I've been dealing primarily with Sony, and drive after drive fails.. I'm fed up.  What is the best burner out there? And is there any need for dual drives, or would one drive work fine as my dvdrw, cdrw, and dvd-rom?

LG drives seem to work best

(in reply to Libby)

I suggest LG also.

(in reply to alexmacris)

Yes, another LG vote... and the hot one right now is the GSA-H22N.  Got one... great drive.

(in reply to Libby)

Newb question:  Does LG make their own drives or are they rebadged?  Just curious.

Ken

(in reply to SithTracy)

LG makes their own drives.  Good question, there are fewer and fewer optical drive "players" in the industry.  Wonder if LITE-ON has them in their sites as well... ARGHHH - What a nightmare!

(in reply to Ken across the pond)

I vote for:

- Plextor PX-760A/SA with AutoStrategy self-learning tech. & which has consistant PI/PO scans in Plextools.
Plextor is stopping it's 'Premium series' drives but still has the best RMA service 

- BenQ DW1640 or 1650/1655 with SolidBurn learning tech.

- Pioneer A07 for single layer DVD burning

- Optiarc AD-7170 or 73 if you use DVD-RAM in Fat32 without using a burning software.
This drive is 12x DVD-RAM capable, has the same chipset as the new Pioneer 112 and has now been rebadged by Plextor under the name PX-800A

(in reply to SithTracy)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SithTracy

LG makes their own drives.  Good question, there are fewer and fewer optical drive "players" in the industry.  Wonder if LITE-ON has them in their sites as well... ARGHHH - What a nightmare!

Interesting comment.  So can I assume that LITE-ON has been 'buying up' (or supplying drives for) some other optical drive mfgrs?  If so, I'd be curious to know which ones.  I'd also be curious to know which companies are still manufacturing their own drives (if you or anyone else happens to know OTTOYH).  I'm kinda new to the optical drive 'scene' and haven't had my finger on the pulse of what's been going on with this sort of thing.

Don't mean to hijack this thread, BTW.  I hope the OP gets his question answered satisfactorily.

Ken

(in reply to SithTracy)

LITE-ON bought BenQ's ODD division who at the time arguable had the best DVD burners on the market.  I hoped LITE-ON was doing it to improve their product line, but so far it does not seem that way.

LITE-ON recently announced they will be OEM'ing Plextor drives now that Plextor has bowed out of the ODD market.  It was bad enough to hear Plextor bow out... Then claim they were not going to completely stop selling drives only to hear LITE-ON make their announcement.  BLAH!!!  I have owned a Plextor drive since the UltraPleX32 CD-ROM drive and I still have an UltraPleX40max (though I don't use it... sitting in a box in the basement).

(in reply to Ken across the pond)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SithTracy

LITE-ON bought BenQ's ODD division who at the time arguable had the best DVD burners on the market.  I hoped LITE-ON was doing it to improve their product line, but so far it does not seem that way.

LITE-ON recently announced they will be OEM'ing Plextor drives now that Plextor has bowed out of the ODD market.  It was bad enough to hear Plextor bow out... Then claim they were not going to completely stop selling drives only to hear LITE-ON make their announcement.  BLAH!!!  I have owned a Plextor drive since the UltraPleX32 CD-ROM drive and I still have an UltraPleX40max (though I don't use it... sitting in a box in the basement).

Good to know.  So when you say, "LITE-ON recently announced they will be OEM'ing Plextor drives now that Plextor has bowed out of the ODD market," do you mean Lite-On is gonna be selling Plextor drives but with the Lite-On name on them?  I assume that's what you're saying, but just wanna be sure.

I hadn't heard Plextor was bowing out of the ODD market. *shocked*  So what're they gonna sell?  I thought ODDs were their bread & butter.  Isn't that kinda like KISS deciding to stop using electric guitars?

I still use my 3-year-old Plextor CD-RW drive from time to time.  With the right media, it works great.

(in reply to SithTracy)

Plextor will still sell drives with their name on it, but it will not be Plextor developed.  They tested the waters with this a couple years ago (PX-740A was a BenQ DW1640, PX-750A was a Teac/BenQ DQ60).  Now their current release the PX-800A is a rebadged Sony/NEC/Optiarc drive (AD-7170A).  That and LITE-ON getting an OEM deal... they will be making drives for Plextor to sell under the Plextor brand name... YIKES!!! That makes me shiver just typing it!!!  I won't be running out to get a Plextor with a MediaTek chip, that is for sure.

(in reply to Ken across the pond)

Ahhh, okay.  I had it backwards.

Dang ... I'm with you -- the idea of Plextor rebadging Lite-On drives is disappointing to say the least.  Like the song says, Another One Bites the Dust.  Bloody hell.

I wonder what Plextor's rationale for this is?  If they start using inferior drives and sell 'em under their name, their reputation will go downhill fast (as it has already started to do from what I've heard).  So why not just sell the company and retire rather than carry on as an inferior brand?  And what are they gonna do with their production plant, R&D staff, etc.?  Close up shop?  I assume they have a method for their madness, but I'm scratching my head.

BTW, I heard that from here on out, KISS is only gonna record songs written by Diane Warren.  But they'll still release and market them as KISS songs.

Just kidding.

Later

(in reply to SithTracy)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ken across the pond
BTW, I heard that from here on out, KISS is only gonna record songs written by Diane Warren.  But they'll still release and market them as KISS songs.

OFF TOPIC LOL!  I honestly doubt KISS will release anything more than another "greatest hits" compilation. I got the ALIVE 1975 - 2000 box set for Christmas, but I would not have bought it on my own.  Just repackaged is pretty much all it was.

(in reply to Ken across the pond)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SithTracy

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ken across the pond
BTW, I heard that from here on out, KISS is only gonna record songs written by Diane Warren.  But they'll still release and market them as KISS songs.

OFF TOPIC LOL!  I honestly doubt KISS will release anything more than another "greatest hits" compilation. I got the ALIVE 1975 - 2000 box set for Christmas, but I would not have bought it on my own.  Just repackaged is pretty much all it was.

OFF TOPIC AGAIN   Yeah, you may be right.  A lot of bands start putting out a lot of repackaged material towards the end of their career or when they've hit a creative lull.  Sheeesh ... how many "greatest hits" packages has Steely Dan put out?  Half a dozen or so?  Cha-ching!  

(in reply to SithTracy)