DVD burners-

Breagen · Post by **Breagen** » April 12, 2005, 11:40 pm

In the interest of being able to back up more files from my computer I'd like to replace my CD-RW with a DVD burner. However I really don't know anything about what companies make the best ones as well as if there are certain things to look for when buying one.

I'm basically just looking for one mainly for data storage use but I may want to try and burn some movies to DVD which would be compatible on DVD players/computers etc.

If anyone has any suggestions on good brands or even specific models I'd appreciate it.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » April 13, 2005, 12:06 am

I got an NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3520A BK, OEM drive on Newegg about 6 weeks ago for like $60. It's flawless. It's also $10 cheaper now.

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » April 13, 2005, 9:17 am

I have the model before the one posted above, the 3510-A by NEC. I have had it for about 9 months and have burned so many things it is ridiculous. Makes backing up the Hard drive super easy compared to CD's.

My model I think burns at 8x for +/-R...and takes about 14 minutes for 4300mb of data to be burned (one DVD-R).

Like I said, I've probably burned in the neighborhood of 200+ dvd's worth of data and stuff, and have yet to have a problem with the end products it spits out...and no problem with the drive "breaking".

Go newegg though, you will get the best price. They always have atleast ONE model with free shipping. I would either suggest the one above, or the Pioneer 109 series.

And if $ is not an object, just buy a Plextor, they are the best. They also make a SATA burner now too

Lynks · Post by **Lynks** » April 13, 2005, 9:32 am

I picked up a BenQ DVD +R x16 for 40 bucks...canadian.

Only 1 toaster out of 60 so far and that was my fault. I set the burn speed to 16x. It doesnt do dual layer though.

Kargyle · Post by **Kargyle** » April 13, 2005, 11:27 am

You got a coaster when you set the burn speed to 16x on your 16x drive, and you consider that your fault? Maybe HP's marketing team is right and you can get away with selling your customers crap.

I'm not saying that burning a coaster every now and then is cause for riots, but if setting my 16x burner to actually burn at 16x causes me to get coasters, I'm sure as hell not going to consider it my fault.

Drolgin Steingrinder · April 13, 2005, 11:41 am

Just one recommendation:

Be wary of Samsung/Toshiba drives. Some of them (like mine) are unable to burn +R DVDs correctly - or rather, they'll burn them and the DVDs might play fine on your standalone player, but the drive that created them will refuse to read them.

Sucks to find out after you buy four 50-dvd spindles ><

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » April 13, 2005, 11:50 am

LOL the NEC 16X drive (3520A) is $54 shipped.

why don't i have one of these yet?

ordering now

any thoughts on media to avoid? or for the most part, just read the ratings (yeah i know)?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 13, 2005, 1:00 pm

My DVD burner works fine but I'm interested in the ones that laser etch the special coated blank DVDs. Does anyone have one of them? They are pretty cheap now (NewEgg has one for around 100.00 I think.

I'm kinda of tired of using ye'ole Sharpie to title my DVDs. A laser etched cover would be swell in comparison!

LaCie and LightScribe are partnering to offer the first direct disc labeling drive for both Macs and PCs. Specially configured LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer burners now offer the ability to burn precise, iridescent labels with desired text and graphics using the same laser that burns the data. This innovative LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling technology means people no longer have to use printers, permanent markers or adhesive labeling to develop and burn creative designs onto their CDs and DVDs.

The media isn't that much more than normal blank DVDs which is pretty cheap these days.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » April 13, 2005, 1:30 pm

Kargyle wrote:You got a coaster when you set the burn speed to 16x on your 16x drive, and you consider that your fault? Maybe HP's marketing team is right and you can get away with selling your customers crap.

I'm not saying that burning a coaster every now and then is cause for riots, but if setting my 16x burner to actually burn at 16x causes me to get coasters, I'm sure as hell not going to consider it my fault.

if your media is rated lower than 16x (and a lot of older media out there is rated at 4x or 8x speed), and you burn at 16x speed, then yah you might very well end up with a coaster...

Kargyle · Post by **Kargyle** » April 13, 2005, 4:15 pm

Your drive should not allow you to record an 8x piece of media at 16x. Some manufactures have at times put special write strategies in place on their drives to write lower speed media at higher speeds, but that is generally only right as a new speed is emerging and media is limited. Plextor did it with certain 4x media to burn at 8x right as 8x was just coming out. Either way, if your drive allows you to select the speed, your drive should burn at that speed. Now maybe if you are using some weird burning software that will completely override your drive, you might get that problem, in which case it would indeed be your fault, but if you are using any name brand software (Roxio, Nero, Sonic) then the drive should burn at any speed you can select. See, when you put a disc in your burner, the software queries it, it gets a response from the drive that basically says I can burn this disc at these speeds, and then the software displays that information to you in the form of a drop down menu. If you could select 16x, it is because the drive said it could burn the media at that speed. Again, this may all go out the window if you are using some whack burning software.

Winnow, the technology you are talking about is called LightScribe. Developed and licensed by HP. We tested our first LS drive a couple of monthes ago, and it was pretty awesome. Label quality was even better than I expected. You could put a photo as part of the label, and while it wasn't perfect it was damn good. It isn't very fast though, a full label takes about 40 minutes to print/burn. In fact, even doing a single line from the inner diameter of the disc to the outer edge will take as long as full disc label with pictures because there isn't any type of tracking like there is for burning data. So the drive can't track out to a specific point and start burning like it does when writing data. the only way the drive can keep track of its location on the disc is that there is a home starting point, and the disc spins at a constant rate, so it can calculate its location based on that. Anyway, that is probably information over kill, but there ya go.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 13, 2005, 4:19 pm

Kargyle wrote: Winnow, the technology you are talking about is called LightScribe. Developed and licensed by HP. We tested our first LS drive a couple of monthes ago, and it was pretty awesome. Label quality was even better than I expected. You could put a photo as part of the label, and while it wasn't perfect it was damn good. It isn't very fast though, a full label takes about 40 minutes to print/burn. In fact, even doing a single line from the inner diameter of the disc to the outer edge will take as long as full disc label with pictures because there isn't any type of tracking like there is for burning data. So the drive can't track out to a specific point and start burning like it does when writing data. the only way the drive can keep track of its location on the disc is that there is a home starting point, and the disc spins at a constant rate, so it can calculate its location based on that. Anyway, that is probably information over kill, but there ya go.

Hmmm, looks like I'll be waiting for the next generation of this technology. 40 minutes is too damn long. 10 minutes maybe.

Breagen · Post by **Breagen** » April 13, 2005, 7:46 pm

Thanks for the information, going to go with the NEC 3520A like Voro. Sounds like just what I need for backing up all my files.

Any reccomendations on software? I've been using Nero for a long time with my prior CD-R/RW drives...

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » April 13, 2005, 8:34 pm

nero v6 ultra is all you need.

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » April 13, 2005, 10:09 pm

For Data, I use Nero....for backing up DVD's, I use DVD shrink to rip, and decryptor to write.

http://www.afterdawn.com is your friend!