CD Burner Death?

[Zuph]

My dad has killed 2 burners so far, 2 different manufacturers, different models, different speeds, but they both died because of a laser alignment thingy (so he says). While we are getting a new one (it was still under warrentee) I would like to know how to stop this from happening again. Both my parents smoke, but I don't THINK that's the problem because his regular CD-ROM Drive has lasted years, and the rest of his computer has lasted a few years (the burner is only 4-5 months old). Was it just bad luck? What caused it to die?

 

[mastertech01]

You didnt mention brands or models, or usage, but my guess is just bad luck. There are certain brands that are just not very dependable. I like Plextor and Yamaha, but Im sure there are other good ones. The quickest way I have seen burners go bad is when peeps use them for gaming drives as well, and they just simply get too hot. My worst luck with any brand of CD drive has been with Toshiba. This is just my personal experience however.

 

[Zuph]

Well, one what a Pacific Digital, the other was an HP, both have gotten good reviews, and they were used soley for burning and ripping. Although usage was heavy. Somehow I doubt they would have died WITHEN the Guarunteed period with the usage, because I have friends that use theres more (same brand, diff. Model) with no probs.

 

[SerraYX]

The HP may just need a good cleaning on the guide rails and etc. Since HP used Phillips for a lot of burners, they all got screwed up pretty quickly and needed cleanings in order to work. Use teflon/silicone lubricant on the guide rails and it might work again.. did the trick for my HP.

If that doesn't work, you might have just gotten a bad drive or the manufacturer did a bad job..

Just keeping dust out of your case can help things a lot..

 

[alpha88]

I usually burn mine out within a year, I do about 25-50 cds a week

 

[Joony]

my pacific digital 2x died...