Do DVD-R drive models have a difference?

[anon6]

In terms of burn quality, are they all the same nowadays, or are there certain drives or brands that you avoid?

 

[ShellGuy]

at a bit of a loss in re to ur question, most burners do all formats now, there are a few i like, love my new samsung SATA burner works great sofar, got it from the egg, can you be more specific on what you are looking for? Others that are good, are light-on, samsung, amoung a few..

 

[MegaVovaN]

I personally avoid Lite-On.
Three or four years ago I built my rig, and bought a Lite-On dvd drive. About a year ago it started skipping and/or freezing for minutes on DVD movies if there were even slightest scratches/fingerprints on them. It got so bad I bought a cheap ($34) IDE Samsung WriteMaster dvd drive and it works fine now.

 

[Slugbait]

Lite-On drives also have a long legacy of being loud. I never knew just how loud until I started building a system for a friend a couple of days ago...sheesh, this thing is annoying.

NEC is good. I have a 3500A that's still a daily burner. Most Plextors are good...except my 12/4/32 just decided to start making 100% coasters two weeks ago...otherwise, my other Plextors have been great. There are a couple of Plextor models to avoid, tho'.