DVD drive (1 Viewer)

[Paul McElligott]

I have a 3-year-old Sony OEM 4x DVD burner in my computer. Currently, it's kind of hit and miss whether or not it will play a DVD.

Question #1: Do you think I have a problem with my drive?

Question #2: Whose got the most reliable internal DL burner?

 

[RyanCC]

it should play, mine is > 3 years old and it still works... i would say to check the software.

as for dvd burners, there are 3 manufacturers i would recommend: pioneer*, lite on, and nec.

the pioneer dvd burner is supposedly quiter than the lite on, but i have no complaints with mine.

i got mine from newegg for like 40 bucks w/ free shipping.

 

[Jordan_Brulotte]

I also would recomend lite on and pioneer. I use the slot load pioneer 106s and like it a lot. It can be noisey on startup when it spins fast, but at movie watching it runs much quieter.

 

[Paul McElligott]

I have no less than 3 options, including WinDVD and Windows Media Player. If one doesn't work, none of them work.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

then it's the drive. lite on, pioneer, plextor, nec, they all make quality drives. buy the cheapest.

CJ

 

[Ken Chui]

I'm happy with my SONY DRU-810A, which is actually a rebadged BenQ DW1640, an Editor's Choice on both CDFreaks.com and CDRLabs.com. I bought the SONY burner because the DW1640 was discontinued (since replaced by the DW1655, which I bought recently for my work PC) and near impossible to find online for a decent price. I could probably crossflash the DRU-810A's firmware with the DW1640's to take advantage of the tools suite available for BenQ drives, but I'm content with the DRU-810A's performance at this time.

As a current Lite-On and former Pioneer user, I would also recommend offerings from these companies, as well as NEC and Plextor. Keep in mind that some models from one or more companies may be rebadged units from other companies and may lack some of the features of their original counterparts, so you'll need to do some research before setting out on a purchase. Not all of the models in a manufacturer's lineup are up to snuff (e.g. the BenQ DQ60 and Plextor PX-750A are Teac clones and subpar performers), which is another reason to do a bit of homework beforehand. If you plan on watching non-R1 DVDs on your DVD drive, some manufacturers make this option less cumbersome (*unofficially*) than others, so that may be something to consider as well.

 

[Ed Moxley]

Of the three you mentioned, I'd take the LiteOn or NEC. The only reason I'd stay away from the Pioneer, is because they don't booktype, and the other two do.
Good luck!
Keep us posted?

 

[John_RO]

I have a Memorex which is a rebranded NEC. Love it. Dual layer, 16X, and it comes with Nero 6. I got it for 60 bucks with rebates.

 

[Reginald Trent]

I'm happy with my SONY DRU-800 that I bought from newegg. I would suggest that you read the reviews of users on the newegg site. I also suggest you read reviews at newegg on DL media to see which DL drive has the most problems burning DL disc.

 

[Rommel_L]

Something like this would be a good replacement...

 

[Paul McElligott]

Hell of a price.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I bought one of those NEC 3550A and am very happy with it (I did flash the BIOS with hacked firmware on it so I could set the bitset the booktype to DVD-ROM for DVD+Rs.)