DVD for HTPC (1 Viewer)

[Mark Nguyen]

Hi guys,

What DVD would you guys recommend getting for HTPC? I've heard Toshiba and Pioneer, but would like to hear from guys with actual experience with theirs and how great it's working out for them. Anyone use external ones?

I am not looking to get a cheap one...I rather pay up front and get a quality one.


Thanks,

Mark

 

[Matt Stryker]

Never used an external one....I used a Samsung drive originally, but it stuttered and juddered a lot. I switched to a Pioneer 10x-S (think its the 106) and have had zero problems, and you can use a special utility provided by Pioneer to slow down the drive so it is virtually silent. I got mine from Directron, they had the black one which matched my HTPC case.

 

[Sacha_C]

Where can I get this slow down program? I never heard of it and have a pioneer DVD.

 

[Max Leung]

CD-Brake is another shareware/freeware program that can accomplish the same thing. The only problem is that the homepage and software instructions are in German! But, it does work. I use it on my Toshiba laptop.

http://www.cd-bremse.de/

BTW, I have a Toshiba SD-M1612 DVD-ROM drive. Very nice drive, highly regarded for its excellent fast-reading capability and compatibility with many CD copy-protection schemes.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

I also have the Toshiba SD-M1612 and it is great.

When playing a DVD movie it automatically slows down to 2x for super-quiet operation, without a slow-down utility.

 

[Matt Stryker]

You can get the utility here:

http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur/suppo...ftware#fdvdrom

look all the way at the bottom, for the DVDUtils download.

 

[Brian Ruth]

Mark... dunno about the brand difference. My guess is Pioneer would be slightly better.

If you don't mind paying a bit more, I think you can get a Pioneer DVD-R drive for under $300, and a Sony OmniDrive (which writes both + and - formats) for about $350. If you plan on archiving lots of media (ESPECIALLY video), either one could be quite a worthwhile way to spend your money.

As far as internal/external... I'd stay with internal, but if you MUST do an external drive, make sure your computer has a firewire port and/or a USB 2.0 port. The speed difference is worth the extra few bucks it takes to drop in a PCI card.

 

[Joe Hays]

I have been using the Pioneer and it works great. For a software DVD player, I use the TheaterTek program. It is easy to install and has the best picture quality I have seen so far with a HTPC.

If you don't know about TheaterTek, look here:

http://www.theatertek.com/

 

[Mark Nguyen]

thanks guys.

Mark