Are Cheap DVD Burners Okay?

[Gotaro]

Are these cheap DVD drives from Newegg pieces of junk, or will they do their job? This Sony (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118023) is cheap and has free shipping, and the reviews seem okay.. But there are the same range of good to bad reviews on all of the drives I checked. Only, on the top rated ones, there seemed to be a lot more responses saying not to go with that brand (LG).. Anyway, I hope you guys have an answer :). I checked prices on drives at bestbuy.com.. $60+ (But they are dual layer burners)

[imposter]

almost all drives now a days do dual burning. don't look at price and thing its cheap or good. bestbuy has the worst prices on earth.

the sony you picked out does dual layer burnning. and it should do the job just fine.

[Gotaro]

almost all drives now a days do dual burning. don't look at price and thing its cheap or good. bestbuy has the worst prices on earth.

the sony you picked out does dual layer burnning. and it should do the job just fine.
Thanks for the clarification :). And thanks for the fast response, too! ;)

[madhatter256]

Sony (also NEC) or Samsung I recommend. Liteon is OK. Whereas, my old NEC3502 that I paid $55 over 1.5 years ago burns everything it is rated up to.

[Mr.Guvernment]

all DVD burners are "cheap" really.

i like to stick with LG myself and NEC.

[Neuromancer]

Some brands are better then others, the real nuts and bolts have to do with features that 95% of the world has no clue about.

Also, there is a differnce in speed. I have many 20X DVDRWs, and the fastest one I have is a cheap sata dvdRW I got at the egg.

Technically sata should be no faster, so I can only assume that the differnce is in the model (unfortunately it is an optical drive and not high on my list of model #'s and manufacturers to remember ; ))


More important than the drive anymore is the media.

I find HP cds work very well (never a coaster) and Sony DVD-R (never tried +r) are awesome.

Sony DVD-R (im sure +R too) the build quality is just superior. I see people with memorex DVD+/-R and I have to check to see if they are just heavy CDs. The sony disks are plastic coated on both sides and as you should know, this means using a sharpie on it is a-ok. (Cant use acidic markers on CDs as the foil you are writing on, is the actual recording mechanism. scratch it or put a couple of timy acid holes in it and its lost)

Learned that the hard way pulled some CDs out of storage after a year and everywhere the pen hesitates when you write, the foil was just gone. 150 useless disks

[Gotaro]

Wow... aaand noted! I don't know how else I would label them, without a pen or sharpie, so I think I'll make sure and get Sonys for the ones I want to keep ;). I didn't realize SATA wasn't any faster than IDE on optical drives.. That explains why they were both priced the same on those slim drives. Anyway, I've had the same CD-R drive for about 6 years, and it hasn't worked right for like the last 3 lol. So I figured it's about time to get a new one (the external HP is a little screwy ever since I flashed it.. oops!). I'm always skeptical of the really cheap parts, but you guys are very reassuring. I guess I'll find out in a few days!

[MadMan007]

Sony DVD-R (im sure +R too) the build quality is just superior. I see people with memorex DVD+/-R and I have to check to see if they are just heavy CDs. The sony disks are plastic coated on both sides and as you should know, this means using a sharpie on it is a-ok. (Cant use acidic markers on CDs as the foil you are writing on, is the actual recording mechanism. scratch it or put a couple of timy acid holes in it and its lost)

Learned that the hard way pulled some CDs out of storage after a year and everywhere the pen hesitates when you write, the foil was just gone. 150 useless disks

I've used Sharpie's (referring to the brand name) on CDs and haven't seen a problem yet. Should I be scared? *Mostly on HP CDs and DVDs which have a colored ink covering the foil.

[madhatter256]

As far as media is concerned. I have had great luck with TDK, HP (DVD-R), JVC DVD+R, FujiFilm (hard to find now), Sony (all kinds), and Verbatim (all kinds). They are all found in all major electronics and retail stores. When it comes to dual layer DVDs, however, I'd stay away from Memorex, they are everywhere and I have come across coasters. When it comes to great quality, then I'd go with Taiyo Yuden, but you have to order that online. As for DVD DL discs, I'd go with TDK or Verbatim.

[Neuromancer]

I've used Sharpie's (referring to the brand name) on CDs and haven't seen a problem yet. Should I be scared? *Mostly on HP CDs and DVDs which have a colored ink covering the foil.

How long have you had them? I have not had a problem on my HP CDs, the ones that were eaten through were imation, and you are writing directly on hte foil.

After all my CDs were ruined (okay only about 65% were completely trashed) I went online to find out why and thats why I learned about Sharpies and how CDs are constructed.

If you have no problem with the HP cds ten it sounds like the protective coating is working.

After I upgraded to HP disks I also switched to a nonacidic marking pen (think they are actually cheaper than sharpies anyway)

[Mr.Guvernment]

i only buy printable CD's these days, i love printing directly onto the disk no marker worry!

[shadin]

I'm using a Sony/NEC Optiarc drive right now and it hasn't given me a single coaster or issue yet. I've had LiteOn drives in the past and they are performed fantastic, as well. In fact my LiteOn IDE CD burner is still in my girl's rig, going strong since, hmm, 2004 or so.

Don't be Plext0r'd on optical drives. The cheap ones from good brands are just fine, it's more about the media you use.

[MadMan007]

How long have you had them? I have not had a problem on my HP CDs, the ones that were eaten through were imation, and you are writing directly on hte foil.

After all my CDs were ruined (okay only about 65% were completely trashed) I went online to find out why and thats why I learned about Sharpies and how CDs are constructed.

If you have no problem with the HP cds ten it sounds like the protective coating is working.

After I upgraded to HP disks I also switched to a nonacidic marking pen (think they are actually cheaper than sharpies anyway)

Some of the disks are at least a year old. And it's funny you mention imation discs, I had a few that contained non-critical data and while a marker (I'm not sure what type) didn't eat through the foil the foil itself actually devloped a hole that expanded on one disc so it became unreadable.

What non-acidic marking pens do you use? I bet they aren't even name-brand but if so how can you identify them?

[Neuromancer]

I do not recall the brand.

I picked them up last time I grabbed disks. (staples probebly) I was a 2 pack for like 1.99)

It said on the packaging non Acidic marker.

[RollingThunder]

i only buy printable CD's these days, i love printing directly onto the disk no marker worry!

Guv,

How are your doing that? What's your equipment?

[shadin]

Some of the disks are at least a year old. And it's funny you mention imation discs, I had a few that contained non-critical data and while a marker (I'm not sure what type) didn't eat through the foil the foil itself actually devloped a hole that expanded on one disc so it became unreadable.

What non-acidic marking pens do you use? I bet they aren't even name-brand but if so how can you identify them?

I had the same issue with some Imation discs, but granted they were pretty damn old. But that began to happen to several of them, the foil on top started to flake off and the discs were unreadable.

The CD label pens I use were made by Case Logic. Supposed to be safe for disc surfaces. I've never had issues using Sharpies, though, so I guess besides those Imation's the media I've been using has been sufficiently coated. I bought the super-special non-acidic Case Logic markers because they had a really fine point on them. =X Think I bought them at Target.

[Neuromancer]

Printable CDs are pretty nice. They come with a special tray for inkjet printers.


I got some Lightscribe CDs from Thideras a while back and now all of my mobo driver CDs have logos on them :)

[SniperXX]

My old NEC 12x dual layer burner has held up for like 2 yrs fine with plenty of use. I only paid $30 for it from newegg. :)