[b]Help to choose cd burner[/b]

[fluxus_LT]

What about Plextor Premium ?
http://www.plextor.be/english/products/premium.html

Going to buy soon. Are there any failures or disadvantages I should know ?

Is this Q-check reliable ?

how about the quality of burned cd's ?

[dodecahedron]

the Plextor Premium is a very good CDRW drive.
by some (many?) the best one now.

has very good writing quality.

read the review: http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=185

Q-check is pretty reliable, and more-or-less comparable to KProbe on Lite-On drives.

[fluxus_LT]

the Plextor Premium is a very good CDRW drive.
by some (many?) the best one now.

has very good writing quality.

read the review: http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=185

Q-check is pretty reliable, and more-or-less comparable to KProbe on Lite-On drives.

I see that this Plex premium has many extra features as gigarec, securerec and so on.
However, I am more interested in quality of cd burning and in drive's reliability.
I am going to burn huge amounts of cd's [about 500 cd/month] periodically, so the reliability is a crucial thing.

I have read the review. Well, the access times are pretty impressive, probably the best ones.

How about the compatibility of media ? I heard that this drive refuses to write some cd's at the max speed.

[dodecahedron]

I see that this Plex premium has many extra features as gigarec, securerec and so on.

yep.
and you pay for them.

However, I am more interested in quality of cd burning and in drive's reliability.
I am going to burn huge amounts of cd's [about 500 cd/month] periodically, so the reliability is a crucial thing.

like i said before, to the best of my knowledge, the PlexPremium's burn quality is excellent.
browse the CD-R/W forum, i'm sure you'll find quite a few topics about this drive and its performance, including write quality.
also check www.cdfreaks.com

How about the compatibility of media ? I heard that this drive refuses to write some cd's at the max speed.

i believe pretty good, although not the best.
that is (partially,at least) how it maintains its good writing quality - refuses to burn too fast on media that can't handle it.
but i'm sure if you use reasonably good media, you'll be able to burn at 52x, check again Ian's review he discusses this at some length.

[fluxus_LT]

i believe pretty good, although not the best.
that is (partially,at least) how it maintains its good writing quality - refuses to burn too fast on media that can't handle it.
but i'm sure if you use reasonably good media, you'll be able to burn at 52x, check again Ian's review he discusses this at some length.[/quote]

one more thing. I have read in this forum that Liteon latest drive LTR-52327S outperforms plextor by recording speed and quality. Is this true ?

There was a huge thread about Kprobe vs Q-check. Which of these programs does a better quality scan ? or both are reliable ?

[dodecahedron]

I have read in this forum that Liteon latest drive LTR-52327S outperforms plextor by recording speed and quality. Is this true ?

i can't really say, as i don't own either drive.
my impression (from reading this forum): they're both very good. more or less the same, differences not too significant.
the answer you're going to get depends a lot on the personal prefrences of the persons giving them.

There was a huge thread about Kprobe vs Q-check. Which of these programs does a better quality scan ? or both are reliable ?

it's still here:
Official K-Probe Discussion (Tool for Scanning C1C2/PIPO)
(it's not really about KProbe vs. Q-Check, it's about KProbe, but there might be some comparison there. read it and find out...)

personally, i think KProbe is somewhat more flexible than Q-Check. my guess is that most of the readers of this forum would recommend KProbe over Q-Check.

[fluxus_LT]

i can't really say, as i don't own either drive.
my impression (from reading this forum): they're both very good. more or less the same, differences not too significant.
the answer you're going to get depends a lot on the personal prefrences of the persons giving them

that's the dificult part. now i am not so sure about which drive to buy: liteon or plextor ?

it's still here:
Official K-Probe Discussion (Tool for Scanning C1C2/PIPO)
(it's not really about KProbe vs. Q-Check, it's about KProbe, but there might be some comparison there. read it and find out...)

personally, i think KProbe is somewhat more flexible than Q-Check. my guess is that most of the readers of this forum would recommend KProbe over Q-Check.

so if the the Kprobe is better or more flexible, maybe I should buy Liteon ?
very confused...

[dodecahedron]

look, if you browse the CD-R/W forum you'll find plenty of posts discussing the question of which of the 2 drives is better.
since this would take some time, i can't be bothered to look for them for you. do the searching. read the posts.

[apart from looking for topics titled "which is the best drive to get?" etc., it might help you when searching to look for posts by rdgrimes, he does a lot of testing and posts a LOT of info about burn quality...very good. also, if you're looking for posts of Plextor Premium vs. Lite-On 52327S look for aviationwiz, he's head of the Plextor pack, and in dozens of topics where the question came up "what drive to buy" etc. he started the old debate by saying "Plextor is the best". these few search keys should keep you busy for a while.
if you want you can look at www.cdfreaks.com too, they have a database of reports of burns, speeds quality etc. (i don't know much about it, i think it's rather new) so you might find more relevant info there.]

personally (if it's of any interest to you):
i would get the Lite-On 52327S, for use with KProbe. but for me money is also a consideration.
if i already had a Lite-On drive (any drive, not necessarily the 52327S, for KProbe) and money wasn't an issue i would probably buy the Plextor Premium, and i have to admit that part of the reason at least is a personal preference, i have a liking for Plextor (and i know it's irrational and not based on any hard facts. not that there aren't facts to support it, but i do know it's irrational).

that's just me. i don't know how much this info will help you out. and unless you have a more concrete question than "which drive to get" i don't think i'll add anything more. maybe someone else will come along and voice his opinion or point out facts which i've missed (or gotten wrong?). but then again this is a very tired and chewed-up debate and i'm sure i'm not the only one weary of it.

good luck, and i hope i've been of some help.

[fluxus_LT]

Ok, thanks

[dodecahedron]

UPDATE:
just now in the Hot Deals forum, you can get the Lite-On 52327S for $20.
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13252

my recommendation:
GET BOTH!

[fluxus_LT]

UPDATE:
just now in the Hot Deals forum, you can get the Lite-On 52327S for $20.
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... highlight=

my recommendation:
GET BOTH!

well, I am in Europe, this is "somewhere in Texas". no deal.

[dodecahedron]

too bad.
i'm in Israel so it's no good for me either.

[fluxus_LT]

too bad.
i'm in Israel so it's no good for me either.

as you suggested I am reading now about Liteon and plextor drives.
Well, my opinion is changing a little - Liteon can get the same quality as plextor but half that price. What plextor really has, is it's features like gigarec etc. But I dont know whether I need them.

So probably I'll buy Liteon.

p.s. I see this aviationwiz guy is really a big plex fan(atic). But is he objective ? I doubt it...

[dodecahedron]

What plextor really has, is it's features like gigarec etc. But I dont know whether I need them.

what it also has, and this means a lot to some people, is reputation. if it's justified, or if it justifies the premium you pay for it, is another big argument.

p.s. I see this aviationwiz guy is really a big plex fan(atic). But is he objective ? I doubt it...

LOL no i wouldn't say he's too objective

[CDRecorder]

I think it is true that the LTR-52327S may be slightly better regarding speed than the Plextor is, but the difference is negligible. As far as the writing quality is concerned, I think the best answer to your question would be the CD Freaks media forum, as mentioned above. There is a lot of info there. I personally have posted results with several types of media on my LTR-52327S there.

As Dodecahedron wrote above, I would probably recommend KProbe over Q-Check. I haven't actually used Q-Check, but it doesn't look as flexible. I use K-Probe a lot, and it's very useful. One thing which should be considered is that Nero CD-DVD Speed now has a C1/C2 checking feature. It's not as flexible as KProbe, but it does work with the Lite-On drives, and I think it works with the Plextor Premium, too.

[fluxus_LT]

I think it is true that the LTR-52327S may be slightly better regarding speed than the Plextor is, but the difference is negligible. As far as the writing quality is concerned, I think the best answer to your question would be the CD Freaks media forum, as mentioned above. There is a lot of info there. I personally have posted results with several types of media on my LTR-52327S there.

Well, the speed is not so important. Who cares whether the burner does a cd in 2 min and 30 sec or 2 min and 45 sec ? Personally, I don't.

I am more confused about the quality. If the Kprobe does exactly the same as plextor's q-check, i would definitely go for liteon.

As I have read older threads about the liteon and plextor, I have come to conclusion that there are no serious evidences about that plextor indeed produces higher quality cd burn's. Everything is based on reputation.

[aviationwiz]

OK, just saw the thread, let me throw out a few facts.

1. Both Q-Check and KProbe are reliable, only problem with KProbe is that if you have a problem with it, there aren't really new versions of it being made, so your kind of SOL, unless Karr can get out new versions.

2. Quality wise, the Plextor Premium is going to beat out the LTR-52327S, the LTR-52327S may burn it a few seconds faster, but the quality won't be as good. I burn all the time on my Premium with many types of media and they all turn out roughly the same, quality wise, the speed is different as PoweRec changes the speed while burning to produce the best quality CD and still burn at high speed.

3. I have never had a burn on my Premium take longer that 2:50, and the quality is still amazing.

4. It's always nice to have those extra features on the Premium around, just in case one day you need to burn a larger CD, or if you need to password-protect a CD.

5. Not a huge deal, but the Premium has an 8MB Buffer while the LTR-52327S only has a 2MB Buffer. Both get the job done of protecting from buffer-underrun errors though.

[motocoke]

I have both the LiteOn and Plextor Premium.

The Plextor has one advantage over the Lite-On - Plextools. That can back up almost all audio protections to date, with no audible differences.

I actually considered getting the cheaper PlexWriter 52/24/52A. But it was out of stock, so I bought the Premium. I thought that I would not use Gigarec. But now it's been the feature I use most - combining 2 audio cds into 1. Most readers / players read until 99min, so if you stick to this compatibility is almost 100%. Except my Philips DVD Player that reads audio cds until 105mins. The write quality with Gigarec is also very good. The 90 and 99mins discs are expensive here, so in that way, I've saved $$ by using cheaper but good quality TY/Maxell 80min discs.

If you have more money to spend or need the extra features, go for the Plextor. If you're on a budget, get the Lite-On.

[dolphinius_rex]

My LiteON 401s DVD Burner makes my Plextor Premium look like a sick puppy

Then only thing that the Plextor Premium can burn better at is 4x and 8x burn speeds, and who wants to burn at 4x or 8x! LOL!

[aviationwiz]

My LiteON 401s DVD Burner makes my Plextor Premium look like a sick puppy

Then only thing that the Plextor Premium can burn better at is 4x and 8x burn speeds, and who wants to burn at 4x or 8x! LOL!

In other posts you have criticized the LDW-401S's writing on DVD's. So basically you use your DVD burner as a CD Burner? Doesn't sound like a good deal.

[wicked1]

I too had this debate in my mind for another cd burner purchase.The liteon can be had for around $30-40 (with rebates as low as 10) yet the plextor still goes for $90-100.The plextor didnt have anything justifying it as 3X the price in my eyes. I have seen the many scans from both drives and I just dont see paying that much and especially if you like to use more finicky media the LiteOn is where its at. My LiteOn 52246S burns very nice quality so I am sure I made the right choice because the LiteOn 52327S is supposed to be better than my 246.Thats my 2 cents anyway.

Disclaimer:I dont buy cheap disks thats what people give me to burn half the time they are CMC again not purchased by me

[BoGMan1a]

Heck, if he is actually going to burn 500 cd's a month, and likely some of these are copies of the same data, then I think he should buy 2 Lite-ons, and cut his workload in half by burning to both of them at the same time. My 2 cents

[fluxus_LT]

Heck, if he is actually going to burn 500 cd's a month, and likely some of these are copies of the same data, then I think he should buy 2 Lite-ons, and cut his workload in half by burning to both of them at the same time. My 2 cents

not sure about that. a little weird to burn on 2 burners. Well, as I see, it is difficult to decide - both burners [Liteon LTN-52327S and plextor premium] are good.

money is not an issue to me - I can buy plex, or I can buy liteon.

2 all kprobers and Q-chekers: I visited cdfreaks media forum, and looked
through the tests. most done on Kprobe, but I want to make one statement - if both quality cheking tools are reliable - Kprobe and Q-check- how do you know which drive burns better quality ?
I mean, for example, you burn one cd on plex, and another on Liteon.
now you want to measure their quality [c1/c2 error rate]. you measure both of them on kprobe, the results aren't reliable cause liteons's cd will have better results. the same on qcheck.

so in fact the real truthful quality cheking would be if you do this on independent machine neither liteon nor plex.

[aviationwiz]

Most C1/C2 Scans are done in KProbe because they have cheap Lite-On drives and do not want to pay the money for the Premium. Both tools, KProbe and Q-Check are reliable, and do not make the disks burned in that drive look better, in fact, without physically writing it down, or remembering it, I do not think there is a way to check what burner it was written on.

[fluxus_LT]

Both tools, KProbe and Q-Check are reliable, and do not make the disks burned in that drive look better, in fact, without physically writing it down, or remembering it, I do not think there is a way to check what burner it was written on.

How about the fact that Plextor produces more c1/c2 error if you burn media at high speeds ?

At cdfreaks media forum, there were lots of liteon burning quality tests, and very few about Plextor. So how can I be sure that plex gives the same or even better quality ?

Personally I prefer Verbatim DLP ( mitsubishi) media. How about this media compatibility with Plex ?