DVD Burner

[bluestrobe]

I am looking for an IDE DVD burner. Last time I bought one was 2 years ago and now I am lost looking for one. I was looking at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106043

But it seems all of the LiteOn's have bad reviews. Are they a company to be avoided anymore? Anyone have any better suggestions? This is for a basic user who doesn't need bells and whistles like Lightscribe and such. Black face is prefered as this is replacing a cd/rw drive out of a Gateway.


Thanks!

 

[sniperruff]

NEC's are highly rated

 

[dfuze]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
NEC's are highly rated

My $35 NEC has yet to burn a coaster with over 100 burns (3550 model I believe).

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

I bought a Lite-on a couple months ago and it has served me extremely well! I also own an older Lite-on, and though it has some compatibility issues (drives manufactured back then usually did), it's still better than my NEC from the same year.

All popular drives are going to have negative reviews. All drives are going to have media compatibility issues. But I don't think there's any major brand you need to stay away from. I would, however, beware of generics like "Maddog."

Also, make sure you consider retail vs. OEM drives. My retail Lite-on came with an interchangeable face plate so that you can swap between white and black to match with whichever color your case is. And retail drives usually include Nero 7, which is a very good plus.

 

[polypterus]

Originally posted by: dph1077

Originally posted by: sniperruff
NEC's are highly rated

My $35 NEC has yet to burn a coaster with over 100 burns (3550 model I believe).

Wow that's that >1200 reviews on Newegg. I've got an older version of it (3500)and have burned closer to 1000 without a problem, fwiw.

 

[Brian48]

My 3500 is still going strong and resides in my primary box. As old as thing is, I will never replace until it literally falls a part.

 

[Googer]

Plextor = quality. The PX760a currently has a rebate for $30 and is highly rated for it's ultra low error rates, media compatibility, support, build quality, and advanced features not found on most other drives. Buy one and you will not have any regrets. You may even wonder why you would ever consider anyother brand but PLEXTOR.


I have one, it's a fantastic drive, a smooth operator.

http://www.plextor.com/english/products/760A.htm

Rebate
http://www.plextor.com/english/products/product_promotions.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827249003

 

[TMoney468]

I find it hard to justify spending $99 on an optical drive, when there are some out there at around $30 that do just as good a job. My NEC 3500A has served me great, I have burned over 100 DVDs without any problems. I don't question the quality of a Plextor, but you'd be hard pressed to find anything better than an NEC or equivalent drive with GOOD media such as Verbatim/Sony MIJ...get a cheaper drive and get good media and you'll be all set.

 

[eggrolls]

Originally posted by: FrizQuadrata

Originally posted by: dph1077

Originally posted by: sniperruff
NEC's are highly rated

My $35 NEC has yet to burn a coaster with over 100 burns (3550 model I believe).

Wow that's that >1200 reviews on Newegg. I've got an older version of it (3500)and have burned closer to 1000 without a problem, fwiw.

also got a 3550 here. haven't had a problem yet...

 

[Mogadon]

I have a 3550 in two of my computers, no problems yet.

I owned a Plextor drive a while back and it was great but, like TMoney, I could not justify spending that much on an optical drive when there are options that will do the same thing, just as well with marginally lower build quality at $30 ... even if I was very, very rich.

 

[Operandi]

I've used most if not all of the major makes and I use Plextor in my own machines and put Samsugns in everything else that I build.

 

[ViRGE]

Why an IDE in particular? Given how quickly IDE ports are dying, buying anything not SATA these days seems to be a shortsighted choice.

 

[Synomenon]

Pretty much all of those SATA optical drives out right now are simply using a built in IDE to SATA bridge adapter.

Plextor isn't as good as it used to be. I couldn't justify spending as much as they're charging on their drives.

Here's another vote for NEC + the great hacked firmware available for them by Liggy&Dee at the CDFreaks forums.

 

[Arkaign]

I've used Samsung, HP, NEC, Sony, Lite-On, etc. I'd really have to say, that other than seeing the usual % RMA/Failure rate (5% within 90 days, 10% within a year?) .. you're best off just finding the best deal on a recognizable brand. I sell/rebuild my PC frequently, and have yet to have one die on me personally. Samsungs can usually be found on newegg for $30ish. Cheers.

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Why an IDE in particular? Given how quickly IDE ports are dying, buying anything not SATA these days seems to be a shortsighted choice.

Sorry, some don't have bleeding edge systems like most on this forum like to think. This is a 3 year old gateway pc. Only one computer in my house has SATA capabilities out of 6 for example.

I'll just pick a decent brand name out of newegg and go that route. Thanks for the help guys.