OT: DVD Burner

mjroddy wrote on 3/20/2008, 10:42 AM
My Pioneer A09 finally bit the dust (probably very literally) a few days ago. I haven't done any research on good DVD burners since I purchased that A09.
If all I'm looking for is a good CD/DVD burner (not in the market to burn HighDef yet), are there any clear winners? I remember Pioneer was the hot ticket a while back. Is that still the case?

Thanks very much for any and all advice, suggestions and comments.

Comments

John_Cline wrote on 3/20/2008, 11:33 AM
I've been using Plextor, Pioneer and NEC drives for years, however a couple of months ago I bought ten DH-20A4P-04 Lite-On DVD burners and they have been outstanding. I use Taiyo Yuden 8x media almost exclusively and these drives have produced discs with some of the lowest error rates I have ever seen. The drives are ridiculously inexpensive at $23.99 with free three-day shipping from NewEgg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106228

John
AtomicGreymon wrote on 3/20/2008, 12:14 PM
The Samsung SH-S203B has had excellent reviews; and I haven't had a problem with mine since I bought it last year:

http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Samsung-SH-S203B-DVD-Burner-Review
http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=306

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153
mjroddy wrote on 3/20/2008, 5:04 PM
Thanks very much! Both options look great!
It's been SO long since I bought a burner, I had NO idea they were so ... er... reasonable in price!!!
richard-courtney wrote on 3/20/2008, 7:14 PM
My Sony finally couldn't burn a disc (or a fly passing through the beam)
went with Lite-on. Inexpensive and burns everything I present to it.

I figure by the time we decide on HD I'll be ready to replace the DVD burner.
craftech wrote on 3/21/2008, 6:03 AM
I bought one of the LIteOn burners John linked to replace my Pioneer A05. Although I liked the A05 better, the LiteOn seems to work fine although it is a bit loud when it spins fast. On the plus side, the retail version of that drive is sold at Walmart packaged with Nero software for around $35,

John
jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/21/2008, 11:48 AM
Eeek! You're scaring me, since I have been wondering whether my A09 is ready to buy the farm at any moment. I'd also suggest that you take a look at the site:

http://www.cdfreaks.com/

Their official and user reviews are unbiased (cough, cough, except for the usual fanbois) and pretty informative (unlike some of the commercial websites).

I'm trying to keep my A09 going until I can afford a Blu-Ray burner, which should be about in the same year as the SCS website and forum is upgraded.
Jeff9329 wrote on 3/24/2008, 10:22 AM
John:

I tried the LH-20A1S which seems to be the SATA version of the DH-20A4P-04.

I didn't really like it. I also installed the Sony Optiarc AD-7170S at the same time to do side by side tests. The 7170S is faster and quieter in all operations. It also had a lot more firmware available with bitsetting.

It is funny how using CDSpeed for disc quality scans gives very different results using the different brands of drives on the same disc, and they don't always prefer the ones they burned.

Are you getting low error rates on DL media too?

jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/24/2008, 10:50 AM
"It is funny how using CDSpeed for disc quality scans gives very different results using the different brands of drives on the same disc, and they don't always prefer the ones they burned."

Some drives are better at disk quality scans than others. My Panny A09 was one of the best quality drives for writing DVDs, when it came out. However, it was lousy for doing reliable error scans, even with disks that it had burned. LiteOn drives tend to be the best error scanners.

I also forget to say before that the website:

www.videohelp.com

has excellent summary information on optical drives. One bit of info that this website has that is very helpful is that it lists both who the OEM is for "badged" drives and the chipset used in the drive:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters

You may find that your high-priced Sony DVD burner is actually made by BenQ.
musicvid10 wrote on 3/24/2008, 11:37 AM
I changed my mind on pricey burners when I discovered that their life expectancy is not necessarily better than the cheapies. If it will burn discs reliably and last two years or more, there's not much point in spending an extra $50 - $100.

The Sony OEM (Optiarc) at MicroCenter works great, supports all media, and the 20X Lightscribe version weighs in at $39. I bought two of them and I'm not going to shed a tear when one wears out.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0266945

It raises the old Rolex / Timex debate: if it tells the time, why not own one you can throw away without the angst.
jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/24/2008, 12:55 PM
All you have to hope is that your burner experience is not akin the the Three Stooges clip where Curly is wearing 3 wristwatches.
John_Cline wrote on 3/24/2008, 1:26 PM
For consistent disc quality checking I have been using the same drive for years; a Plextor PX-712a. I typically use DVDInfoPro and CD-DVD Speed to do the tests. By using the same drive, all the tests will be accurate relative to each other.

I have NEC, Pioneer, Plextor and now, Lite-On drives. On Taiyo Yuden 8x premium media, the Lite-On and Plextor drives have produced the lowest errors.

Yes, the HD-20A4P is "noisy" but that doesn't bother me in the least, the DVD duplication room is a little noisy anyway.

John
johnmeyer wrote on 3/24/2008, 1:59 PM
I second the CD Freaks recommendation.

If you really want to get into this, and if the burn quality is the only thing that matters to you (which is certainly true for me), then check out the forum, and in particular, this sub-section:

DVD Burner User Reviews and Comments

You will find some wonderfully obsessed, compulsive individuals who have burned countless discs in the pursuit of the "perfect burn." It is truly unbelievable what some of these individuals claim to be able to do.

Also note the activity numbers. This is a VERY active forum.

[Edit] Here's my favorite post. It is the ultimate in obsessive-compulsive behavior, with a lot of people spending a lot of time and also some money, to come up with the lowest error rate:

Pulsee's 10 DVD Burner Shootout

It was started almost two years ago, so some of the models mentioned are no longer made, but it provides some wonderful benchmarking that you can use to test your own burning setup.

Here is a summary that I extracted from that thread. Might be helpful:



Drive                     Media                PI_Errors  PI_Failures   Notes                

LG GH20LS10               MAXELL003            4,757      45            tested on DH20A4H

DH-20A3P                  MCC004               5,440     136            tested on DH20A4P

Pioneer DVR-115D          MCC03RG20            7,043      49            tested on DH20A

Benq DW2000@LH20A1P KL0N  TYG03 GH000157       7,540      27            tested on Benq

DVR-112                   MCC03RG20            8,028      69            tested on DH20A4P

DH-20A3P                  MCC03RG20            8,635     137            tested on DH20A4P

Optiarc AD-7203A          YUDEN000T02          9,517      43            

Pioneer DVR-115D          TYG03               10,330     216            

DH16A1P @ DH20A4P         YUDEN000T03         11,155   1,303            

LiteOn LH20A1P KL05       TYG03 GH000157      14,424      92            tested on Benq

DH16A1P @ DH20A4P         YUDEN000T03         15,233   1,107            

Benq DW2000@LH20A1P KL0N  TYG03 GH000157      15,478     229            tested on Benq

Samsung SH-S203N_SB01     YUDE000T03          16,384   1,238            tested on Benq

DH20A3P                   LG ( CMCMAG AM3 )   21,063   1,791            tested on DH20A3P

Pioneer DVR-215           YUDEN000T03         21,816     418            

Optiarc7200A              Sony D21            22,421     283            

DH20A3P                   MCC004              22,687     261            

LG GSA-H62N CL01          MCC004              23,847     605            tested on DH20A4P

Samsung 203B SB01         TYG03               34,756     213            

Optiarc AD-7200A          YUDEN000T03         43,836     627            

DH20A3P                   DAXON AZ3           46,327     349            

Pioneer DVR-115D          YUDEN000T03         46,905   4,228            

Samsung SH-S203B          TYG03               74,369   1,222            

H42N@H44N RB01            MCC03RG20           93,668     480            tested on non-liteon

Samsung SH-S203B          MCC04              211,667     789            

Samsung SN-S203B          MCC004             213,555     518            

Sammy S203N_SB001         MBIPG101-R05       235,297   3,215            tested on Benq


Be careful when reading this summary as well as the post itself, because not everyone used the recommended Liteon drive to do the test on the burned discs and, of course, the tests were done by different people. Therefore, this hardly rates as a controlled experiment. However, the Pioneer drive certainly seems to do well.