing SL burns. Thanks so much, you guys are great.
Hi, the free program Imgburn booktypes certain burners (it is listed on the gui header). Last I remember Liteons, and LG booktype (and they make externals and do burn dl) Hope this helps Jo
hmmm..I'm not sure I understand. In the sticky by Ripper, "Booktype/Bitset Ability" is listed as the first feature to look for in a burner. I don't understand what imgburn has to do with it. Isn't it a feature that is built in to the drive itself? If so, how do you tell if a drive has that feature before you buy it. Also, the second part of my original post: ... "I'm undecided on SL or DL. A DL burner will work on SL discs, correct?..or is a SL drive better for doing SL burns."... I'm not getting your response on that either, lol. I wasn't looking for an external drive..just wondering if a DL drive works well as a SL drive. Probably does, just wanted to make sure....thanks.
There are no SL only burners, and bitsetting SL discs is no big deal to me as I still use -R discs which are still considered by many to be the most compatible still. Anyway check the link in my sig and read the reviews, they note if they bitset SL (almost all automatically do DL) and they also will probably have tests using your media.
Thanks for the info, MysticE. I didn't know you you can't get SL only anymore. I also just spent 3 hours of following your link and the endless trail of subsequent links but never really did find out which specific models will booktype SL. I did find out what bryston meant about imgburn tho, so that was good. With all due respect to Ripper, I have now decided, like yourself, not to worry about booktyping SL that much. I'm going with lite-on and hope for the best. Thanks again for your time, you two... I'll probably be back, lol. Cheers.
In every review of a drive they will mention it. From the first Lite-on review: Positive: * Generally good/excellent DVD±R writing quality and performance. * Generally excellent CD-R/RW writing quality. * Can burn selected DVD±R media faster than its rated speed. * Excellent CD and DVD reading performance and reliability. * Reads pressed DVD Video SL/DL and recordable media at 16x/12x. * Supports BitSetting (BookType DVD-ROM) on DVD+R/RW/DL. From the next ASUS review: * DVD±RW writing quality could be improved. * CD-R writing quality could be improved. * BitSetting (BookType DVD-ROM) not supported. From the next Pioneer review: # Generally excellent DVD±R writing quality and performance. # Generally excellent CD-R writing quality. # Can burn selected DVD±R media faster than its rated speed. # Very good DVD reading performance and reliability. # Reads pressed DVD Video SL/DL and recordable media at 16x/12x. # Supports BitSetting (BookType DVD-ROM) on DVD+R DL. (note only on DL)
yes, I saw abilities to booktype DL..I referred to SL ability. No matter, it's a done deal..bought the lite-on IHAP42208 yesterday. (it was on sale locally for $29.95US) Now I just need to learn how to burn DL...lots of AD reading to do! Cheers.
