[MadMan007]

Just looking for a PATA DVD/CD-RW. I haven't looked at these for years so I don't know what's new and special or which brands or models are most reliable for burning, or what special technologies any might have. So I'm just looking for some keywords to look for, or certain models that are good. Obviously they're all cheap-ish ~$30 so a few dollars up or down doesn't matter.

[jivetrky]

yeah, there's really not a major difference in them. Some might be slightly faster than others...but the difference isn't really enough to worry about. If you think you might use the "Lightscribe" technology, then go for one of those drives (I'd recommend a BenQ Model). It's a cool technology, just not sure if it'll become mainstream enough to lower the cost of the media enough to make it a good solution.

[MadMan007]

Ok so pretty much any of them work well enough nowadays? This wasn't quite the case last time I got a burner

And 'lightscribe' is the only special tech? They seem to be priced similarly enough I may as well get one heh. Thanks.

Oh yeah...do I need to go out of my way to make sure a drive can do dual-layer DVDs or is that pretty much standard?

A quick look at newegg and I narrowed it down to two, a Liteon and a Pioneer:
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106042
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827129001
Either of those would work well enough?

Neither has lightscribe but I'll take dual-layer over lightscribe.

[LiveSideways]

I just bought this one about a week ago for my brother (birthday present) http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106019

It nice and all, but after seeing how long lightscribe takes to write a label I doubt he'll ever use that feature. It took like 24 minutes to write a picture to the top of the disc

Ours came with Nero, PowerDVD, and a blank LightScribe CD-R. From the revies it sounds like not everyone got the software

[MadMan007]

Hm yea it seems like dual layer is on lots of drives it just isn't always listed as such when you look at the full list of DVD burners. I think I'll avoid Liteon based on the numerous complaints about the excess noise when reading or writing.

[tiktok]

I always liked BenQ drives - mine is a 1640 but I guess there are more recent models out by (1650 I know for sure).

[MadMan007]

One thing I like about my current DVD reader, some older Liteon model I can't remember, is that it is silent when playing movies - it goes into 1x read mode. Something like that in a burner would be ideal

[jivetrky]

yeah, I'd recommend BenQ....I've bought like 2 or 3 of them...all have been good. And they burn a lot of data at speeds faster than what they are rated.

If not, then Plextor...but they are usually a little more pricey

[Asr940]

Wasn't there a standard DVD burner that you used to be able to flash the bios on to use in Light scribe?

[jivetrky]

I thought lighscribe drives used a separate laser for the lightscribe printing?

[tuskenraider]

Another vote for BenQ, as they have a good rep and I've had no problems with mine(DW1650). They should be getting difficult to find though since Lite-On bought them and I don't think there will be any BenQ branded drives anymore(not 100% sure on that).

[mcoleg]

if you can find a benq, get it. get one for me too while you are at it :P

1640, 1650, 1655 are the model numbers you should be looking for. 1670 - give it a pass. same thing for Q6* models.

if you can't find any, get LG GSA-H22L or GSA-H12L. they got them at newegg.

if you really want some in depth info, browse around here:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=61

[batrider]

Pioneer and NEC seem to get the best reviews. I have a Pioneer now and I'll probably get an NEC for my next one. At ~$50 you can't really go wrong.

[SavageBasher]

NEC burners are now Sony's rebranded, so I would stay away from the newer ones.

[FeuerFrei]

SAMSUNG FTW!

DL, Lightscribe, VERY reliable (had problems with BenQ in the past) and cheap

[Como]

I bought two samsung burners from newegg a while back- one died within a month and the other died within a month of the first. newegg replaced one, and refunded the other.
I'm currently abusing the replacement, seeing if its going to crap out on me...

[MadMan007]

I'm going to get a Pioneer DVR-710B (retail box of DVR-110) today or tomorrow. I just wish their was a SATA besides Plextor (overpriced imo, although they don't seem to die like others) and LiteOn (too loud.) Worst Buy has it at $40 which is actually comparable to online vendors and there may be a 10% off with their little club membership to cover tax I read around a bit and it seems well-recommended. Sound good?

[MadMan007]

Ookay then, the Pioneer it is!

[mcoleg]

i wanted to say no but then again we did mention a couple of times what would be a good choice for a burner... the rest is up to you, really.

[Oroka Sempai]

I just got 2 LG 18x with Lightscribe. The lightscribe works great, burns great. I have read that LG drives dont play nice with DVD-R, but I have always used DVD+R, so I wouldnt know.