What is the best all around DVD/CD Burner?

My own opinion on the slot drive wasn't worth $89.00 when I bought it and took it back shortly. Seems to me Bro Bear bought one at the time and had bad luck too.But oooh aaaahhh that 716 A I just bought is gonna be snug as a bug in a rug with it's 2 brothers [716 A],sister [716 UF], and cousin [750a]. Finding a good used 716 from a reputable person is like pulling teeth unless they have Adrian vouching for them.
edit Trying to remember back who was the other Plextor lover on the site. chris

 

I'm a day late (as usual), and just as we're back on topic, I revert to the CMC's.
Sister-in-law got me a 50 pack last X-mas (some present) since I backed up some of her kids movies for her. At least she remembered me saying "+R" and now when she needs me to burn for her, I know which discs to use



They've held up so far for her, and no problems burning them at all except for a firmware update since they were the first 16x disc my burner tasted back then. I'm not trading in my TYGO's for my personal collection just yet.

 

Newegg and the other big online vendors sold a lot of Plexs and still do. As someone mentioned, they're not by the same manufacturer. If sales and forum comments are an indicator, there's a lof of Plex fans around. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010100005+50001323&name=Plextor I regret Brobear and others had problems with the AL slot loaders, but luckily I haven't. I wish I had another slot loader for when this one eventually wears out. If it folds tomorrow it's earned its keep.

 

Couple of weeks ago Micro Center had a few of the Plextor slot drives on the shelf, seems it was 119 or $129.00. May have been Arnie Bear who had the Plextors,if I wasn't a Plextor fan I wouldn't have jumped on the deal from Adriana [dang keep forgettin her reps name].I just spoke about my experience with the slot drive.Finding a 716 to me's better than seeing my exwifes picture on a milk carton! I will add that these LG's I have keep impressing me more but seems tho there hard to find also. Chris

 

I'll have to check with Adriana's rep to see if he has anymore in stock. LOL It's the insides of the 716 that makes the real difference, not how the DVD gets in and out. I liked the novelty of the slot loader, but would be just as happy with the tray loader. Good one on the milk carton. Couldn't helpl but laugh. I've met a few people that need to be there.

 

ok guys LMAO !!!

 

Does the AL scratch discs while loading & unloading?

 

Which brand did you buy? I've noticed that some of the Maxell DVD +r's on my local Office Depot shelf are CMC. I'd rather have Ritek & of course TY and Verbs are the best......

 

i had 2 for a short time and never had that problem loading or unloading

 

The 716 AL I have has never scratched a disc and I hate to think how many DVDs have been through it. I've scratched DVDs in a tray loader though.

 

I was given Memorex as a X-mas gift. Thought that counts right?
Everyone here has me thinking of buying a Lite-on for next build, for price and booktyping capabilities.

 

Thanks to uou & the other poster about answering the scratched disc question. I'm glad the AL doesn't scratch!!

 

Pacmac777 I've done that also ,accidentally loading two blank DVDs in the same tray lol

 

Memorex is good or bad according to the manufacturer, so some say. Who made yours? I've got a bunch made by Ricoh. The Memorex/CMC I got are mixed in with some old DVDs that are a couple years old. I've not had one die just because it was CMC. I'm trying to find some of the CMC to try out to see if the rumors are true. I've heard so many people repeat "Memosux" to find out they've not actually used the media, but repeating what they've heard on the forums. The search for some CMC to use is how I ended up with the Memorex/Ricoh.

 

The 716 AL never scratched a disc on me, I just couldn't get the quality out of it that I could with my other Plextors.Seeing these posts maybe i had a fluke and maybe should've got another one to give it a chance. But it all worked out, I bought another 716A. I'm thinking that's when the Benq's hit and I ended up with 5 of them.Just caught the other post I dohave a Memorex burner in the one computer that still burns & allit's seen is Verbs DVD and assorted brands of Cd's. Think I'll burn a DVD in it to see if it still does a decent job.It was off the clearance shelf at Staples a couple of years ago for $20.00.Never had a firmware update or anything since I've owned it, Heck don't even know who made it. Chris

 

I don't know which is the fluke, but I've been getting quality burns from my 716 AL from the beginning. I can't say it's picky about media either. I've burned Memorex, Philips, Imation, Maxell, Verbatim, Fuji, and Sony (probably others) without encountering burn problems.

I think Pioneer made some of the earlier Memorex burners. That's what I was told anyway. I've got an old 4X Memorex burner in one of the kids' PCs. It was a P4 system in need of a burner, so in went my old and I upgraded. It's still going strong. I almost miss it. I didn't have to worry about setting burn speeds.

 

Zo, lol, so did I

 

I'll have whatever you guys are drinking. LOL

 

Every disc I have tried burns well except for some TDK CD's I bought that had pausing & skipping problems at the 60 minute playback mark. Basically couldn't play the last 20 minutes of those discs in any CD player. Every other CD media I've used played back fine.

As to DVD's I've had zero burn problems with my 716-A. Could read back any disc except for some 8x Ritek that became unreadable 6 months later.