What Is A Good DVD-Burner

[joeMan]

I saw PX740's on the shelf today at Fry's - loads of them. I need to check them out, but I think the main diff is that it burns 16x where the 760 burns 18x - is that correct? DOH! I need to go read up on that...

[DrPino]

PX740s are rebadged BenQ 1640s (like Sony 810s as i mentioned above)...not original plextor drives (just plextor firmware and front bezel) but they can be crossflashed to BenQ firmware...

also, the new Plextor 750 series are rebadged Teac drives (same as the BenQ DW60) and aren't great by any stretch of the imagination...

[dr_hardware]

http://www.plextor.be/products/px-76...choice=PX-760A
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News...x?NewsId=15685
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News...x?NewsId=15701
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=157665
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=152494
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=157639

from this post: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.ph...3&postcount=15


btw, i have 4 plextor ODDs (premium, 708UF, 2x716As) and a BenQ 1640...i'm a fan of plextor (barring some gripes with their policies) and just stating facts is all

Oops, didn't notice that one [ @ site ]
And I didn't get notified by my contact.
That's nice.

my apologies

[DrPino]

no apology necessary

IMHO, speed of DVD burners is overrated...write strategy and consequently burn quality given a particular type of media (as signified by MIDs e.g. YUDEN000 T02, MCC0034, CMC MAG E01, etc.) is much more important...

defining your budget is the first step towards purchasing a DVD burner...close second is the type of media you plan on using (what you already have, what is widely available in your area, what you're willing to pay for, etc.) and third is feature set (bitsetting to DVD-ROM, ripping speeds, dual/double layer capabilities, etc.)

Plextors are definitely not for limited budgets...they also much prefer high quality media like Taiyo Yuden and Mitsubishi Chemicals to crap media like Prodisc, Ritek and (in certain MID cases) CMC Magnetics...but they do take top honors in the feature set department...Digital Audio Extraction is unrivaled (especially when using Plextools), GigaRec is a great feature for cramming more data/music on a CD, etc...

the BenQ 1640 has great features as well (like SolidBurn write strategy learning) and rip speeds are very high (16x for DVD+-R and even 16x for DL discs if you're willing to patch the firmware)...and is much cheaper...

NECs have questionable error checking/quality scanning and require the use of 3rd party modded firmware (i.e. Liggy & Dees hacks) to really bring out the best burn quality...

no experience with Lite-Ons but the newest model is said to be much better than LO's previous attempts at DVD burners...

LGs are purportedly great (and super fast) and have DVD-RAM ability (most brands' newer models are incl. at least DVD-RAM reading ability nowadays)...but no quality scanning...

there are a tons of variables involved with ODDs but the most important and most often ignored one is the media being used...if you value your data (particularly over long periods of time where dye degradation can be an issue), stick to Taiyo Yuden and at the very least Verbatim-branded MCC media...

sorry for the long post...

[RyderOCZ]

Hell with sorry for the long post..............very nice and informative IMO....thanks DrPino

[DrPino]

anytime! i love BE (even though i mostly lurk) and am happy to share any info i can with you guys...i know i've gleaned a ton from all you great peeps and love the maturity (yet relaxed) atmosphere here

[BB_One]

Wow, nearly skipped over this one as I thought the matter to be closed.


However we need to get admin to make a short resume of this and make sure DrPino is the prime info maker of it, for I for one among many I am sure have just been made aware of a few and quite appropriate facts.

Thxs DrPino.

[Dave3d]

I can back up DrPino's advice on the media for Plextor. I have the 740, and it is very picky about which media it will write with minimal errors. It seems to love the memorex dvd's (single or dual). The mid-range media does not fare so well. LOTS of coasters. My Sony does better better with the mid-range media, with hardly any coasters.
Not as informed or as informative as DrPino, but there is my 2 cents.

[traveler]

PX-760A/SA isn't currently available and launch has been delayed with a dubious ETA...the "replacement" model is the PX-755A/SA (probably 760s that didn't meet 18x spec, etc.) and is only avail in limited qtys in EU and JP...

the best "bang for the buck" dvd burner widely available right now is the benq 1640 and its many rebadged variants (plex 740, sony 810, hi val, etc. etc.)...

motherboard/SATA chipset controller compatibility with SATA ODDs is often an issue so if you don't NEED the simplified cable mgmt or that extra IDE port, i'd avoid them (there's no "speed" advantages to SATA ODDs...only cable mgmt, no jumpers, free IDE channels, etc.)...

http://club.cdfreaks.com

Where is that BenQ 1655 at ??? I can't find one anywhere!

[huncherman]

Great info DrPino!
I recently discovered the high quality of Taiyo Yuden media, and I found that you can get it at a good price here: Link.

[sodface]

Great info DrPino!
I recently discovered the high quality of Taiyo Yuden media, and I found that you can get it at a good price here: Link.

I got bit in the a$$ by media made by CMC Magnetics, and have been using Taiyo Yuden media since. I read that most disks made in Japan, regardless of the brand, have a pretty good chance of being Taiyo Yudens.

When I buy media now, I go to an actual store, look at where it is made and only buy the stuff made in Japan. Well, I've only done this once because I haven't gone through all the stock I bought the first time but the Maxells I bought then are actually Taiyo Yuden media.

//correction- the maxells I have are not TY's they are made in Japan by Maxell (MXL RG03) and have a good reputation for quality like TY does. My original point still stands - I'm buying made in Japan disks until somebody proves to me that it doesn't make a difference.

//correction 2- it was the made in Japan fujifilm DVD+R's I bought at the same time that are TY's. Sorry about that.

[DrPino]

@Dave3d, the Plextor 740 is actually a BenQ 1640 just with Plextor firmware (which in this case isn't as good as the BenQ firmware)... you can crossflash the firmware (and install BenQ's QSuite 2.1) to enable SolidBurn, a technology that is meant to "learn" better write strategies both for media IDs that are already present in the firmware and (more importantly) for those that aren't... this might help your burn quality but technically it does void the warranty... it also allows error checking via CD/DVD Speed (a free utility) which isn't possible when using the Plextor firmware....

if you're interested i recommend searching the BenQ and Plextor sections of CDFreaks for links to flashing utilities, firmware versions and scan comparisons... it may seem daunting at first, but i can try to answer any questions you may have...

also, the "brand" of media means very little...especially when it comes to Memorex...since most of them just stamp media produced by a handful of OEM producers with their own logos/etc... the MID is the important aspect of media and can vary widely even within the same brand/same media type (e.g. Memorex 16x DVD+R can have one of at least 3 different MIDs - PHILIPSC16, CMCMAGM01, MCC004, etc)...each MID will burn with different quality... DVD Identifier is a useful tool when trying to figure out what type of media you actually have: http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/


@traveler, BenQ 1655 seems to be readily available in EU but not so much here in N.America... looks like a nice drive but i think its main attraction is lightscribe which i've got no interest in whatsoever - long live the Sharpie!!

@huncherman, Supermediastore is one of many places to get unbranded TY media but many CDFreakers prefer Rima.com for better customer service, purportedly better consistency, etc... (www.resellerratings.com) ... i don't have experience ordering media online as i take sodface's approach and go to B&M stores so i can see the actual spindle (which can tell you what type of media it is - TY has distinct cakeboxes)...often times there are sales at Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples, etc. which can offer branded TY (Fuji, TDK, Sony, etc.) at the same or even better prices by taking advantage of stores' price matching policies...

again, some of this may seem a little daunting (i definitely thought it was at first) but i'm happy to answer any questions you guys may have if i can

[traveler]

Other than LightScribe, how does the BenQ 1655 compare to the BenQ 1650 ???

[DrPino]

not sure...from very prelim research it seems the specs are similar to the 1650...which isn't all that different from the 1640+Lightscribe...

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=155373
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=158634

[Timber Jockey]

Thx's guys for all the help

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