DVD drive - buy help

[metalik]

I intend to buy one of the following drives. In fact I am in need of a cdrom drive but I want to go for a longer shot with the investment. For the beggining I intend to use it extensively as a CDROM too, so it MUST be a very good CD / CDR / CDRW reader (C2 level corection, DAE quality and so on). I need some experience tips from u guys out there so that I can decide what's it gonna be ...
Help me decide please.

- LG 16/48 8161BB
- Sony 16/40 DDU 1612
- Nec 16/48 DV5800A
- Teac 16/48 516E
- Asus 16/48 E616
- Toshiba 16/48 SD-M1712
- Toshiba 16/48 SD-M1612

I cannot find any LiteOn, Pioneer, Panasonic drives in the stores arround me. This is what I have to choose from.
Thanks in advance.

[Han]

My experience with Toshiba drives is satisfactory. They are pretty fast readers, especially for CDRW discs, but rather slow rippers. Average DAE speed is around 22x (starting at 13x and hitting 30x at the end). Quality is very good and the drive works well with Exact Audio Copy (also in Secure mode, where speed is reduced to 5-11x). As a bonus Toshiba recognizes and reads non-standard 90 and 99 minute CDRs. The newer one, SD-M1712, is DVD Multi compatible, which means it reads DVD-R(W), DVD+R(W) and DVD-RAM.

No LiteOn? Look for Sony DDU-1611 or 1621. These two are rebadged LiteOns.

[Gendibal]

Hmm, i'm choosing between

Pioneer dvd-120
Toshiba sd-m1712
Lite-On ltd-166s

Anyone have any thoughts on the best one overall? I'd prefer a little on the quiet side, too, but read speed and compatibility are definitely tops. Thanks!

[dodecahedron]

not all Sony DDU-1611, 1621 are rebadges of Lite-On drives.
some are BTC.

here are a couple of threads with discussion and opinions:
Sony DDU1621 -S1e7 - problems -Help !
Any Suggest buy Sony DDU1621 ?

[dhc014]

OK, just to clear things up:

DDU1611 (16X/48X)= Liteon LTD-163
DDU1612 (16X/48X)= Liteon LTD-166S
DDU1621 (16X/48X)= BTC BDV-316B (not recommended, though fast!)

[metalik]

I now narrowed my choises between these drives:

- Toshiba SDM 1712
- Sony DDU 1612 (Liteon LTD-166S)

Personaly I think I'll go for the Toshiba ... I'm looking for sites with more reviews about DVD ROM drives so that I can figure out what to do.

P.S. I have a Plextor 4824TA CDRW drive. I intend to but the DVD Rom unit so that it can complement the areas where the Plextor has wheak points.

Thanks 4 the tips..

[cfitz]

Since you asked about RPC in another post, you might want to read up about some RPC firmware mods for the Toshiba here:

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=9 ... 475cdd05d6

That thread also indicates that the Toshiba can rip CSS protected DVDs at 2x maximum.

As for the 166S, RPC region-free tools can be found at Dimitri's site:

http://digi.rpc1.org/

Specifically:

http://digi.rpc1.org/rpc.htm

cfitz

[vbl117]

If you want to see a LTD-166S review take a look at my website .

for more DVD ROM drives reviews you can also go at www.cdrinfo.com .

[vbl117]

My mirror site has often low or no bandwith ( and i was forced to store the LTD-166S printable graphic text review on my mirror site ) .

[max]

If you're going to use it mainly for DVD use then go for the Sony DDu 1621.
If cd is your main use then go for the lite-on.
I can definitely recommend the Sony DDU1621 as I bought it mainly for ripping of DVD and it's very fast. It rips a full DVD-9 (double layer) in about 10 minutes... I have no problems whatsoever with this drive. It reads all my cd and dvd media, it's quiet and for me very reliable.

[Gary Kokkin]

Also my Sony 1621 (BTC 316B OEM) works excellent fast (fair on price bought it) as DVD rom. (also test it with DVD-R) -Only problem is Data CDR reading (if this burn >24x speed and in CDRW discs not at all ! )-firmware 1.07e

[max]

No problems here whatsoever..

tested with 40 speed burned data cdr and 10 and 12 speed CDRW...

I have firmware 2.9 with the sony firmware!

Max

[Scanboy]

I intend to buy one of the following drives. In fact I am in need of a cdrom drive but I want to go for a longer shot with the investment. For the beggining I intend to use it extensively as a CDROM too, so it MUST be a very good CD / CDR / CDRW reader (C2 level corection, DAE quality and so on). I need some experience tips from u guys out there so that I can decide what's it gonna be ...
Help me decide please.

- LG 16/48 8161BB
- Sony 16/40 DDU 1612
- Nec 16/48 DV5800A
- Teac 16/48 516E
- Asus 16/48 E616
- Toshiba 16/48 SD-M1712
- Toshiba 16/48 SD-M1612

I cannot find any LiteOn, Pioneer, Panasonic drives in the stores arround me. This is what I have to choose from.
Thanks in advance.

===============================================

Metalik / Gendibal,

Based on past experience and users' recommendations, I would say:-

1. Pioneer DVD-119 or DVD-120

2. Toshiba SD-M1712


Scanboy

[Gary Kokkin]

@ "Scanboy" "...Based on past experience........."


http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtopic.php?t=10380

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtopic.php?t=10245

http://forum.cdfreaks.com/showthread.ph ... adid=66111

[Gary Kokkin]

I intend to buy one of the following drives. In fact I am in need of a cdrom drive but I want to go for a longer shot with the investment. For the beggining I intend to use it extensively as a CDROM too, so it MUST be a very good CD / CDR / CDRW reader (C2 level corection, DAE quality and so on). I need some experience tips from u guys out there so that I can decide what's it gonna be ...
Help me decide please.

- LG 16/48 8161BB
- Sony 16/40 DDU 1612
- Nec 16/48 DV5800A
- Teac 16/48 516E
- Asus 16/48 E616
- Toshiba 16/48 SD-M1712
- Toshiba 16/48 SD-M1612

I cannot find any LiteOn, Pioneer, Panasonic drives in the stores arround me. This is what I have to choose from.
Thanks in advance.

***************************************************

http://www.cdrlabs.com/common/print.php ... view&id=60

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=9967

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Article ... undup+Vol3

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Article ... undup+Vol2

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Article ... +DVD%2DROM

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/dvd ... -test.html

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/dvd ... -test.html

http://www.bench-house.com/print.php?sid=296

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... ght=#53230

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... highlight=

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... ht=ltd+166

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... ght=#48225

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... ght=#45561

[tlotz]

I now narrowed my choises between these drives:

- Toshiba SDM 1712
- Sony DDU 1612 (Liteon LTD-166S)

Personaly I think I'll go for the Toshiba ... I'm looking for sites with more reviews about DVD ROM drives so that I can figure out what to do.

P.S. I have a Plextor 4824TA CDRW drive. I intend to but the DVD Rom unit so that it can complement the areas where the Plextor has wheak points.

Thanks 4 the tips..

Hi--I'd like to post my two cents on this subject. I'm trying to choose between the Pioneer DVD-120, Toshiba SD-M1712, and the LiteOn LTD-166S, just like Gendibal. I have, at this point, pretty much decided to go with the LiteOn LTD-166S. I am a current owner of a Toshiba SD-M1502. This drive is Toshiba's first 16X DVD-ROM drive. Well, I don't like it. It's slow, and it doesn't read certain DVD-ROM discs without constantly lower the speed, then increasing it, then lowering it like a yoyo. I don' t have enough data DVD-ROM discs to evaluate whether the drive could ever reach the rated 16X speed, but it never made it beyond 13X with my discs. My drive, which is rated at 48X for CD reading, *never* reads any CDs beyond 40X. That's right, 40X! I've tested it with full 700 MB discs, and I get 40X! It's not a DMA problem, and I doubt it is a hardware related--I never bothered to investigate that problem. Anyone know why this drive reads CD-Rs/pressed CDs 8X less than its rated speed?

Anyway, the new Toshiba SD-M1712 seems to have issues--it is slow for ripping and, from the specs I read, it does *not* support DVD-Multi. In fact, one website I read who tested this new DVD-ROM drive showed that the drive failed to properly read a DVD+R disc. The drive's specs do *not* list compatibility with DVD+R or DVD+RW or DVD-Multi. Since I am looking for a new DVD-ROM that is fast at DVD reading as well as CD reading and can read all DVD recordable formats perfectly (although I don't care about DVD-RAM), I am leaning towards the LiteOn 166S. Because of speed issues (40X instead of 48X) and lack of guaranteed compatibility with DVD+R and DVD+RW discs (which aren't mentioned in the drive's specs as being compatible), I am not inclined to go for the Pioneer DVD-120.