Which dvd burner should I buy question?

[hydrogen]

I hope I can get an answer soon, because I'm probably going to buy one this morning. I'm heading off to Best Buy. If not that's cool

I have a big question.

I'm looking for a drive that has great burn quality and plays in most dvd players.

Which one of these would you buy?

Best Buy has a Norcent DWD-840 for $99.99 after rebate which might be a Lite On.

Best Buy has a Lite On LDW-811S for $119.99 after rebate.

Compusa has a Buslink DVRW812D for $99 after rebate


Pioneer A07

Nec 2500a

Optorite DD0401

NU Technology DDW-081

Plextor PX-708A $169.99 after rebate at Best Buy

Memorex True 8X


If a burner isn't on the list that you think is better then please list it

[sapiens74]

I had the Nu Tec one and didnt like the quality

I just picked up a Pioneer A07 and love the quality and it is very fast ripping movies

[Flyer22]

i have an a06 a few months now and really love it...

go for the a07 or in a few months time a08...

double layer only in the next a09

[Hoody]

I just picked up the NEC 2500A from NewEgg for $105 shipped!

[hydrogen]

Thank you guys for the suggestions. It was a hard choice for me to decide between the Nec 2500a, Plextor PX-708A, and The Pioneer A07. I've heard awesome stuff about the Nec 2500a, but I didn't get it because I need software. I don't have any. To bad Nec doesn't sale retail versions.

It was down to between the Plextor Px-708A and the Pioneer A07. Best Buy had both of them.

Well, I decided on the Pioneer A07. I've heard good things about it and people here recommended it. Before I asked my question I was leaning towards getting the Pioneer A07 because of the software it came with and because I've heard good things about it.

If Nec offered a retail version with some good software, like Pioneer does, I would have probably bought the Nec because I really wanted that drive and it would probably have been cheaper.

Hopefully I made the right choice. I think I probably did.

If you guys want a Pioneer A07 from Best Buy you can ad match Compusa's price of $199 (if it's in stock at your Compusa store) and it does print out a $30 rebate. So after rebate I got it for $169. I think that's pretty good price. I tried the 10% off coupon that Best Buy sent out, but it didn't work. You either get the price match or the 10% off. The price match saved me more money since Best Buys regular price is $229.

Thank you guys for the suggestions. If people want to continue recommending drives in this thread please go ahead and do so. It might help somone else that reads this forum decide what drive to get.

The only thing I hate is that the Pioneer A07 doesn't have the booktype feature. I guess I can live without it though.

[lrtrees]

hydrogen, is the Pioneer an in store special because I did not see it in the add on Saturday?

Lon

[hydrogen]

A lot of times Best Buy doesn't advertise everything that has a rebate. I've seen things that had good rebates on them at the store, but was never advertised in the ad.

The A07 is $229 and a $30 mail in rebate prints out at the register. It wasn't advertised anywhere in the ad or store. I just asked was there a rebate since I read in the hot deals forum that somone got a $30 rebate when they bought an A07 at Fry's. He said yes and it did print out a $30 rebate at the register. The offer date on the rebate says 2/09/2004 to 3/31/2004.

I pricematched the Compusa price of $199. It has to be in stock at your Compusa store because they will call. If you have a Fry's in your area you may could ad match their price of $199. My Best Buy wouldn't ad match Fry's because I don't have one in the state I live in.

There's another drive at Best Buy that's not in the ad that has rebates.

It's the Memorex True 8x drive. It has a $30 and a $20 rebate. They're on Best Buys web site in the rebate center. What's bad is that it says original upc for both so I'm not sure how you would get around that.

My Best Buy had a sticker under the Memorex True 8x drive saying something about $50 in rebates. If you want that drive I would ask if it has rebates (to make sure) and ask about them how do you send them in if both rebates require the original upc.

I heard the Memorex True 8x drive is a rebadged Pioneer A07
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=15026
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=14923

I don't think you can use Pioneer's firmware from their web site on the Memorex drive because they changed the id string.

Look at Ian's post here.
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=14923

I got the Pioneer A07 over the Memorex because I wanted be be able to use Pioneer's firmware from there web site and because I liked the software bundle better.

The only thing I like better about the Memorex over the Pioneer is the look of the Memorex drive since it's black and grey, and I have a black case.

If you have any other questions let me know.

[vsekh]

I noticed that you already got yourself a burner. But, if you wanted a retail version of the NEC-2500a, TDK offered a rebadged version of it. You get software with it. Here is a link of the details:

http://www.tdk.com/dvdburners/indidvd8x8x.html

[gentlejax]

you could have gotten the 2500A from NewEgg for $110 with the Roxio software. I ordered it Sunday in Black for $110 with the software.

I assume it will be the 6.0 version or whatever works with the NEC player.

I also wanted the A07 but I couldnt justify that to the warden(wife)

I was glas to get the NEC for so cheap. Now I used the savings on DVD disks to record with.

Mike

[hydrogen]

vsekh,

Thank you. I had no idea the Tdk drive was an Nec. Is Tdk good about releasing new firmwares? Do they release their new firmware when the company who makes their drive releases theirs? I no nothing about Tdk and their support.

That black drive looks sweet. I have a black case. I wish this Pioneer A07 drive was black.

Best Buy has the Tdk 8x drive for $199 - $30 rebate = $169 on their web site. It may be in store too if they carry them. It's the same price that I paid for my A07 after rebate. I posted about the Tdk deal in the hot deals forum.

Now I'm not sure if I should keep this A07 or take it back and get the Tdk?

Which one is a better drive?

[hydrogen]

gentlejax,

That's a good deal you got. I saw they offered the one with Roxio software, but I wanted a drive that had editing software too. I want to edit dvds I burn from my Lvw-5001. That's the reason I got this drive. I heard Ulead has some good editing software so I thought the Pioneer software bundle was good. I don't have any kind of editing software so I needed some.

I've heard good things about the Nec drive. You should really like it if what I've read is true. You can't beat the price either.