No they are not protected with any of those at the moment they are protected with StarForce as I wanted to be the only person in the world to use something that cannot be hacked and Starforce was the only thing I could find that no one else was using. But I am going to change it as it was only on for 2 minutes and somebody hacked it !!!

Laffin Assassin

It's Nice to be Important!!!
But it's more Important to be NICE!!!

(in reply to mike35)

Two things to help you decide.

1. If you want to make backups of all games, Plextor can't easily do CD's that Lite-on can. Build quality doesn't mean squat if it won't copy.

2. When you can pick up a Lite-On 32x10x40 at Staples for $19 or less after coupon and rebate, http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.cfm?start=0&catid=18&threadid=93308, build quality doesn't mean much at that price if it gets the job done. Also, take a look at Newegg refurbished. Seems Plextors are a plenty. Which means many of the high quality drives must have broke before being refurbished.

(in reply to mike35)

I am very gratefull to LiteOn for providing very affordable, fast and reliable burners. I buy only LiteOn, especially when they drop their prices. I can buy LiteOn 40X writer for less than US$55, which should be be selling for three times this price if the company is a greedy one.

(in reply to mike35)

Another thing to consider is media.
Don't know about how picky Plextor is with modern, dirt cheap, junk media, but Lite-On has zero problems with the cheapest crap CDR's. (just picked up a 100pk of 40x 80min for $3.95 at Office Depot). Also, have yet to see media forced to burn at less than max. Even old cheap 8x and 12x had lying around, burned SD2 backups at 32x, error free.



Edited by - RobsTV on 07/13/2002 08:00:00

(in reply to mike35)

WOW, I didn't know you could still over pay for crap when its refurbished!!! But don't worry about their the best.. at least that's what they say in this forum. So I must be dreaming refurbished crap can't be because their so good the hand of god is on every drive and they don't have any problems remember that's why you pay so much!!!!!
Thanks RobsTV for letting me see the light!!! I've been lost so next time I still have to get my moneys worth!!!! Is that it netman

(in reply to mike35)

My first burner was a Plextor 16/10/40A which was wonderful...until SD2. Excellent fit and finish. I thought the software bundle was crap, but that's another discussion for another day.

I upgraded to a LiteOn 24x for the same price I sold my 16x Plextor for and have had absolutely no regrets. The tray mechanism didn't seem as nice as the Plextors and the exterior finish isn't going to win a fashion show for sure. I have never had a buffer underrun error w/my LiteOn or Plextor. Who cares if the buffer underrun protection kicks in while surfing the net. So it takes a few seconds slower...big deal. The end product remains the same. A good quality disc that works.

I now have a 40x LiteOn which works great. I think that the LiteOn is a better value than the Plextor unless looks are a bigger issue to you than function. The LiteOn is more the Nissan Xterra of burners...everything you need...nothing you don't.


Edited by - stretcharmstrong on 07/29/2002 12:22:54

(in reply to mike35)

Hey Clint
Plextor have sent all the ones that have been Re-furbished to the USA they know we wouldn't put up with them in Europe and Austrailia and they know that in the USA they will buy anything (Even Lite-on's )

Laffin Assassin

It's Nice to be Important!!!
But it's more Important to be NICE!!!

(in reply to mike35)

Hi Laffin Assassin

Your quote "If you pay peanuts you get Monkey's" is not quite applicable in this discussion, but the qoute "You get what you pay for" is.

In my honest opinion and opinion of others such as cdrfreak, RobsTV, NotaHacker and stretcharmstrong believes the LiteOn 40X Writer is cetainly worth evey cent you pay for if not more. The other Writers, especially pre LiteOn era such as Ricoh, Sony, Mitsumi etc that cost an arm and a leg, are way inferior in every aspect to the present LiteOn. In other words, you don't get what you pay for.

More applicable sayings in this discussion should be "A mug is born every minute" ... "A fool and his money is soon parted" ... and there are such real things as "ripped off merchants"

(in reply to mike35)

Well Well another satisfied Lite-on customer!!!
I think Lite-on should be paying me and Clint commission for showing them how easy it is to get their customers to show how much they love them!!!

Laffin Assassin

It's Nice to be Important!!!
But it's more Important to be NICE!!!

(in reply to mike35)

i must say, i've never owned a plextor. i probably would have at one time except they're impossible to find where i live. i also couldn't see paying twice as much for them as for other good drives with the same capabilities. i have used a number of them and they were pretty sweet.

after my first phillips (i think it was 3600 or 3610 - scsi) i wanted something to use with clonecd. i got a mitsumi because it was the highest rated at burning in raw dao mode, not to mention the cheapest. after a couple of them i got another philips just to do sd2, gave it to my son.

when the liteons first came out i had never heard of them and was somewhat apprehensive but at those prices they were practically disposable. i got my 24102b soon after they were released and have burned HUNDREDS of cds of all kinds. it works just like it did when it was new and shows no sign if giving up. if it does i'll just figure i got my money's worth and buy another liteon. i like to copy games and i've never run across a protected audio cd.

as notahacker says, maybe i should have gotten a plex. i'm sure they're every bit as nice as you guys say they are. of course i would be frustrated when i try to back up my games, or if i tried using cheap media. at least they're built good enough that they CAN be refurbished, even though many of them apparently have to be.

i guess by the time my liteon dies i'll be ready for the newly-released 120x plextor. then i'll finally be able to brag that i own a plex. until then i guess i'm just stuck with inferior equipment. it's a good thing that i'm well-hung or i would be feeling inadequate now.

___________
netman
netman@cdrtimes.net

(in reply to mike35)

Netman, I wouldn't say their inferior, I wouldn't go that far!!

They are a very exceptional product for thier moneys worth. I'm just saying that there is better to be found, if you want to pay more, I recon you get the value out of 'em (Plextor's) with there superb quality (last a long, long time). Support is one thing I really look for. (Even if they don't cut the very latest SD2.51 perfectly... That's why you get a Lite-On )

Others may differ, thats ok. Everyone has differant tastes.

As much as L.A. will say Lite-On suck and joke about it , he actually had one a few days ago - a TDK 401248B (Lite-On LTR-40125 rebadge). He sold it he tells me .

_________________
You get what you pay for...

(in reply to mike35)

I am a believer in quality. I dont like buying junk that has a lot of rough edges, or is not stable, etc. But for being cheap as they are, I think the Liteon's are great burners. I dont think their perfect (no burner is), but the liteons are quick, seem to work with virtually any media, handle almost all known copy protections, and are highly compatible with a lot of the different cd-r software out there. I think plextors are decent drives, but considering the considerable cost increase, I dont believe they are the best bang for the buck, and in someways, they are not as good (not fully EFM compliant for example). I think it all depends on what your doing with your burner. For general use and for game backups, the liteon's are king. For audio purist, the yamaha's are probably better.

(in reply to mike35)

Hi Clint
You Say "As much as L.A. will say Lite-On suck and joke about it , he actually had one a few days ago - a TDK 401248B (Lite-On LTR-40125 rebadge). He sold it he tells me ."

Yeah I did just because I got a free AOpen 40x12x48 and so far it is OK. And with it not saying Lite-on on the packaging I got a good price for the TDK and I didn't have to give it away !!!!!!

Laffin Assassin

It's Nice to be Important!!!
But it's more Important to be NICE!!!

(in reply to mike35)