Newbie Dilemma Liteon 52327S or LG 8520B?

[aznmidnite]

Hi all,
I'm kind of a newb when it comes to CDRW drives and CDR media, just know some basic stuff. My first CDRW drive was an HP 8100 a few years ago.

I recently bought (and ended up returning) at Mitsumi 485Gte (54x32x54x). It's media compatability wasn't great.

I've been reading through this great forum, and there is alot of useful information here. My dilemma right now is deciding upon a CDRW drive. My two choices are the Liteon 52327S or LG 8520B. I know I've read throught this forum about some good and some bad of each, but I didn't really find any thread that went into detail about these two head to head.

I don't really care much about the rewritable speed, just more of the write speed, and of course quality or the write.

The Liteon 52327S (reviewed 8-1-2003) scored better on performance than the LG 8520B (reviewed 2-13-2003). The review mentioned that the Liteon was more friendlier to the different kinds of CDR media out there. However, that was back then. What I was wondering from you experts out there, are how the two drives compare against each other with the latest firmware applied (as back when the review was done, the firmware was older).

The media compatiblity: http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6005 was helpful. It looks like more media was tested with the LG model though, compared to the LiteOn.

I bought a 50 spindle of Memorex 48X 80 mins CDRs (ended up being CMCs), and in the Mitsumi they were only picked up as 40X. And going by the thread, it looks like two of the BenQ drives picked it up as 48x, a Plextor picked it up as a 24x, and Yamaha picked it up as a 40x.

Anyways, I'm getting off topic, so I'll stop rambling. What I basically wanted to know is how the two drives compare against each other (pros & cons) with the latest firmware applied.

Your opinions and help are greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much for your time.

[aviationwiz]

Out of those two, I'd recomend the LTR-52327S.


If your on a budget, go for the LTR-52327S, it is a pretty good drive, and the price is right, if bought from newegg. If you want an all around great burner, get the Plextor Premium, it costs a bunch more, but let me tell you, the extra price is worth it.



Now did anyone here think I would make a post not recomending the Premium?

[Ian]

I knew you couldn't resist aviationwiz.

aznmidnite, have you seen LG's new 52/32/52 CD-RW?

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=12664

[aznmidnite]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies.

I did see that new LG, but haven't seen any reviews on it yet.

I heard the Plex is good, but I'm kind of on a budget. The price difference between the LG and Liteon isn't much. The LG was only $2 or $3 less than the Liteon. I was initially leaning towards getting the Liteon for a few dollars more, and just wanted some other members opinions on both drives.

Is the Liteon's (the model I specified) performance, quality, and media compatibility better than LGs?

Thanks again.

[CDRecorder]

Now did anyone here think I would make a post not recomending the Premium?

Let's just say that I wasn't surprised.

Aznmidnite: I've never used an LG drive, but I am very happy with my LTR-52327S and my three other Lite-On drives. They all have very good recording quality.

[aznmidnite]

So I guess there's a lot of Liteon fans here? So far I haven't heard from any LG 8520 owners.

[CDRecorder]

There are some LG users here, too, but many people here use Lite-Ons. I use Lite-On drives because of their features, price, and quality. I've had bad luck with some other burners (AOpen, Philips, Benq), so I've just decided to stick with the drives that I know will work.

[aviationwiz]

My Aopen 48x12x50 worked quite well.

[aznmidnite]

Ok, I just thought I would have heard from more LG owners. Any recommendations about the Liteon firmware? I heard the more recent one actually slows down the burn speed? Is this true? Is this to better the quality?

[CDRecorder]

Yes, QS0A (newest) does slow down the speeds of some discs. I noticed this with 40x and 48x CMC discs; I can only burn them at 40x with QS0A, but they burn at 52x with QS08 or QS09. The recording quality with QS0A is really good, though. However, I have heard that the recording quality for 24x CD-RW discs was lower with QS0A than with QS09, though.

Edit: Here is a thread about how the results people have had with QS0A.

[TheWizard]

I'm a die-hard LG supporter, but I don't have their GCE-8520B or 8525B. In all honesty, between LG and Lite-On, you can't go wrong with either.

[aznmidnite]

Thanks again for the replies.

How about for media compatibility and tech support? Would the vote still go for Lite On?

Thanks for your time.

[CDRecorder]

I've never needed Lite-On's tech support, but I've heard that it isn't too good. I don't know that from experience.

Lite-On drives do have very good media compatibility, though.

[aviationwiz]

Lite-On tech support is attrocious, I'm surprised they call it tech support.

My DVD-ROM drive was not working correctly, and they asked me if DMA was on, which it was, all of a sudden, I had a bad drive. Nothing techinical there, just something I can get from CDRLabs.

[Turkeyscore.com]

My Aopen 48x12x50 worked quite well.

What do you mean WORKED? I had a 52x24x52 aopen quit on me...temporarily went back to my Liteon 24x10x40, then bought the Liteon 52x32x52 (Remember that bestbuy deal...$10 after rebates and a Lablemaker?) I love my new 52x32x52 Liteon.

[CDRecorder]

What do you mean WORKED? I had a 52x24x52 aopen quit on me...temporarily went back to my Liteon 24x10x40, then bought the Liteon 52x32x52 (Remember that bestbuy deal...$10 after rebates and a Lablemaker?) I love my new 52x32x52 Liteon.

My 52x24x52x AOpen went out on me, too. What did your do? Mine's RMA'd to Buslink right now because it quit writing to CD-RW discs entirely (strangely, it still worked with CD-Rs); I asked them to send me the Lite-On 52x24x52x LTR-52246S drive as a replacement.

I also got the Lite-On 52x32x52 LTR-52327S with the same BestBuy deal.

[Scour]

Hello!

I have 2 PC´s and more than one CD-RW-drive.

The MSI CR 52-A2 is the drive, i used mostly, but it has some problems with Prodisc-media, and only writes 16x with CloneCD.

I recommend LG-drives, because i have better experience with LG than with LiteOn. And I like Asus-drives, too.

So I recommend the LG GCE 8520, perhaps the new 8523 and 8525, but i didn´t see this drives her in Germany.

After Ian´s review with the Plextor PX-W 5224 I´m looking to test this drive, it costs in Germany 70€, that´s real affordable for a Plextor.

[casey]

LG rocks,
I have LG8520, 8523 & 8525 (the only drive I fit to PC's I Build) and the build quality is tops. Quiet, solid, excellent tray mechanism and very, very quiet when burning.
I.M.H.O. far better fit and finish than any Liteon I have come accross.

[aznmidnite]

I was leaning towards the Liteon, but after reading through some replies and other reviews.....now I'm still undecided. Help! Darn it...can't make my mind up.

I guess I can't go wrong with either drive? I've heard that Liteons can be noisy, but I don't really care about noise.

Again, I'm looking for good media compatibility and of course quality.

Thanks again for all your input.

[CDRecorder]

I really don't know what more can be said. I'm sure that either drive would work just fine for you.

My personal suggestion is the Lite-On, but I am sure that the LG would be a good choice, too.

[MediumRare]

I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned this yet- but if you're after quality, you need a way to check the quality. And in that regard, a LiteOn drive has a lot going for it with tools like CD Doctor and (especially) KProbe. See the sticky threads in this forum.

The only other drive that offers such diagnostic tools is the Plextor Premium (with PlexTools), and it costs more than twice as much.

G

[aznmidnite]

Hey again,
You're right MediumRare, I almost forgot about that feature about Liteons (about quality checking).

Thanks for bringing that up!

[aznmidnite]

Oh, one more quick question. Do you experts know if retail and oem versions have the same warranty (whether it's Liteon or LG)?

Thanks again!

[TheWizard]

To answer some of your questions, aznmidnite:

The media compatibility for LG drives is just as good as Lite-On, if not better. The only sputters worth mentioning that I have seen are with some Lite-On drives and CMC media. Case in point, the LTR-52246S choked on Imation CMC discs rated 24X, 32X, and 40X. Are CMC discs the best? No, although I expect better results with Imation discs as they are some of the better CMC discs out there.

I do know that LG will honor the warranty with OEM drives. LG gladly accepted my broken OEM GCE-8320B and sent me a replacement drive. Since several people have documented that Lite-On's tech support is not very good, you may not be able to get an RMA# if you can't contact them. The chance that you'll receive a lemon drive is not high at all, but in case you are worried, order from a reputable vendor (like Newegg.com) that will send you a replacement drive hassle-free. That way, you can totally avoid Lite-On and go through the vendor for warranty issues.

While this post seems biased toward LG, it is only because I am a die-hard LG supporter, as stated before. The fact of the matter is, you can't go wrong with either LG or Lite-On. If I was in your shoes, I would pick the LG simply because it is a few bucks cheaper than the Lite-On. Speaking as a recent college graduate without a job, I could put the few bucks I saved on the drive toward more important things like FOOD!

[cfitz]

Okay, I feel like something of a heretic here, but I grow more and more suspect of Lite-On's quality control all the time.

I do like Lite-On drives for their good value, high performance, media compatibility and handy utilities (don't overlook these - they add a lot of value). However, I have purchased, or at least had in my possession, eight Lite-On drives: two DVD-ROMs and six CD-RWs. Of these, three were defective at time of purchase and had to be returned: one DVD-ROM and two CD-RWs, both of which were LTR-52327S CD-RW drives. I haven't had any trouble with the drives that passed my initial burn-in tests, though.

In summary, Lite-On drives can be a great value, but have some quality control problems in my experience. Should you decide to buy a Lite-On, I recommend that you buy your drive from a retailer where you can easily exchange and/or return it if it turns out to be defective.

cfitz