**Read First** Dvd Burners.. What to look for?! **

Ok, so I have noticed there are quite a few threads asking about which Dvd Burner is best, or what to look for, so I decided to post this, which is a basic guideline as to what you should be looking for in a drive, and certain makes also.

So...

What Features Does My Dvd Burner Need To Have??
There are a few features that are necessities for Dvd Burning. These include:

* Booktype/Bitset Ability - This feature allows you to set the booktype of your DVD+R disks to DVD-ROM. This increases compatability of disks with dvd players, as DVD-ROM is the format that commercially bought Dvds are in. See this for a more indepth explanation.

NB: If your drive does not support booktype/bitset then do your research into hacked firmware; it is possible to enable these features on some drives with the correct know-how.

* Supports All Formats of DVD Media - To ensure you don't encounter any unwanted incompatibility issues when burning, it is best if your new burner supports all the formats. Most new ones now-a-days support all these formats. Just to recap, they are... DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW + DL media(s).

* Dvd Burn Speeds - Your new burner should be able to burn DVD+R at a minimum of 16x. There are new drives out which can burn upto 24x speed, but as of yet, there is no media to burn at that speed with, so it is not as important. However, there is 16x media now, and burning at that speed is becoming more and more desirable as technology moves forward.

Now, these ones are optional...

* Lightscribe - Lightscribe is a feature which allows you to put an image onto your disk via the Burner's laser. Note that you need special discs to do this and can wear away @ your laser.

*SATA or ATA (IDE) connection? - SATA drives are now commonplace in the DVD Burning market, and allow for faster speeds such as the latest 24x drives we are seeing. The following quote was added a few years back when SATA was still relatively new technology in the burning world and offered some useful insight. However, now in 2010 I would recommend buying a SATA burner if your motherboard/PC allows.

Quote taken from webmasterworld.com, written by user SEOMike, with his opinions on Sata vs Ata (IDE).

What Make of Dvd Burner Do I Need to Look for??
As with all tech things, there are good brands, and there are bad ones. These are the brands you should look at buying.

-Pioneer (personal choice)
-Sony Optiarc (NEC)
-LiteOn
-LG (Do your research, not all of their drives are good)
-Plextor (usually upper end of the price bracket)
-BenQ (Not in production under BenQ anymore - look for OEM Philips drives. "BenQ DW1620, 1625, 1640, 1650, 1655 all used Philips chipsets" - catfreak)

If you still have questions on in depth matters, such as media compatibility with certain drives, or you'd like our opinions on a certain drive model, then post that in the forum.

Happy Burning!

Last Updated: 14/03/10 by Ripper

 

@ripper

Excellent guide; should be required reading before anyone posts a thread asking what DVD Burner to buy.

 

Sticky Worthy for da newbs

 

Thanks you two.

 

Thanks ddp

 

lite-on u gotta b kiddin there the crapiest all there models hav crap lasers or something because after a lil while they stop burning and plextor i neva c any of them and only heard of them a few days ago pioneers probably the best considering i neva used or seen plextor if only denon made dvd burners there the best there stereo systems r at least 10,000 aud$ they may also own part of pioneer or sommmething like that altho u did say 2 do research on these drives but i now hav info 2 help but i still need 2 no the model name example pioneer dvr-s806 realy almost every1 needs to only hav 1 that burns at 16x for dvd and no laser or burning problems o and no aspi and firmware problems thats wat i need plz give model name and wat company makes the model

 

Could you get any more ignorant? The fact that your drives don't work after [set period] does NOT mean that the brand or drive is to blame. It could be a bad connection, not up to date firmware, software issues etc etc.

Yeah, and? Plextor went "out of production" but their drives are still around if you know where to look. The fact you hadn't heard of them till "a few days ago" doesn't mean jack to me.

You're really not qualified to make that decision.

They don't and [most likely] never will.

RE my first quote, all of that is not necessarily the drive's fault.

Now, if you'd like to get off my thread and go back to your own one where I will assist you further (on the agreement that you learn to type properly, punctuate and knock off the bold!!).

 

I'm in market for new drive - maybe. I currently have a Plextor PX-708A and have loved it until the last 2-3 weeks. Playback issues - but the thing was installed in December 2003 and has burned ALOT of movies. WHat do you mean they went "out of production"? I see they are launching the TurboPlex 800A in April (this month) 18X +/- single and not sure of the dual layer speeds.

Any thoughts?

 

I use bold for those that skip past what they think is uneeded info.
I neva said that denon did or will make dvd drives for pc.
I neva said anything bad/good about plextor I just neva seen or heard of them i do live in australia.
Pioneer hav been known 2 be the best dvd company other than denon
and I just want 2 find out what brand and model name is most reliable for burning no burning prob's like laser stuff ups.
Lite-on hav a big rep for laser and burning prob's my bro and a lot of pro amatuers and in between have noticed this by a large number ask anyone that has a lite-on/lite on it dvd drive they use low grade lasers or something as a way of profit im not complaining or anything just pointing out the info I have learned and explaining what I meant by those comments

 

You say playback issues.. well, what media are you using? What burn speeds? What file format are you burning? etc etc.. more info please.


@cybrspwn: Get off my thread, jackass.

 

wats wrong with bold its not an offense or something not being a smartass ur the only 1 with a bold font prob

 

Actually, ddp and I both have a problem, so that makes two of us. I can also get you a list of hundreds of names who would have a problem reading these forums in bold.

 

u still haven't told me y, just asking?!

 

It's not as easy to read, looks worse when used frequently etc etc

I could go on, but you're not worth my time. And btw, you said...

...well guess what?! Your posts are hardly required info, now are they! What value do you or your posts serve on this forum? I'm no longer obliged to help you at all, in any way.

Keep this up and you're on your way to severe sh!tcanning. You do realise that you have been asked by two moderators to a) type properly and b) knock off the bold. Do you have no respect for the rules of the site, the moderators requests or anyone/thing in general?

Btw, idiot, your posts aren't bold anymore cos a mod edited them. Yeah, they can do that.