Hey all,

I'm looking for a good DVD reader. What features especially interested me are good performance with reading DVDs (Video, ROMs, DVD+-R & RW) esp good performance when reading problematic DVDs (damaged, poor writes, poor quality DVD+-R/W) etc. Noise (or the lack of it) is also of interest to me. Performance with all types of CDs (audio, ROM, VCD, CDR, CD-RW etc) and problematic CDs is also of some interest. Reading copyrighted CDs/DVDs is not really of much interest. Readeing backup CDs and DVDs is of some interest however.

I would especially be interested in model numbers of any drives mentioned and in specifics esp with regards to whether you've actually tried any other drive or not (ABC rocks or XYZ is the best reader are not really the most informative of statements).

And altho all drive brands are welcome, the two that are of most interest to me are LG/Samsung and LiteOn

Thanks all

P.S. I have done some searches but there is a lack of info on LG and altho many people seem to like LiteOn, Benq and Toshiba, there is only limited info on why this is so and there appears to be a concentration on things like ability to read copyrighted CDs as well as absolute read speed differences on good quality CDs (which usually don't vary that significantly) compared to more important issues like ability and speed on poor quality CDs (which often varies quite siginificantly)

I have the LiteOn 167 and it is a very good reader. With unofficial firmware can read up to 16X all SL media and 10X the DL. Its error correction is also good but in this task I have as refereance LG 4120 which unfortunately is a burner, for your case.

Asus 616P2 is also good and fast.

Try to read the following review, it has them both:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=11566

(in reply to Nil Einne)

unfortunaly not many DVD ROM drives released to the market, i would suggest trying to buy a Benq DW1620A has excellent DVD error correction abilities, the AOpen 1648AAP might be a good solution too

(in reply to Iggy)

The Benq is not available for a decent price here. However, the Aopen is (cheaper then LiteOn in fact). Also, I found out that I can get both LG (mid-range, like Aopen) and Samsung (which is the cheapest) and Samsung is in fact making drives with Toshiba so they're the same thing.

Anyway thanks for your help so far.

(in reply to emperor)

Thore are burners or readers?

(in reply to Nil Einne)

Sorry I forgot to mention, I am only looking at readers not burners (well I am also considering the Ricoh MP5420A but that's a different story for another thread)

(in reply to Iggy)

Readers:

AOpen 1648AAP
Toshiba SD-M1802

(in reply to Nil Einne)

emperor, what about the Toshiba SD-M1902?

Also do you recommend the Aopen 1648 AAP or AAP Pro since I've read reports the Pro has better error correction?

(in reply to emperor)

I can only speak for the SD-M1802, we haven't tested the 1902, yet

(in reply to Nil Einne)