EIDE CD-RW suggestions?

[metroplex]

I'm looking for a fast but very reliable EIDE CD-RW drive, any suggestons/recommendations?

Should I go with USB or Firewire?

 

[bacillus]

liteon is doing a very nice x48 cdrw.
the slower models,x32 & x40 ones, should have come down alot in price because of it!

 

[metroplex]

So Lite-On is a good manufacturer/brand?

 

[larciel]

Originally posted by: metroplex
So Lite-On is a good manufacturer/brand?

yes.. back up most games.. awesome price..

remember to set it at ATA33

 

[metroplex]

Why can't I set it to ATA66 or ATA/100?

 

[TomBilliodeaux]

Because it is ATA 33.
Same reason you can't set a 33ata hdd to 66 or 100.
Be glad you can use UDMA or ATA vs PIO. The older drives must use PIO 4 or 3 which is not as fast.
May depent on you o/s as well.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

I just got a Cendyne 32x-burner and I'm burning coasters. It seems to stop at around 3% and gives a SCSI error message, yet I don't have anything SCSI at all...any ideas? I have the choice of several DMA settings in BIOS, mode 0 mode 1 mode 2 mode 3 etc....which do I choose? How bout for HDs and other CDROMS....? thanks

 

[esquared]

The retail 32X Lite-on is selling for around 58 at Dell with possible free shipping. At most it's 3.00-3.50 to ship. The 40X Lite-on is around 68 with possible free shipping also. Pretty decent drives for the money without having to send in rebates. Here's a link to Cdrlabs with reviews for most drives. Cdrlabs

Big ED: Try enabling the DMA within Windows in the device manager for the drive, if you have Win 98. Make sure your hard drives are also DMA enabled. That might help your problem.

 

[metroplex]

Should I go with a 40x LiteOn or a 40x Sony?

 

[esquared]

CDRlabs rates then both 9/10 but I personally would go with the Lite-on. For one thing it's less expensive. I've been around two Sony 8X drives before and they didn't burn correctly all the time, Agreed, that was a drive from a couple of years ago, but I've heard a few complaints about Sony drives. Nearly all the people who buy the Lite-ons have favorable comments plus it can copy SD2 encoded disks. I don't know if Sony will copy SD2. Also the Lite-on comes with Nero burning software (the best), while Sony's burning software is not that good from what I have seen. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

[metroplex]

I already have Nero so its not an issue for me.

I ordered the Sony 40/12/48 - I figure if Sony co-invented the CD, they should have top notch stuff

I have a Sony 4x writer/8x reader SCSI-2 from 3 years back and it has never made a coaster. I hope the ATAPI Sony CD-RWs are as good.

 

[Mikki]

I know they cost more, but Plextor drives should be a consideration if you really want a quality drive. They're always at the top of the leaderboards, and I can tell you for a fact that they are reliable as hell. I've had mine for 3 years and 10 months and it'll still do anything I want it to (yes, it's slow, but it's 4 years old!). I really wish I had kept count on how many cd's I've burned in this thing. I'm upgrading soon and I don't care how much it costs, I'm going Plextor, because I DEFINITELY got my money's worth outta this one!!!!