Since it’s now possible to buy a descent DVD writer for 80$ I decided to go shopping.com. Simple question - what to look for in a DVD writer ? I don’t need anything fancy, but - what characteristics should I be looking for (such as speed, formats supported, etc…) ?
Thanks
The NEC 2510 seems to be a good choice at the moment. It has the good burn quality offered by an NEC drive and it can burn Dual Layer media.
If you need to burn CDs as well, you might want to consider a liteon or Plextor drive.
If your in the US I would highly recommend using NewEgg (www.newegg.com).
Their prices are great, fast shipping, and their customer service is just as good, if not better than most retail stores. I can say this from personal experience.
Thanks for the answers, but this is actually not what I was asking…
What are the parameters of a descent (around $80) DVD drive, such as speed,
formats supported, etc…
This is just an opinion from an $80 user, but I think the best bang for the buck is the LG Super Multi GSA4082B. I have not complaints. It writes 8x and does -R, +R, Ram and CDRW writing at 24x, not fast, but hey we’re talking doing it all for pretty cheap AND it is quiet. I’ve always been impressed with LG’s products overall. There is the new GSA4120B that reads double layer but I’m sure for much more.
The Liteon 812s is a good choice, 8x +/-R 4x+/-RW 40X24X40X cd writing. For backing up games this drive is an excellent choice because it offers features that make it easier to backup games. And given good media, has very good write quality. This drive can also be upgraded to 832s which supports dual layer.