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Topic: Recommendation for a modern-ish optical drive for ripping (Read 15513 times) previous topic - next topic
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Recommendation for a modern-ish optical drive for ripping

Reply #25 –
Thanks Anthony! That was really helpful information. I'm in the obscure tastes category.

But, I use a notebook as a desktop replacement, so I'm stuck with looking for a portable USB optical drive.

Is there an easy way to know what drives have or don't have Mediatek, or whatever qualities that makes this chipset great?
 

Recommendation for a modern-ish optical drive for ripping

Reply #26 –
Quote from: noiselab on
Thanks Anthony! That was really helpful information. I'm in the obscure tastes category.

But, I use a notebook as a desktop replacement, so I'm stuck with looking for a portable USB optical drive.

Is there an easy way to know what drives have or don't have Mediatek, or whatever qualities that makes this chipset great?


You're welcome, buddy. Glad to help.

So, yeah, Mediatek-based drives have for a while now excelled at reading discs that are scuffed/scratched and generally
in less than pristine condition. Their burning quality left a lot to be desired, but that doesn't really apply to this discussion.

I don't know how much I'll be able to help in regard to portables drives as I don't own any of the current models,
but I'll try my best. They tend not to last under a heavy workload and they extract slower (full size max out at around 48x
and the portables at about half that).

You need to ask yourself how many discs you're going to extract, and what sort of condition they are in. Having obscure
tastes kinda complicates things a bit (hell, I collect spaghetti western soundtracks - and not just the Ennio Morricone
ones, either). With the AccurateRip and Cuetools databases, usually a burst copy is fine. At worst, use EAC to do a
Test & Copy. I admit to being a bit, um, obsessive but when a CD isn't in any of the above databases, I use multiple
drives using multiple applications and make sure I get a consistent result. I find it sorta fun. Most people don't.

As far as how to find current drives with a Mediatek chipset, I poked around a bit, and the answer is...well, all of
them! Very strange, actually. LG drives used to have a Panasonic or Renesas. Pioneer used NEC. This doesn't mean they are
all clones, though - for the most part they still design their own drives, and of course firmware makes a big difference.

Get a Lite-On or Samsung portable drive. Did a bit of googling and this caught my eye:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827106389
Usually 24.99, but with the $15 off promo code, it's down to $9.99. Add $1.99 for shipping and it's $11.98. I mean, why
the hell not? I order from newegg.com a LOT and they're great. I'm in New York so no sales tax. Just be mindful that it only
plays DVDs and CDs, but it doesn't burn them. The other thing is you have to use that promo code by 12:00 PST tonight.

I'm sorry I can't offer any specific recommendations - like I said, I don't own any. The above Lite-On is a mediatek with
a +6 read offset. All the Samsungs likely do, too.

If you have any further questions, be my guest. If you want to talk about getting an external enclosure and adding a
full size drive, no prob. Thats obviously not a portable solution, but at least you can connect it to your notebook.
Hope this was a tad informative/mildly interesting!

Anthony