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Topic: Recommend a new DVD/CD drive? (Read 6846 times) previous topic - next topic
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Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

I'm currently using a Sony DRU-510A combo drive (which has caused me nothing but trouble since 2003), and now I think it's time I ditched this piece of crap and bought something else. Most of my DVD's cannot be read, and I often get errors when burning. Can anyone recommend a good multi-format burner that isn't too expensive? I hear good things about LiteOn stuff. Should I consider one?

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #1 –
The BenQ 1640 has pretty good results for burning quality according to latest c't magazine. Lately BenQ introduced a new technique called "solidburn" in this model through a new firmware (makes small test burn at the beginning and the end of each dvd and adjusts write strategy indivudually, also supposed to burn unknown medias better). Right now I'd get one of these.

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #2 –
Quote
a new technique called "solidburn" in this model through a new firmware (makes small test burn at the beginning and the end of each dvd and adjusts write strategy indivudually
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=328838"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


 

As I know CD-R drives use this technique for years, am I wrong?
Ogg Vorbis for music and speech [q-2.0 - q6.0]
FLAC for recordings to be edited
Speex for speech

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #3 –
ilikedirtthe2nd -- That seems to be good advice, thanks, I was just reading about the 1640. I was also considering the Plextor PX-740A which is based on the BenQ 1640. Any thoughts on this? I can get the Plextor for around £45 in the UK right now but I can't find a BenQ anywhere!

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #5 –
Quote
I was also considering the Plextor PX-740A which is based on the BenQ 1640. Any thoughts on this? I can get the Plextor for around £45 in the UK right now but I can't find a BenQ anywhere!
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The Plextor 740A will not feature SolidBurn ... but you can crossflash it to a 1640 anytime (and hose your Plextor warranty) ...
The name was Plex The Ripper, not Jack The Ripper

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #6 –
OK, that's a good point.

So how about OEM vs. retail? I guess I don't need no cables and free software, etc, so I should save some money and get an OEM, right?

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #7 –
NEC drives are I think good to look at as well. They do everything pretty well -- though outclassed in some areas by other drives, they don't have any weak points. Good ripping, good writing, reports C2 and doesn't cache audio.

The BenQ may be the current "sexy" drive, but I have a few doubts. It may have better native error correction, but the caching is annoying. I prefer to rely on EAC. I'd also be concerned about reliability -- this is the company that a year ago was making some of the worst DVD writers.

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #9 –
Quote
NEC drives are I think good to look at as well. They do everything pretty well -- though outclassed in some areas by other drives, they don't have any weak points. Good ripping, good writing, reports C2 and doesn't cache audio.

The BenQ may be the current "sexy" drive, but I have a few doubts. It may have better native error correction, but the caching is annoying. I prefer to rely on EAC. I'd also be concerned about reliability -- this is the company that a year ago was making some of the worst DVD writers.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=328860"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Damn! I just ordered the BenQ. Did I make a mistake?

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #10 –
Quote
Quote
NEC drives are I think good to look at as well. They do everything pretty well -- though outclassed in some areas by other drives, they don't have any weak points. Good ripping, good writing, reports C2 and doesn't cache audio.

The BenQ may be the current "sexy" drive, but I have a few doubts. It may have better native error correction, but the caching is annoying. I prefer to rely on EAC. I'd also be concerned about reliability -- this is the company that a year ago was making some of the worst DVD writers.
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Damn! I just ordered the BenQ. Did I make a mistake?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=328863"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Basically, no.
If you make sure that you dont mess with your drive in a way that would make you lose your warranty, you're all set.

I just bought a Plextor 740a, and I'm very satisfied with it.
When I was looking at which Plextor drive to choose from, I stumbled across a long and exhausting test of some drives. They mentioned that while the Plextor and BenQ drive are basically the same [chipset], the Plextor firmware (or something else?) made a very slight - insignificant - increase in speed, in some tests.

I'll google for the article and post it in an edit.

Edit: [a href="http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14345]Here[/url] it is.
As I scanned through the article, I noticed that the speed diffirences are insignificant and inconsistent between the two drives.
Pusk is the new Start.

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #11 –
Quote
Damn! I just ordered the BenQ. Did I make a mistake?

No. Or, if you did, plenty of other people made the same mistake.

At this point BenQ vs NEC vs Pioneer is almost a matter of prefrence. They have distinguishing features, but overall they are very very close in abilities.

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #12 –
Great. Thanks for all the help, you guys rock!

EDIT: @ alive -- Thanks for the article.

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #13 –
i like NEC drives because: no audio cache (on gnu/linux this is $$$), inexpensive, good quality, good reading (haven't had a problem with dvd or cd) and great writing (haven't had a coaster in hundreds of burns and the media is always well read by any device i've tried).

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #14 –
If you go with the Benq 1640, beware that they do not work well with almost all external hard drive enclosures.  There is one enclose that reportedly works consistently. If you search the CdFreaks.com forum you can find it easily. But I think given the overall ability this is the best all around choice, as long as you dont need any of the negative features listed in reviews.

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #15 –
Checkout the LG GSA-4163B

Very good drive. check out cdfreaks it's one of the highly recommended drives. write DVD-+R at 16x can read and write pretty much any format. Good for ripping dvd's and audio cd's as well. I've been very impressed with it myself and it only cost me $47 USD

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #16 –
Check this out: Recorder poll

I would personally go for Pioneer or Plextor. We also have a BenQ 1640, which seems ok but we are not imrpessed yet.

For Plextor 716 and Pioneer 110 you can also check out some burn quality tests.

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #17 –
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I would personally go for Pioneer or Plextor. We also have a BenQ 1640, which seems ok but we are not imrpessed yet.
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c't magazine says that the BenQ DW1640 and the Plextor PX-740A have identical hardware but different firmwares (BenQ supports SolidBurn and Plextor doesn't).

Furthermore, with activated SolidBurn for all media (not just unknown one), the BenQ always has better burn quality with +R and -R than the Plextor. It doesn't seem to affect +-RW or DL burns though.
 

Recommend a new DVD/CD drive?

Reply #18 –
Quote
the BenQ DW1640 and the Plextor PX-740A have identical hardware but different firmwares


That's exactly right -- the Plextor is the same as the BenQ but costs more and does less. 

Well, I did go for the BenQ, and it's a phenominal drive. No coasters, every disc burnt so far has a quality score between 94 and 98 in Nero CD /DVD Speed quality test, even on cheap media. I can't fault the drive yet, except for the lack of C2 error checking. Maybe a larger buffer would be good too, but it's no big deal. Great drive.