need suggestions to buy a dvdrom

[yodat]

i am considering to buy a dvdrom but i cant decide.

i am thinking about a liteon dvd rom but i see that they're not producing dvdrom's under their brand (@ liteonit there is no info about dvdroms)

instead of liteon, here they sell a brand called pacific digital that i dont know about them.

so can you suggest me a dvd rom that has good ripping capability & reliability like old lite-ons ?

[cfitz]

i am thinking about a liteon dvd rom but i see that they're not producing dvdrom's under their brand (@ liteonit there is no info about dvdroms)

Sure they are. You just are looking at the wrong website. They split out the DVD-ROM operation a few months back, and now you need to look here for LiteOn DVD-ROM information:

http://www.jlms.com.tw

You can buy them from the very reputable online retailer newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/app/Viewproduct.a ... rchFor=dvd

cfitz

[yodat]

thanx for the links. 166s seems fine

[yodat]

is there any review about XJ-HD166S around the net, cuz i couldnt find ?

[dodecahedron]

an unofficial/informal (?) one by our vbl177:
http://members.fortunecity.fr/vbl117/index.html
the link on the right of the screen (LTD-166S).
http://members.fortunecity.fr/vbl117/introduction.shtm

regretably, it is broken now.
i PMed vbl117, hopefully he'll fix it soon.

i think also our aviationwiz posted a short review of this drive here in the DVD forum of CDRLabs, search for it.

EDIT:
OK maybe i was wrong it wasn't aviationwiz, i found this by RazOrX:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7958
http://www.geocities.com/rrazorrx/liteon166sreview.pdf

OK also look here:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7505

[vbl117]

Well it is not a commercial site nor an official site ( i use Lite-On and JLMS banners but i have just copied them from official sites and i have no relation with this companies , only have reported issues to them and sais i had reviewed their drive ) . Of course if things change in the future , i'll say it .

Yes i have problems with my host ( because i don't respect the rules ; some rules are not clear and i m a bit studborn sometimes ) .

Perhaps in the future i ll let people download my website in three parts ( 400K * 3 ) for offline consultation and archiving . My host does not allow files bigger than 500 Ko to be downloaded . Do you think it is a good idea ?

In all case the printable text review link should work :

http://members.fortunecity.fr/vbl117/166S.rtf

As fortune city seems to dislike .shtm protocol i use now .htm protocol .
So the links gived by Dodecahedron are no more available .

[yodat]

thanx for the links again,

i have a question about the vbl117's review:

"Marketing DVD VIDEO with promotional clips for "The Lord of the Rings" . 4.13 Go . Single Layer DVD. Maximum reading speed is 12.40X . Average reading speed is 10.56X . These results are weird and deceptive ."

Here you said "These results are weird and deceptive". What do you mean with deceptive, is it too high ?

also you have mentioned issue that with UDMA 33 and UDMA 100 cables and said that something like hope to be fixed with a firmware update. does the latest firmware fix the problem. Cuz i am gonna using this drive with new UDMA 100/133 cables. (accompanying a ltr40125w writer, i ve been using since summer, and its a great writer )

my other question is not related with reviews:
is there a difference with 166s white & black ? cuz if i can find one, i am considering to buy the black 166s.

[vbl117]

The results are deceptive because it reads single layer DVD-VIDEO at 12X max and it is sold as a 16X max DVD reader . But i think a lot of 16X DVD-ROM drives are in this case .

I mean the results are weird because the end of the graph looks like a saw . You can see also irregularities at the beginning . And there is a great irregularity in the end . I have tested many times , beginning is almost stable whereas end is unforeseeable .
With DS14 Firmware results are more stable at the beginning .



But i don't have noticed consequences .

[vbl117]

You must refer to an ancien post because i don't speak anymore of this issue in my review ( i say only DSOF Firmware correct a problem with VIA KT133/133A chipset ) .

http://members.fortunecity.fr/vbl117/performance.htm

The issue between VIA KT133/133A , LTD-166S , and UDMA100/133 cable is solved since DSOF Firmware ( VIO_MAN and i had reported the issue to Lite-On ) .

[yodat]

yep, i reffered to an earlier post of you in the forum.

anyway i never use any via chipset too

thank you a lot for answering my questions

[cfitz]

The results are deceptive because it reads single layer DVD-VIDEO at 12X max and it is sold as a 16X max DVD reader.

You may just have a problematic disc. Here is a chart of of my 166S achieving 15X on a single-layer DVD disc. The disc isn't long enough to allow the drive to reach top speed, but if you extrapolate the results just a little it is clear that the drive could reach 16x:



cfitz

[vbl117]

Thanks Cfitz . Yes it is my only single layer DVD disks . i have rent DVD but they were double layer .

I'll check this ( you are probably right ) and correct my test if necessary .

[vbl117]

Hum i obtain similar results with my new single layer DVD VIDEO.
The irregularities are much smaller , i gain 0.50X for average speed but there is still irregularities , it is still weird .

[UALOneKPlus]

Fry's has a DVD Rom for only $35 this week. Not sure who makes it, but for that cheap you can't go wrong...

[Gary Kokkin]

Pls take a look in this link . Some LTD166 may have problem....
Search forum ,maybe older LTD163 is better in value for money for you

http://forum.cdfreaks.com/showthread.ph ... adid=62707

[vbl117]

I ll test it on my second computer . Perhaps it is my computer fault .
Also Gary when i test cd with cdspeed and this drive i don't find errors unless the cd contains really errors and is unreadable by my other cd drives ( the only problem i had with LTD-166S was with multisession cd and i guess this problem is related to Firmware rather than hardware ) .

[vbl117]

Ok results very similar to cfitz results ( except on the small beginning ) with my second computer . I ll post the graph here and update my test .

I think i have problems with my first computer because my power supply is dying . I'll replace it .

[cfitz]

I think i have problems with my first computer because my power supply is dying . I'll replace it .

Interesting. Others have reported similar effects caused by troublesome power supplies. Certainly a bad power supply can have an affect on the performance of equipment powered by it. But I rarely think to suggest it as a possibility. It is easy to think of the power supply as a binary device (it either works fine or doesn't work at all), but that isn't a completely accurate way to view a power supply.

cfitz

[vbl117]

er hm ...... Finally it was a software or a driver compatibility issue . After uninstalling my Nero Burning Rom version ( one year and 6 months old ) and my Clone Cd version ( more than one year old ) , the problem was mainly solved ( i don' t know if they were both involved or if only one was involved ) . I 'll check later if there is not too one or two minor compatibility issues ( i had an weird result after that but i think that was because i had just reactivated my virtual cd before , after this weird result i made a last try with my virtual cd still activated and it was successful . I'll check if there is minor compatiblities issues later ) .
I use and was using CD speed and DVD speed downloaded from www.cdspeed2000.com website ( the cdspeed version included in my nero version could not detect my DVD ROM drive ) .

The power supply was not guilty . I have replaced before it by a new one .
It'll be useful at least for lowering noise level ( sometimes noise level was high and disagreeable ) and to improve power quality .
I think it could work 6 months or more . But i'll give her a deserved rest .