DVD "everything" drive for a new build

[TVisitor]

It seems that most DVD everything drives are pretty much the same these days.

Any compelling reason to get one over another?

I picked this out of a bunch for $36.

Black ASUS LightScribe SATA DVD Burner DRW-1814BLT, 18X DVD+/-R, 6X DVD-RW, 8X DVD+RW, 8X DVD+/-R(DL), 14X DVD-RAM. OEM

http://www.directron.com/drw1814blt.html

I figured that SATA might be a nice choice (less bulky cabling) and event though I've never had a need for Lightscribe, it might be fun to play with (Yes, I know, you need special media for it).

 

[ForumMaster]

actually, i would suggest This samsung unit. very similar except that SAMSUNG makes very quiet DVD Drives. may not be important to you, but the DVD drive is a very noisy component.

 

[Peter]

The Samsung drives have a very ingenious way of balancing out vibrations - entirely mechanically, without the inherent speed loss of other methods.

Benchmarks often have them last in CD ripping, simply because the drives ship in their "cautious" CD reading mode. Samsung have a "Magic Speed" tray utility that lets you switch back and forth from "cautious" to "max performance" mode - but no reviewer so far has figured that out ... Apparently Samsung are worried about aged and weak CDs shattering to pieces at maximum speed (and true, it happens). DVD speed is not affected, and there is no "riplock" extra-slow mode for commercial DVDs as found in some other drives (LG!).

You can tell that I've been using Samsungs a lot, and I have no complaints so far.

 

[KAZANI]

I have an ASUS DRW-1608P3S. This drive is so noisy I avoid using it for playback as much as I can. For some reason it will always spin at 40x and no speed control utility will tame this beast.