Ordered the LTR-52246S, having second thoughts (PX-W4824A).

[Harrier]

The other day i saw on some online retailer site the LiteOn with a nice price tag and a 2 year warranty.
I've noticed from lots of reviews and aslo, from immediacy formware updates, that LiteOns burn is capable of some very nice writing qualities with all sorts of low standard media.
Together with Wses/Cd-Doctor/K's probe, and other illations (correct EFM encoding) i figured that after more that six months with no CD-rw drive, this one should be my first.
My main cause though was the abilty to write with more than appeasing qualities on low-class media since where i live we don't have any TYs or mitsui branded cds.
The best we have around here is Benq media (which supposed to be fine) and Verbatims Super Azo and other members of the aforementioned family. We have a lot of generic dung and some CMC, some Samsung and Philips discs (Ritek). Not something to be proud of.

Even though, i'm having second thoughts since Plextor seem to have regained (or at least, trying to regain) their dignity with latest firmwares and Plextools, in my eyes anyway.

I've considered the con's of the case:
-No correct EFM encoding to all games currently available.
-For now, no c1/c2 correction option (maybe when the new Plextools comes out).
-DAE and CD-RW reading is limited to about 42X.

From reviews i've read it seems that Plextor too, can do a nice job at burning some generic media and CMC/Prodisc/Ritek media (with PowerRec on).
Also, though it is underestimated nowadays, it has the 4mb buffer.

What do you think i should do?
Should i stay with the LiteOn or shoot for the Plextor?

[burninfool]

As a proud owner of a LTR-52246S I will say it was the best $30(after MIR) I ever spent because of its writing speed with little or no errors,I only use Verbatim and Ritek.I have never owned a Plextor but have read they are high quality but I think they are overpriced.

[Inertia]

Either burner would be a good choice, and you wouldn't go wrong with either one. Don't fret.

In my opinion, Plextors are not overpriced, they just have a different market strategy and consumer appeal. Liteons, although a "best buy" in terms of value, have essentially no customer support. Plenty of support is available on the boards, however.

Plextor is a full service company, with some of the best (and probably the best) customer support in the business. They are very well suited to commercial use where the admin or user doesn't have the time or inclination to dink around on boards looking for solutions to problems. They are also great for users that want complete customer service and bonus features like Plextools.

The extras services that Plextor provides would be prohibitively expensive from some other operations, but Plextor includes them free with the price of the burner. The overall high quality and integrity of the Plextor organization is a comfort to many users and well worth the extra cost.

As far as the subject drive features, either drive provides practically all most people could use. In my opinion, neither has a major advantage in capabilities. Use your own judgment based on your own requirements, financial, and support considerations.

[dodecahedron]

hi Harrier.

congrats on your new drive.

by the way, how much did you pay for it?

Plextor's big minus is the price, and here in Israel this is even more so. i have'nt searched extensively, but i think the Plex 48x costs about 900 (about 180) NIS whereas the Lite-On 52246S goes for about half that price. that's a big difference.
(maybe online prices are lower than these...these are retail prices i've seen)

i think the Lite-On will work well even with the media you find here. you can always buy Verbatim DLP that's good (although Lite-On in the past have been so-so with this media, i think the latest models are very good with it). other brands such as Samsung, i think some are Prodisc which isn't too bad.

the Lite-On has a few big pluses - the C1/C2 error checking (i wish i had a Lite-On...) and EFM if you intend to copy games. unfortunately, we don't know if the new PlexTools will have C1/C2 checking features for drives other than the Premium.

as far as 2 year warrantee and good support, i don't know how much of that is actually true in Israel. i suppose plextor support is still a plus throught email, but we don't have here phone support (AFAIK) and i don't know if you have the 2 year warrantee like in Europe. i got my Plex through a system integrator company and they only gave 1 year. if you buy it in retail (like Bug or Office Depot) and it's from Calanit then you get 2 years, but it's more expensive. i don't know how long the warrantee is if you buy it online. maybe depends on which company imports the drive (there are a few).

like Inertia said, they are both very good.
in the end it's up to you, what you want to do with the drive, and cost is a big factor.

[MediumRare]

Here we go again

I'm sure you'll be happy with either drive- just stand by your decision.
Keep 2 things in mind:
- the LiteOn is available now, most teething pains have been discussed (here and elsewhere), the Plextor drive is still in the pipeline.
- Plextor usually costs 50% more than LiteOn and is probably worth that in terms of support and quality (durability etc.)
LiteOn drives are cheap and offer big bangs for the money. I don't expect to get 5 years of use from one though.

Both inertia and Dodecahedron have given good advice, but in the end, you have to decide what you want.

G

[hoxlund]

consider the litey, but the plextor is still nice, depends on if you think the price difference is worth it

[tlotz]

The other day i saw on some online retailer site the LiteOn with a nice price tag and a 2 year warranty.
I've noticed from lots of reviews and aslo, from immediacy formware updates, that LiteOns burn is capable of some very nice writing qualities with all sorts of low standard media.
Together with Wses/Cd-Doctor/K's probe, and other illations (correct EFM encoding) i figured that after more that six months with no CD-rw drive, this one should be my first.
My main cause though was the abilty to write with more than appeasing qualities on low-class media since where i live we don't have any TYs or mitsui branded cds.
The best we have around here is Benq media (which supposed to be fine) and Verbatims Super Azo and other members of the aforementioned family. We have a lot of generic dung and some CMC, some Samsung and Philips discs (Ritek). Not something to be proud of.

Even though, i'm having second thoughts since Plextor seem to have regained (or at least, trying to regain) their dignity with latest firmwares and Plextools, in my eyes anyway.

I've considered the con's of the case:
-No correct EFM encoding to all games currently available.
-For now, no c1/c2 correction option (maybe when the new Plextools comes out).
-DAE and CD-RW reading is limited to about 42X.

From reviews i've read it seems that Plextor too, can do a nice job at burning some generic media and CMC/Prodisc/Ritek media (with PowerRec on).
Also, though it is underestimated nowadays, it has the 4mb buffer.

What do you think i should do?
Should i stay with the LiteOn or shoot for the Plextor?

You are right to order the LiteOn unit. As for the media, since you can't purchase TY media, go for the Verbatim DataLifePlus Super Azo 52X CD-R media. If you can't get the Verbatim DLP CD-Rs @52X where you are, then 48X is fine too. You said you couldn't get TY media where you live--are you sure? There is some rebadged TY media out there--that is TY CD-R media being sold with someone else's brand name on it. In the U.S., it is easy to buy (even in retail stores) Fuji 48X TY media--this comes in spindles and is Made in Japan, like all TY media. Also Maxell CD-R Pro Made in Japan CD-R media is also TY, and is quite good. So you don't have to buy Taiyo Yuden branded CD-R media to get TY made CD-Rs. Another brand that's TY made is "That's CD-R."

[dodecahedron]

alas: no Fuji, no Maxell-Pro, no That's
in Israel.

[tlotz]

alas: no Fuji, no Maxell-Pro, no That's
in Israel.

TY media is always Made in Japan and always has that special cloudy like inner ring (where the hole is in the center of the CD-R). Maybe Harrier can find TY media rebadged with some other brand name if he knows how to recognize TY media. If not, then Verbatim DataLifePlus Super Azo CD-Rs provide a great alternative to TY CD-Rs.

[Harrier]

Thanks for the replies.
Here in Israel the Plextor costs about 600 NIS which is about 126$. It's highly expensive compared to prices in the US. Good news are, that the price is now droping.
The price isn't an issue and that's one reason why is should go with the Plextor (being a bit posh, don't you agree?).

About local TYs. Well, getting a TY cdr around here is some like winning the lotto. And i'm not about to guess it unless i'm sure of the "numbers".
I know of some old stock Sony made cds that might be TY.

[tlotz]

Thanks for the replies.
Here in Israel the Plextor costs about 600 NIS which is about 126$. It's highly expensive compared to prices in the US. Good news are, that the price is now droping.
The price isn't an issue and that's one reason why is should go with the Plextor (being a bit posh, don't you agree?).

About local TYs. Well, getting a TY cdr around here is some like winning the lotto. And i'm not about to guess it unless i'm sure of the "numbers".
I know of some old stock Sony made cds that might be TY.

I don't want to argue this point with others, but it is my opinion, and the opinion of some others that Plextor's quality level is no longer superior like it used to be. I had a *terrible* experience with the Plextor drive you want to buy, but many people have had decent experiences with this drive. It is my opinion that people's varying level of success with the 48/24/48A depends on what system they put it in and what their needs are. The new Plextor drives just don't offer anything additional (like better quality) for the extra money you spend to buy one. I've seen more negative user opinions of the Plextor 48/24/48A than I have seen for the LiteOn LTR-52246S, so I recommend saving your money and sticking with the Liteon. Initially, if I'd just bought the LiteOn, instead of the Plextor, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble.

P.S. Plextor's tech support here in the U.S. is *horrible*, so don't expect it to be any better where you are.

[Xenos]

I don't want to argue this point with others, but it is my opinion, and the opinion of some others that Plextor's quality level is no longer superior like it used to be. I had a *terrible* experience with the Plextor drive you want to buy, but many people have had decent experiences with this drive. It is my opinion that people's varying level of success with the 48/24/48A depends on what system they put it in and what their needs are. The new Plextor drives just don't offer anything additional (like better quality) for the extra money you spend to buy one. I've seen more negative user opinions of the Plextor 48/24/48A than I have seen for the LiteOn LTR-52246S, so I recommend saving your money and sticking with the Liteon. Initially, if I'd just bought the LiteOn, instead of the Plextor, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble.

P.S. Plextor's tech support here in the U.S. is *horrible*, so don't expect it to be any better where you are.

I've been lurking around the forum for a couple of days, trying to do some research on what drive to but and I've come across many of your posts where you relate your "terrible" experience with Plextor. Now, it was fine the first few times I heard it but it has gotten really annoying having you relate it everytime the word "Plextor" comes up.

In my opinion, you recieved pretty good service from them. Not only did you get a new drive RMA'd to you but you were also informed that your old drive had been tested and kept in touch with the results. I have never heard of a company doing that before. Usually, a company will just RMA you a refurbished or new product and be done with it. A "terrible" company would give you the run around and make you jump through hoops before you could get the defective product replaced or fixed, if that ever happens at all. Anyway, just wanted to state that from what you relate, the customer service at Plextor seems to be top notch to me.

Now, back to the topic.

I'm looking for a drive with the best quality. I don't really care if it's not the fastest. I don't really care if it's not the cheapest. I don't really care if it doesn't have the best quality/price ratio. I want a drive that can write to media with the lowest amount of errors and one that is durable and will last.

From the reviews on this site, it appears that Plextor has the best quality (i.e. writes with the least amount of errors). Is this correct or would you guys recommend something else for quality? Also, any time estimate for when the Plextor Premium will come out and what the price will be?

[cfitz]

Also, any time estimate for when the Plextor Premium will come out and what the price will be?

Shipments to distributors and resellers are to begin in late April (soon, very soon...) with a MSRP of $129:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/news/#11
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030414/145349_1.html

cfitz

[tlotz]

I don't want to argue this point with others, but it is my opinion, and the opinion of some others that Plextor's quality level is no longer superior like it used to be. I had a *terrible* experience with the Plextor drive you want to buy, but many people have had decent experiences with this drive. It is my opinion that people's varying level of success with the 48/24/48A depends on what system they put it in and what their needs are. The new Plextor drives just don't offer anything additional (like better quality) for the extra money you spend to buy one. I've seen more negative user opinions of the Plextor 48/24/48A than I have seen for the LiteOn LTR-52246S, so I recommend saving your money and sticking with the Liteon. Initially, if I'd just bought the LiteOn, instead of the Plextor, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble.

P.S. Plextor's tech support here in the U.S. is *horrible*, so don't expect it to be any better where you are.

I've been lurking around the forum for a couple of days, trying to do some research on what drive to but and I've come across many of your posts where you relate your "terrible" experience with Plextor. Now, it was fine the first few times I heard it but it has gotten really annoying having you relate it everytime the word "Plextor" comes up.

In my opinion, you recieved pretty good service from them. Not only did you get a new drive RMA'd to you but you were also informed that your old drive had been tested and kept in touch with the results. I have never heard of a company doing that before. Usually, a company will just RMA you a refurbished or new product and be done with it. A "terrible" company would give you the run around and make you jump through hoops before you could get the defective product replaced or fixed, if that ever happens at all. Anyway, just wanted to state that from what you relate, the customer service at Plextor seems to be top notch to me.

Now, back to the topic.

I'm looking for a drive with the best quality. I don't really care if it's not the fastest. I don't really care if it's not the cheapest. I don't really care if it doesn't have the best quality/price ratio. I want a drive that can write to media with the lowest amount of errors and one that is durable and will last.

From the reviews on this site, it appears that Plextor has the best quality (i.e. writes with the least amount of errors). Is this correct or would you guys recommend something else for quality? Also, any time estimate for when the Plextor Premium will come out and what the price will be?

Let me respond to your comment about feelings toward Plextor.

1) My CD-RW upgrade (I wanted to upgrade *one* drive) was totally hosed by Plextor--I went through 3 drives, all of which did not function properly. That's absolutely terrible, and it shows that Plextor's got problems, which I am trying to make people aware of. So I am trying to prevent people from making the same mistake I did--Plextor put me through hell with their lack of being able to provide a non-defective drive 3 times in a row. I am not convinced that my experience with Plextor was just bad luck.

2) You bring up an interesting point about Plextor's support. Plextor tried to give me the run around over and over again. My problem with Plextor America's support was their regular tech support--the phone and email support. I went several rounds with their email tech support before going to the phone support. Those people were terrible, besides being extremely arrogant. They are the people who provide customers with tech support. To get the high quality support I got in the *end* of my experience with Plextor, I had to go to the Director of Engineering at Plextor America. Is that man supposed to handle tech support? No. So you misinterpreted me--I was referring to the horrible experience I received prior to contacting the Director of Engineering. I got lucky (since most people don't talk to anybody but tech support) and got good support from the high level at Plextor because the tech support people are too incompetent or are unwilling to handle problems with Plextor hardware. So my service in the end was good because I got the *right* person, but that doesn't make up for all the terrible service I received from them before that point and all the time they wasted of mine. So *overall*, the support at Plextor America is still very poor. The only reason I feel I got my problem handled by the Director of Engineering was because I had been through so much terrible service, and the Director of Engineering knew that and was trying to make up for that. I wasted 2 months with my upgrade, and that 2 months ended when I bought my Liteon made TDK 5200B. If my 3rd Plextor 48X drive worked, I would have been satisfied by Plextor on both the hardware and support level, but that didn't happen, so after the trouble they put me through, I am quite unhappy with Plextor.

With that said, I do not wish to continue posting negative posts about Plextor on this forum. I have gotten my opinion about Plextor across very well. I will continue to recommend LiteOn drives, but without repeating my lowsy experience with Plextor. I will simply say that I had a bad experience with Plextor, if I bother to post at all. I am sorry if I have been a bit repetitive--I was already considering ending negative Plextor posts, and I will now because there is no point in making such posts anymore since people have gotten the idea. One last thing I would like to note: I am an educated person in computers and did everything I could with the resources I had before putting the pressure on Plextor to give me warranty service, which they were unwilling to do until I talked to the Director of Engineering. So my problems with Plextor are not my fault.

[dolphinius_rex]

Harrier: I totally sympathize with your situation, and if you feel that your story needs to be told to someone, a good way to do it without being overly repetitive would be to provide a link to a place where you had already discussed it.

For me, if I was going to recommend a plextor unit to someone, it would be because Plextor's are one of the only drives (and the only one I know for sure) that takes the write strategy from the disc itself, and not just the ATIP info. This is very important for recording onto 3rd tier factory's CD-Rs that do not have properly corrasponding ATIP's to their media. Of course, this isn't a normal situation, and the only name brand that I know of that uses discs of this type is Memorex, and they don't do it all the time. So if you're buying normal media, then you'll be fine with a LiteON.

I agree that the proper EFM encoding on a LiteON is nice, and can be useful, but with proper software it doesn't really matter anymore. For instance, Alcohol 120% can rectify the EFM data, and still make working backups, even with non perfect EFM encoding drives. I believe other software is adopting this too.

For me, I love LiteON because they're cheap, good quality, and they have cool funky features like WSES, CD Doctor, and K-Probe. All of which would be useless without the proper C2 accuracy reporting that most LiteON's (all new models) have. What it really comes down to is trust. I know I can trust my LiteON drive, I've used 3 of the same model between my previous job and my own personal drive. I've burned several thousand CD-Rs between them, and they are all alive and doing well. 100% of the coasters I've made have been the result of my error, or my choice of media (ie. really crappy possibly DST or Vanguard made CD-Rs... we never were able to properly identify them!). So I know, that when it comes to buying a CD-Writer for my personal use, it'll be a LiteON. However, since I am also a freelance recordable-media reviewer, I may also be interested in the Plextor Premium model, for its jitter testing, but that depends on if the Jitter Testing becomes available in K-Probe or not.

[dodecahedron]

@Harrier:
would you mind telling me where the Plextor 48x goes for 600 NIS?

@tlotz:
i was sorry to read your (numerous ) reports of bad luck/bad support from Plextor.
personally i like plextor drives. i think you just had some very bad luck with your drives. but i don't know, maybe you are right and Plextor's QC is degrading? i hope not.
as for their tech support quality, well that's just too bad.

at least, your satisfied with your current drive and that's good

@Xenos:
welcome to CDRLabs forums!

yes, the Plextor does have good writing quality. but then again many other drives do too, and i'm not really sure if Plextor is that much better.
especially if you take care to buy good media - TY, Verbatim DataLifePlus, then you will get very good results with many drives, including Plextor and Lite-On, but many others too.

if i might quote Ian from memory (can't find his post):
the Lite-On will burn more types of media at 52x
the Plexor will burn more types of media with good quality.

[Harrier]

dolphinius_rex, thanks for the tips. Oh, ahy do you assume that the jitter monitoring/experimenting won't be available with the Plextor 48X?

dodecahedron, stores names are Exellnet and Gamma. The price keeps on droping.

Thanks all of you for the replies (you too, tlotz). Love to hear some more newsworthy reports.

[dodecahedron]

dolphinius_rex, thanks for the tips. Oh, ahy do you assume that the jitter monitoring/experimenting won't be available with the Plextor 48X?

dodecahedron, stores names are Exellnet and Gamma. The price keeps on droping.

no one knows if the error testing capabilities the Plextor Premium reputedly has (we still don't really know what they are!) will be available in the older Plextor 48x (maybe older 40x too?) by firmware upgrade.
we'll just have to wait and see.

same goes for the PlexTools Professional - will it work on the new Premium drive only or on older drives too? we'll just have to wait until it's released...

Harrier, can you PM me a URL for Gamma? never heard of them.

[dolphinius_rex]

more then anything, we don't know how well the jitter testing will really work on the plextor drives, or the LiteON drives either (if it is added to K-Probe). Comparison tests of some sort will have to be set up.

I suspect only the Plextor Premium drive will have access to jitter testing to begin with, though really, I don't see why the previous models couldn't

[Albinoni]

So speaking, lets say if Kprobe offered jitter testing will you then choose a Liteon over a Plextor ?

[dodecahedron]

So speaking, lets say if Kprobe offered jitter testing will you then choose a Liteon over a Plextor ?

he has already chosen the Lite-On - read the topic title.

if the Lite-On would have jitter testing, the Plextor would have one less advantage over the Lite-On (which we don't yet know that it has at all, we still don't really know what sort of error testing capabilities the Plexor Premium will have), and so the deliberation will be a little easier.

[Harrier]

A small actualization: I've received a reply from Plextor about the C1/C2 examinations.

My Email: "Will the C1/C2 monitoring program be available also to the plextor 48X writer aside from the new plextor premium drive?"

Response: "Dear sir,

This is only possible for the premium.

Kind regards".

This takes off some headwork. For me, at least.

[dodecahedron]

that's too bad

thanks for keeping us posted.