Best burner to back up movies and games...?

Newbie Forum
#1

Hello all! I need to purchase a new dvd-burner. Despite my atempts at research I can’t seem to find enough information on which drives are going to provide me with the best ability to back up my dvd-movies and video games.I know I want a drive that is dual layer, and R+/- formats. However, I know nothing about the drives I am researching’s OVERALL ability to backup.

I need to purchase the drive soon (my old one completely died), so I figured yall might want to brag for a sec and let me know what model number will work best. It’s for a desktop computer very new all good. I have read the reviews sections and such on a few diff pages of these forums, however a lot of the posts were from a long time ago and none seemed to give enough input as to “what model number exactly does what”. Not meaning to cross post(?) or anything like that. I am just an extream newbie in need of a good solution. And you folks seem to be the ut-most experts :clap: .

Thanks for your time

#2

You need to read the reviews on this site, and look for the part of the review where they discuss copy protection, and 2 sheep burner. It depends on what you are copying. If you want to copy cd’s, you are better off doing that with a cd writer (plextor and yamaha are the best), but other brands do well, including my cheapo khypermeda. If you want to copy dvd’s, I know that my Plextor is good as is my pioneer. My NEC’s suck… Liteon is another good dvd burner. Everyone on this site will have varying opinions as to which drives are the best, so it’s best to read reviews.

#3

I need it for DVD burning…And mostly in the reviews peoples reviews are so “scattered” with details that I can’t make heads or tails of it!! Most people don’t post about the Sheep test results, and then most results they post don’t give all the same details. I really just want to know if anyone knows which burner (model number and all) gives the best proformance of backing up my softwares and movies. I don’t care if one drive is faster than anouther if the faster drive leaves me hangin on backing up my media’s! I backed up a bunch of my movies before I learned that the quality of the movies i was backing up was drasticly reduced by my previose burners inability to burn DL disks!

I have also found it hard to search the threads and reviews for specific model numbers as the only “search” box in the site is on the main page and for some reason won’t find ANYTHING about the SPECIFIC modle numbers I inquire about…But I will find threw randomly reading threw hundreds of subject lines to only recieve 1/2 the info about the drive I am trying to research (no sheep testing…Only talking about drives Reading abilities, blah blah).

So if anyone knows of the “best on the market” for “all in one” backup ability (who really cares how long it takes, VS ability to function) please let me know. I have no burner right now and before I invest a dime, I want to be sure that I am going to buy what I REALLY need!

Thanks again and sorry so long…Just trying to be specific!

#4

I agree with harley2ride everyone has varying degree of experience with various dvd burners…even me with my old antique Lite On 832S burner works good with CD and DVD backups…hasn’t died on me or given me much problem as long as I keep the firmware up to date. Bust you must ask yourself what are you willing to spend as DVD burners nowdays are inexpensive to buy and use…but also make sure you go with brand or brand name you can trust for repairs or warranty service…that is a must have…but if my recommendation or experience with lite is any good indication of a product function - I would recommand in my opinion you go to www.pricewatch.com online and purchase a Lite-On SHM-165H6S it has light scribe and ability to burn DVD-RAM. I am in no part paid by or support buy lite on…

#5

Also the only reason I am holding buying SHM-165H6S is that they haven’t produced lightscibed DVD media yet…when they do I will put serious consideration into purchasing that unit or its replaced unit that supercedes that model SHM-165H6S in the future that it comes out.

#6

I have some Verbatim Lightscribe DVD+Rs here…can’t you finds any where you are?

#7

Actually not from the Electronics store I have here…they are mostly DVD-/+ R or DVD+DL media…

#8

And this is precisly the delema I am once again facing…No one seems to know, or is willing to say :

“example drive model x65” is able to write all formats of dvd (exception of hd and blue ray) and has no problems with copy wright protections to back up your legaly purchased softwares.

Can anyone point out such a drive?

This forum is SOOO packet with user reviews, opinions, and test results - yet totaly lacks consitancy in testing methods, and lacks the ability to search indavidual catagories that it makes it a virtual nightmare to attempt to access this knowladge without possibly DAYS of research and online reading!

So as above,

Does ANYONE know WHICH DVD BURNER (make and model) is currently availible for sale and is the best at providing the ability to back up my current movies and video games? :confused:

#9

First of all it’s not that simple. For movies ( with the software) you would be find with any mainstream writer be it LG,NEC,Pioneer,Lite-on,Plextor etc. When it comes to games it gets a little more complicated. It’s going to be a combo of the drive and software and what protection you are trying to copy. First of all there is no one drive that stands out above the rest for game copy protections. One drive might excel at doing Safedisk but will struggle with Securom, catch my drift. Then you have to deal which software program to use on top of that be it Alcohol 120% or Blindwrite etc. One might excel over the other on emulating the protection in question.

Here is an example of Protected Discs tests comparsion:

Plextor PX-760A against NEC ND-45550A,Lite-On SHM-165P65 and BenQ-DW 1655

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=16587&PageId=4

:cool: :cool:

#10

Either BenQ (1640, 1655) or NEC (3550, 4551) drive will be qualified.

#11

Thanks for the input! Drive is purchased and on it’s way. I am mostly concentrated on Movies (after purchasing a few titles more than 3x cause of abuse caused by roomies) I just want to be able to save my stuff (and cash!!) Wish me luck. I am currently using AnyDVD and CloneDVD2 and 321Studios DVD-XCopy. Just got tired of my resolution going to hell cause of compression (which I don’t really understand all that well).

THanks again.

#12

Use DVDShrink to rip your movies in to your hard drive then in Shrink use only main movies and leave the extras out that would help reduced the amount of compression. If you really want one by one copying then use Double Layer disc for burning over 2 hour movie.

#13

So tell the rest of us what drive did you finally decide on>?

#14

I decided on the LG GSAH22N, it had some awsome reviews on NewEgg and it covers all formats. I just REALLY hope it doesn’t have problems with the copy right protection on my movies. I have bought a few titles a few times and getting sick of wasting all the $$$. Anyone know of anything I should know about this drive (good or bad) would love to get the feed back!

#15

Grain of salt to think about reviews on online site could be false also so be careful about products bought from site advertising its products that they sell. Like I said before go to something like pcworld or pcmagazine or some cd/dvd burner online magazines that does real test and functions of drives. Those places are more creditable then online sites sellers. They might not give all the test you like but they will give drive comparison along with prices.

#16

best I had to go on at the time. I had to get burners for myself, and two others. Well, like I said before, if anyone has heard of anything good or bad about these burners, let me know!

#17

I can tell you this much about the H22N; as a burner, you won’t regret it one bit! It’s fantastic. However, I don’t use it as a ripper, so I’m not sure how it’ll do.

#18

well the drives have arived and I am having some mixed issues with them.
In one system the drive is recognised by windows and Nero, however it will not recognise any DVD media I put in it. Cd’s work ok.
The second system system checks out A.O.K. with the exception of the DL disks! Clone DVD2 refuses to accept them. It gives a strange error when trying to record to them, Nero accepts them and seems to be ok.

System 3 is going to be installed tonight. I will repost with the results from that tomarow.
All three systems are running spyware/virus free windows XP PRO SP2
All three systems meet better than minimum system requirements.