I think it's time to get a DVD/CD Burner, too bad I don't know much about them.

As you can see in my sig, the only burning rom I have is an old LiteOn. While the LiteOn has served me well, it's time to upgrade. I want a DVD/CD Rom that supports all the formats, so I don't run into a problem one day and wish I had 'spent the extra cash to buy the ______, instead of getting the _____ which doesn't support a feature I need.' I'll be using the drive as my primary CD Drive and want to be able to burn backups of DVD's/ burn music/ and store files, etc. By looking around I notice many burners with DVD-R/+R/DVD-RW/+RW etc... while these are merely letters to me, I'm sure they serve some importance. I don't think I need dual layer, but if it has it so be it. I'm not really sure on a price range, because I don't know how much money it will take to get a good, reliable performing drive. I understnad that what I am asking is subjective, but what is the best bang for the buck/most popular DVD-CD Burner at this time? Thanks

NEC 2510A (8X DVD+-R, 2.4X dual layer)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-023&depa=0

NEC 3500A (16X DVD+-R, 4X dual layer)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-032&depa=0

You cannot go wrong with either. Both support all formats (including dual layer, which is a nice feature, although the media is much too expensive at present time).

Seriously though, I've used lots of DVD-R and CD-R drives and these are the best IMO. Lots of people will tell you the same. For the price, you will not find a better drive.

DL is standard now, that would be like saying "I don't need a volume control." They hardly cost 'extra' at all. You could get a
A.)Lite Sohw-832s This are pretty cheap, less than $100, IDE, I have it, it gets kind of whistley when reading, which I hate when watching DVDs, but an all around good drive.
2.)NEC 3500 - This is really getting serious recognition, definitely a good buy.
3.) Plextor PX-712SAS - Plextor, SATA, $150. I wish I bought this, but Best Buy was sold out.
4.)Plextor PX-712a, same as drive above, but IDE. No performance difference, just the cable, $110.

These are the only 3 drives I would consider at this point. Lite-On being my last choice( I have personally had problems) and Plextor being my first(For SATA reasons only)

IMO, whoever buys Plextor has more money than brains. Seriously, I've never used a Plextor product (while costing 2X more) that has outperformed other cheaper brands.

I've had good experiences with Lite-On and would recommend them for DVD-burners, and especially CD-burners (Lite-On's CD-burners are better than anything in my opinion).

But for DVD's there is no other choice than NEC. I've used them all: Lite-On, Samsung, NU Tech, Benq, etc (everything but Plextor which I refuse to buy for good reason), and NEC is on top.

IMO, whoever buys Plextor has more money than brains. Seriously, I've never used a Plextor product (while costing 2X more) that has outperformed other cheaper brands.

Click to expand...

You do know that Plextor is the only one out with a SATA dvd burner, right?

nissmo300 said:

You do know that Plextor is the only one out with a SATA dvd burner, right?

Click to expand...

They're not even close to the first optical storage company to go SATA. I believe MSI (?) was the first one.

And who really gives a flying ****? SATA is utterly useless for an optical storage device in terms of bandwidth. If you really want to spend more than twice the price of a comparable drive in order to use a smaller cable--- then by all means DO IT! My exact point being, whoever buys Plextor has more money than brains.

Thanks for the replies guys, I've limited my options to NEC 2510A, NEC 3500A, and Lite Sohw-832s as you guys have recommended. One thing I did was visited bestbuy's, circuit city's, compusa's and outpost's website to compare the retail store prices for them. Unfortunetely I couldn't find any of these on any of those websites. Is it too early for them to be found in major retail stores or have the webmasters simply been lazy and not updated their websites for a while? I am pleased that all three of these drives have a 5 star rating from users at newegg, and the prices there are very affordable.

Just get the NEC 3500 from Newegg. Its like $70 now. Can't go wrong with that, its the most future proof IMO. Plextor isn't worth the extra money and SATA is pointless with an optical drive because it won't take advantage of the bandwidth available. The only reason to go with SATA would be if you like the smaller cables. I have the 2510 and I love it. Haven't used DL yet but I don't want to pay the crazy price for it. Once it comes down in price though I'll use it.

From reading around, I've seen that the two best DVD/CD burners are either the NEC 3500A or the Pioneer DVR-108. You can't go wrong with either.

i've used 3 DVD burner, a memorex, a BTC and the one i'm keeping right now is the NEC 3500A, it's dam fast, reliable and the burn comes out really good. in my standard it's quite expensive compare to my 50 dollar BTC but the 30 dollar extra gave me this: faster ripping speed, burn disc up to 16X, a more reliable burn, better support as there are many firmware update flying around.