Which is considered the best allround DVD-writer at this moment?

vbimport
#1

I want to replace my Sony NEC optiarc 7201s because it’s getting less and less reliable and want another brand this time. I know the Lite-On writers are very populair and now I’m wondering, is a dvd-writer like the Lite-On IHAS124 considered as the best allround writer/cd-ripper at this moment and if so which chipset?

I always thought that Plextor was the best brand but from what I’ve red the Plextor PX-L890SA isn’t that good and there are better (and cheaper) writers on the market today.

Can someone please give me some solid advice about this?

#2

But I guess there are a zillion similar questions as mine on this and many other forums right? I’ve red that a [B]‘best rated drives list’[/B] (poll) probably will be available soon on this website. I hope it will be just as solid as the one of CDFreaks used to be and of course we all can contribute to it’s evolution.

(apparently I can’t edit my previous post after a few days?)

#3

Don’t know what happened to the revised poll. Vroom probably got busy in real life and its been postponed slightly. Though he posted a list of drives to be included just yesterday.

Plextor was highly rated many years ago, but quit making their own drives, and have been overcharging for rebadged drives from other manufacturers for a long time now. Virtually no one recommends their rebadged drives around here.

I’m not a Lite-on fan, so I won’t even attempt to advise you about them. Things have gotten complicated with chipsets and brands, since the manufacturers have started playing mix and match with different types. The newest Optiarcs (7280s) are using a Renesas chipset. :eek:

Personally, I’d splurge and get the LG blu ray burner from Newegg if I were to buy another optical drive (doubtful). It has been reported to be a very good writer for dvds as well as blu ray.

As for editing posts, you have a limited window to do so. 30 minutes or so I believe.

#4

[QUOTE=Kerry56;2601747]I’m not a Lite-on fan, so I won’t even attempt to advise you about them. Things have gotten complicated with chipsets and brands, since the manufacturers have started playing mix and match with different types. The newest Optiarcs (7280s) are using a Renesas chipset. :eek:

Personally, I’d splurge and get the LG blu ray burner from Newegg if I were to buy another optical drive (doubtful). It has been reported to be a very good writer for dvds as well as blu ray.[/QUOTE]

From what I’ve red the Sony Optiarc AD-7260S is considered as a pretty solid drive so that would be an option… maybe.

The strange thing is I get really really bad results when burning Philips/Sony DVD-/+R 16× type of discs on 4-8x with my current NEC Optiarc AD-7201S. When burning on 12x I get a solid 95-97 quality score. The drive is also a bit unstable in Windows 7 sometimes but that could also be related to my AMD770 chipset or sata/ide settings in the bios.

But dvd-writers are pretty cheap so I’d rather buy a new one. I don’t burn or play blu-rays at least not on disc and they are much more expensive. I do rip audio cd’s regularly so the drive must have solid DAE quality support.

I’ve never heard of a Renesas chipset, is it considered good or bad?

#5

Don’t worry too much about quality scores. If the PIF’s don’t come in big clumps and the TRT scan is smooth, your burn should be fine. And there is nothing wrong with burning modern 16x media at 12x if that is the speed that works best with your burner. Burning too slow can lead to problems, as well as burning too fast.

Nothing wrong with Renesas chipsets. LG has been using them for many years. Just unusual to see them now in Optiarc burners, which were the last bastion of the NEC chipsets.

#6

[QUOTE=Kerry56;2601758]Don’t worry too much about quality scores. If the PIF’s don’t come in big clumps and the TRT scan is smooth.[/QUOTE]

Maybe but they are [U]really[/U] bad, pretty much unplayable and sometimes you can see strange circular lines on the burned side.:confused: It could be an incompatibility issue on low speeds but I’ve seen many good results with other burners and similar speeds. Though my previous Benq 1650S was also notorious bad on low speeds with many media even Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden DVD-R 8x. (I do use Verbatim a lot of course)

Nothing wrong with Renesas chipsets. LG has been using them for many years. Just unusual to see them now in Optiarc burners, which were the last bastion of the NEC chipsets.
I just checked and the LG GH22NS50 is a good rated drive on one of the most popular sites in the Netherlands and it also has a Renases chipset. Can you recommend that drive? (or another one maybe)

#7

If you are going to buy an LG there is one simple rule to follow, [B][I]Always use good quality media[/I][/B], LG drives are very good with good media, and very poor with low grade media, also firmware support is a huge question-mark.

#8

I just checked and the LG GH22NS50 is a good rated drive on one of the most popular sites in the Netherlands and it also has a Renases chipset. Can you recommend that drive? (or another one maybe)

Sorry, but I haven’t been keeping up with the regular dvd burners well. I’ve payed more attention to the blu ray burners over the last three years. The last two dvd burners I remember with great reviews from our users were the Optiarc 7240s and the Samsung SH-S243N, both of which are hard to find now.

Best to do some digging in our burner forums, or wait for the poll that vroom is working on if you want something of a summary.

#9

[QUOTE=Kerry56;2601773]Best to do some digging in our burner forums, or wait for the poll that vroom is working on if you want something of a summary.[/QUOTE]

And it’s just arrived! :wink:

[B]Wombler[/B]

#10

[QUOTE=Kerry56;2601758]

Nothing wrong with Renesas chipsets. LG has been using them for many years. Just unusual to see them now in Optiarc burners, which were the last bastion of the NEC chipsets.[/QUOTE]

I was convinced that when NEC and Renesas teamed up for the chipset in the newest Optiarcs, it was still essentially the NEC chipset (just looking at the way the drives work with CD-DVD Speed/DiscSpeed/ODC).

I’ve never known a Renesas chipset to scan, unless it was simply LG not implementing it. And the characteristic low(ish) jitter levels you get from NEC-based drives (Pioneer, NEC/Optiarc) seem to still be present, as opposed to the jumpy quality of LG drives. If the chipsets are actually more Renesas technology than NEC, I have to wonder what LG has been doing all these years to make their Renesas drives so temperamental. :eek:

#11

I was convinced that when NEC and Renesas teamed up for the chipset in the newest Optiarcs, it was still essentially the NEC chipset

Typical I thought that NEC wasn’t involved anymore because the joint-venture was stopped in 2008. It’s gets even more complicated if one chipset is manufactured by more parties.

#12

Looks like the chipset in current Optiarc drives (7280S) is a successor of the one used in the 7240S/7260S. This one was called SCOMBO 8 and I could find a location where it said SCOMBO 9 in an AD-7280S. While the old chipset is documented - or at least listed - on the Renesas site, the new one is not

#13

[QUOTE=Liggy;2601889]Looks like the chipset in current Optiarc drives (7280S) is a successor of the one used in the 7240S/7260S. This one was called SCOMBO 8 and I could find a location where it said SCOMBO 9 in an AD-7280S. While the old chipset is documented - or at least listed - on the Renesas site, the new one is not[/QUOTE]

So that explains the NEC-like qualities exhibited. Thanks, Liggy. :slight_smile:

#14

OK I finally bought the Sony Optiarc AD-7260S and I it serves me well at the moment, all burned discs have been good quality and the drive is very compatible with Exact Audio Copy. I returned an ASUS DRW-24B3ST that I bought first because of strange behavior in EAC.

#15

Probably a good call on the Optiarc. At least with MKM 001 (Verbatim DVD+R DL 2.4x) my 7260S gives the best burns of any of the drives I’ve tried.

#16

I’ve been out of the loop for a while. I will need to upgrade my Benq 1640 at some stage when I upgrade my motherboard etc to SATA only. Do any of the drives recommended do all the scanning options of the Benq 1640?

#17

[QUOTE=DeadMan;2618328]I’ve been out of the loop for a while. I will need to upgrade my Benq 1640 at some stage when I upgrade my motherboard etc to SATA only. Do any of the drives recommended do all the scanning options of the Benq 1640?[/QUOTE]

No, almost none of the modern drives has the scanning abilities of the BENQ, so you will either need to find a way to have your BENQ working, or you will need to compromise with a liteon as a DVD scanned and a optiarc as CD-R scanner.