So what's the best DVD burner then?

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers Writer User Reviews and Comments
#1

Hi,

This is my first post here, so please be gentle with me…!

I’m looking to buy a new DVD burner as my old NEC3520 is spitting out more dodgy DVDs than that bloke at a bootsale.

So what the hell should I replace it with? I’ve read through loads of posts here, and I’m confused. Should I get two instead of one, as some are better “scanning” (what the hell does that mean???)

Are some great at reading but not writing, and vice versa?

There are too many to choose from, I’m confused. Surely there must be just one burner that is just the “best” at the moment. One that everyone thinks is great. Or maybe there are a few that are all damn good, and I’ll just pick one of those.

Somebody help me please!

Thanks in advance,

Graybags

#2

oops wrong thread.

#3

A Pioneer 107D of mine is still performing flawlessly and has read and burned everything I’ve tried in it, and around 7 months ago I got a Pioneer 111D which seems every bit as reliable as the 107D thus far. The 111D is rated above average reading DVD video in review and is best over all burning DVD IMO. The 111D is not good scanning, and you should get either LiteOn or Benq if scanning is important which it’s not to me. The 111D may also be cross flashed to 111L which I did to gain bit setting ability.

#4

Probably a very silly question, but what is “scanning”? And while I’m there, what is “bit setting” and do I need to do it??? :eek:

Also, if I go for the 111D what’s the best media for it?

Thanks,

Graybags

#5

Scanning = quality scanning of Parity Inner Errors and Failures… Bitsetting = setting +R and +RW to booktype -ROM for better compatiblity with standalone players.

Look here for burns on the Pio 111:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=175669

#6

Thanks for that explanation, Dalen. So, would you recommend I go for a Pio 111, or something else?

Also, what about media for a Pio 111?

Thanks again,

Graybags

#7

From what I’ve read here on the forums the front runners for “the best” seem to be the LG GSA-H42N, the Pioneer that was mentioned, some LiteOn that I can’t remember the model number of, and of course the BenQ 1600 series which people worship and are no longer available.

In my own experience though it depends on whether or not the drive is functioning correctly. I’ve got a BenQ 1655w, a LG GSA-H42N that I just bought, and I’m having to use the my older NEC 3542a because neither the BenQ nor the LG will burn DL’s even when it’s great media like verbatim. So the BenQ and LG which are supposed to be the very best drives out there are DL coaster makers for me. It’s really annoying to get these renowned great drives and have them perform so poorly. So I’d say even more important than picking the uber best drive that you see people talking about here on the forums, is making sure you have a good warrenty/return policy so if it doesn’t work you can take it back and figure something else out.

#8

As stated the Pioneer 107D and Pioneer 111D cross flashed to 111L has burned all media tried which played on every DVD player tried with 1 exception, a Mintek portable player. Therefore I really don’t know what’s the best media which speaks well of how good the Pioneer burner really is. Recently I did encounter a problem with a Mintek portable DVD player that refused to play Verbatim -R, Ridata +R and Playo +R eventhough bit set to DVD-ROM, although all those media play on all other players. I finally found Sony 16x +R bit set to DVD-ROM play flawlessly even on the finicky Mintek. You’ll likely find most Pioneer burned DVDs will work on most players, but the Sonys are on special this week for $12.99 per 50 at Office Depot if you encounter such a finicky player as my Mintek.

#9

Some DVD drives/players do not read discs that are deep colour coated, like pink, red, green, yellow etc.