For those interested in the lightscribe media, Walmart has the 10 pk spindle for just under $12. I haven't seen a better price anywhere. If I had a lightscribe capable drive, I'd consider trying these. Of course, they may not be at all Walmarts. A huge supercenter just opened up in my town and I noticed their DVD media section had more variety than usual.
Which area of the US do you live at? Here in west/central ohio,walmart supercenters doesn't have crap,except for a few maxells.There was a new one put up last week so I may check them out to see what all they got. I'm 20 mins from 3 of them now.
I'll have to let my brother know about that. He just bought one of the new BenQ LightScribe burners and has had excellent results using the Verbatims in it.
This may sound like a stupid question to some so I apologize in advance Is there a way to make a non-lightscribe burner into a lightscribe capable burner? Maybe in a way similar to how firmware is upgraded?
while i am not completely sure about this, i don't think that is possible due to the fact that the technology inside the burner is very different to allow the "lightscribing." i might be wrong, but, from a technical standpoint, i don't see how it could be done when the internals of most burners do not have the ability to "lightscribe" onto a dvd disc as the special lightscribe burners do. just my 2 cents, but if someone figures a way to do it, then i will shut up.
Yeah, I wasn't sure about the technological part. I haven't read much about lightscribe burners so I was kind of curious if the same laser that burns the dvd's is the same one that "lightscribes" also. No biggie really either way. I just write on my discs w/ an ultra fine point sharpie and that's good enough for me ;-) Of course if I could do the lightscribe w/out buying a new burner, I'd give it a try.
me 2 fishbulb, that would be really cool if someone figures a way to do that, i'll keep my eyes peeled for that and let you know if i hear anything, im a sharpie guy myself and couldn't be happier. good day to you.
So it would seem that maybe it uses a different laser or a "modified" laser. I wonder if that means lightscribe burners use one laser to burn and one to lightscribe or just one "super" laser to do both? btw arniebear, thanks for the description. That sounds pretty cool how the laser and disc work to create the image. @kivory666 I'll keep my eyes peeled also. With todays technology and how fast it changes, you never know...
It's a very interesting technonlogy. In my brother's readings he mentioned that they're working on getting color to work with LightScribe and a new burner that will contain the LightScribe laser up top so you won't have to flip the disc to do the label. Pretty slick stuff I've been tossing about the idea of picking up one of the BenQs since I have an empty bay just screaming to be filled
I bought the 99.00 HP 640 from WalMart because I wanted to try it out, it burns great, the lightscribe works well, the disks are still a little pricey. But it comes with an automatic updater for firmware which is a plus, as I do not have to keep checking to make sure my firmware is correct. For the price it is a nice little drive. The color to the etching would be really nice.
first time posting.. i just got a new EXTERNAL LACIE DVD+/- DUAL LAYER LIGHTSCRIBE.. oh my god.. this thing is awesome! its just amazing. i love it. as far as the media goes.. i just get it at work. http://www.macmall.com its a 30pk of cdrs for like $40. but on these verbatims. (which are very good) you get a rebate and in the end its like 10 bucks and you can buy two packs and still get a rebate on em. 20 bucks for 60 cdrs. not bad. as far as the dvd media, none at the moment. except for like singles. not sure on the price.
Lightscribe is a wonderful idea. I use both LS CD-R's and DVD+R's. The DVD's are hard to find--Best Buy carries small pkgs of them. I order Verbatim 30pks from TapeandMedia.com in Connecticutt for $41.90 plus shipping (about $5) That is very cheap. Here's the hang up. When you try to burn a LS DVD+R using Nero, you get a message that you need updated software. This happened to me the same day I downloaded the very latest from Nero. What happens is you can not use the "Best" quality or the "normal" quality, you have to use a lesser quality, called "generic," which is not as crisp. I find Nero's tools confusing and difficult to use and there is no meaningful help files available. This is brand new media, and if you have a LS burner (I'm using 1625 BenQ $82 from NewEgg) you will never want to use a sharpie again, except for disks you don't care about. The labels look so professional. Time burning is long (22 or 23 min. for an uncomplicated disk label) but you can use your computer while it burns the label in the background. Highly recommended. Wish Nero would get its act together. Craig Campbell, are you reading? If I can help answer any questions, be happy to. Lightscribe media so far is only made by Verbatim and HP, that I've seen. CompUSA carries it (CD-R only) Staples says they will start carrying it soon. Google it and you will find several net stores who sell it. Don't think they make DVD-R in LS, only DVD+R Tape and Media in CT are the cheapest I've found. Good luck to all--Tubetyke
In the middle of the lightscribe disc there is an indexing ring that the drive uses to keep track of the exact position of the disc. So I dont think it is so much a laser issue, but more of a positioning issue. Although they use a seperate laser for the label, any minor fluctuation in drive speed without knowing where the disc is would screw the image up. Just my opinion on LS in a nonLS drive, since I have yet the find any detailed specs on the indexing ring other than they say it is for updating the label later on.
There is no way presently to burn a Lightscribe disk with a non-Lightscribe burner--none--but some hacker may jury-rig something in the near future. The LS-burners use the same laser to burn the data side as they do for burning the label, after the disk is turned over. This is a patented process and the software and the hardware must match, or it is a no go. Likewise, a LS burner can not do a label on a non-LS disk. Hope this helps. Tubetyke
According to the Lightscribe site, they are working on software to cut down the label burning time and are working on a new burner that you won't have to turn over to label. Tubetyke
good price on drive.. this is the one i use: http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~544797.asp good price on media http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~198274.asp
