Help me choose a DVD Burner

[blahblah6669]

Alright, I'm sure the regulars here are tired of this question, but I hope I can sneak one in anyway

Basically, I'm in the market for a dual-format, 4x drive. The 8x drives are too pricey right now to consider (or at least the Plextor is, it's the only one I've seen). Also, I'm not really too attached to the idea of getting a top-of-the-line drive because I suspect I'll be in the market again whenever dual-layer burners come around anyway.

I've had good luck with Lite-On CD-Rs in the past, so I was interested in both the 411s and the 440d (which is just a rebadged Sony, right?). The 440d looks better because of the buffer. Also, I was interested in the Pioneer 4x models (a06 and 106 - I'm assuming the 106 is just an OEM a06). I'm pretty open to suggestions though.

I'm mostly looking for DVD burning capabilities here. Good DVD reading would be a plus, CD reading & writing are non-factors.

I have looked through reviews here, but I'm also concerned about media compatibility and user opinions, so I thought that would be a question worth directing to the forums. Also, comments like "you should wait a couple months for XXXX reason" are welcome...I don't really NEED the drive right now, but I've already been putting it off for awhile.

[Ian]

Alright, I'm sure the regulars here are tired of this question, but I hope I can sneak one in anyway

There are already plenty of posts about these drives.. including many on media compatibility and user opinions. I recommend reading them over and then coming back and asking specific questions about the drive's youre interested in.

[Kennyshin]

Your request or question seems too vague.

When.
For how much.
How many drives.
How many media per week.
For what use.
For whom and whom else.
And more should be included in the question since it depends on all these factors.

[blahblah6669]

I had noticed there were plenty of posts about these drives and media compatibility, and I have been weeding through them...but I'm also looking for other burners of interest that people might suggest. There's so many brands out there that I'm just not even sure what to be looking for, I just brought up a couple because they were kinda 'old favorites', at least brand-wise.

Anyway, thanks for the gentle "oh god, not this question again" response

EDIT:
When - eh, kinda as soon as possible. But if there is a compelling reason to wait, I might do so.

For how much - preferrably under $160 or so. Not over $200.

How many drives - one.

How many media per week - uncertain. Initially, probably alot (backing up movies, HD, etc). Long run, probably not as much. I'd guess I'll probably average 1/day over the first year.

For what use - Assorted. My DVD Player likes DVD-R and not DVD+R, at least of the media I've tested, and I will be backing up many DVD movies, so I need decent DVD-R support. Also, will be using this as a data storage/backup drive, and will probably be using DVD+R and/or DVD+RW for this purpose. Also plan on converting some VHS to DVD-R as well.

For whom and whom else - personal drive. For my use, although the burns will likely be used by family (specifically home videos - my parents have been bugging me about this).

I'm sorry for the vagueness, hope that helps.

EDIT 2:
Further Clarification - ATAPI/IDE drives, please. No SCSI for me.

[burninfool]

Go HERE,it's a DVD writer shootout between 11 different models.

[aviationwiz]

No offense burninfool,

but that "shoot-out" is terrible. From what I read, they were benchmarking the reading speed of DVD Writers. For most people, they want to know the writing peformance, not reading speed.

[blahblah6669]

I agree with you on that one, aviationwiz.

That really wasn't much of a test, but I appreciate the link anyway. Any information at this point is good.

[Kennyshin]

If you are going to upgrade to dual-layer writer anyway and don't want that much until then, even a used Pioneer DVR-A05 (for under 100 USD) should do.

[burninfool]

@aviationwiz,
I didn't write the article!At least I offered some info,what did you contribute?Oh I know....sarcasm and criticism

@blahblah6669,
Your welcome,more info can be found at www.dvdrhelp.com & www.anandtech.com

[dolphinius_rex]

@aviationwiz,
I didn't write the article!At least I offered some info,what did you contribute?Oh I know....sarcasm and criticism

...correction: High quality PROFESSIONAL sarcasm and criticism!

j/k, aviationwiz is trying his best to help, just like the rest of us

[blahblah6669]

burninfool:
Don't be angry at aviationwiz, it's obvious he was trying to be nice and help me out in case I didn't realize that it wasn't a very good burning-oriented test. Thanks for the links again, I've been to them both before and didn't find anandtech all that helpful, but dvdrhlep is a helpful site.

kennyshin - thanks for the suggestion of the A05, now I need to go dig up some info on that drive. Does anybody have a rough ETA on dual-layer burners? I've heard in next year, but I could've easily missed something in the forum...I'll probably upgrade to an 8x dual-layer burner soon after they're available. The reason I'm thinking about it now is because I really need to backup some stuff from my HD, I'd like to make DVD movie backups, and I'd like to do some home video conversion before christmas.

EDIT: Looked up some stuff on the A05 - is that one just a "-RW" drive and not a "+RW" drive? Seems that way from the stats - and I'd rather have both.

[Bhairav]

1)Dual layer drives? Your guess is as good as ours . Maybe Q1.Q2 next year?

2)Yep, the A05 is a single format drive, -R/RW only. You might want to take a look at the A06, which does both -R and +R.

[blahblah6669]

I'm leaning towards the A06 - I haven't seen anything bad mentioned about this drive, and I'm pretty sure I've seen the Memorex A06-based drive that was just reviewed in my area.

Anybody have any warnings to share about this drive? I'm aware (from the recent Memorex review among others) that the drive isn't good at ripping movies quickly, which is an issue for me, but hardly a show-stopper. I've heard that media support is excellent.

I maybe should spawn this off into a different thread now....

[dodecahedron]

you can flash the Memorex drive with Pioneer drive, thus turning it into a "true" Pioneero A06. NOTE: this is irreversible!

now, for the Pioneer there exists a "hacked" firmware that, among other things, lifts the ripping speed limit, it can rip much much faster.

[Jagster]

you can flash the Memorex drive with Pioneer drive, thus turning it into a "true" Pioneero A06. NOTE: this is irreversible!

now, for the Pioneer there exists a "hacked" firmware that, among other things, lifts the ripping speed limit, it can rip much much faster.

I just purchased the Memorex, how do I flash the drive to a Pioneer. And once this is done, can all A06 firmware updates be applied as normal? Also, can this hacked Pioneer firmware be applied to a "Pioneer flashed" Memorex?

[Bhairav]

1st Question :
How to convert your Memorex into a true Pioneer :
http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=1 ... ht=memorex

2) I don't think you can flash it back to the original Memorex firmware. I could be mistaken though.

[SkaarjMaster]

Well, since you're upgrading soon after, it seems to me to get good quality until then get the Pioneer 106D (4X burner)!