Replacing my CDRW - need recommendations (1 Viewer)

[John Thomas]

I was in Best Buy yesterday picking up dvds and ran across what appeared to be a good deal on a new CDRW. I think it was the Sony CRX-185E 32X10X40X. I've got an old Mitsumi 4802-TE (4x/4x/24x) and I've been debating on whether or not to replace it. The price, with rebate, was $69.99 I believe. Anyone else seen this or have any experience with this drive?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Dave E H]

I'd get this one -
(from www.techbargains.com)

Plextor 24x Writer, Jun 14
Amazon has the awesome Plextor PX-W2410TA/SW EIDE 24x10x40 CD-RW Drive only $89.97 - $20 rebate - $5 coupon = $64.97. Orders $99+ ship free. No tax in most states.

Plextor's rock the house. ALways my favorite optical drive maker - used to love my old 12plex caddy CD rom drive...

 

[Kami]

You can get LG drives for incredibly cheap and they are reliable drives. I've seen 32x10x40 LG drives for $80 Canadian...can't imagine how cheap it is in US$.

I've own two LG's in two seperate machines and one is about 2 years old and still works flawlessly.

 

[JJR512]

That certainly is a good price for that drive. I'd say to go for it. Just be aware that 40x drives are on the market as well, and I've already seen one 48x drive, so although 32x is an enormous improvement from what you've got, you're still buying behind the curve.

Plextor does make good drives, but for some strange reason they choose to saddle them with slow software. Plextor drives come with Roxio EZ CD Creator software, and tests show this to be up to 30 seconds slower than Nero Burning ROM. In fact, when the Plextor 40x drive first came out, Maximum PC tested it and it took 3:39 to burn a full 700MB disc. In comparison, a LiteOn 32x drive in the same issue took 3:26 to burn the same disc! Sure, that's only a 13 second difference, but the slower drive was faster, because of the software!

I'm pretty sure the Sony comes with Nero software, although I'm not absolutely certain of that. I'd be sure to check that out before you got it, though. Of course, if you already have Nero, then it doesn't really matter what software the drive comes with.

 

[Max Leung]

I'd second the LiteOn drives...really good burners. With the proper software they can make backups of even copy-protected CDs, but I'm not allowed to say anything more on the subject.

 

[JasenP]

I'm a BIG Lite-On fan. I have the 40X variety and I have burned over 200 discs with no problem thanks to the burn proof feature. I can burn an entire disc in about 3 minutes!!

I personally feel that Plextor is terribly overpriced considering that the Lite-On has the same features and quality for a lot less money.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

I'd go with Lite-On. Clickhere for a link to my current favorite e-tailer and scroll down to the 40x drive, model RTL40125S. The OEM version is $69.00, and the retail boxed version is $72.00. At these prices the darn things are nearly disposable. Amazingly fast too. I've burned full length CD's in 2.5 minutes, with 24x rated media!

 

[Jeff]

Does anyone know if Lite-On has a black CDRW drive? I'm also looking for one but it has to be black to match my case.


Thanks,


Jeff

 

[Max Leung]

Yep they certainly do! However, my local shop is charging nearly double the price of the regular drive for some stupid reason. So, be careful not to get gouged!

 

[Ken Garrison]

Go with the Sony. They make good equipment. I have a Sony 8x4x32x and it works great. Oh, I also have a Sony TC 377 reel to reel deck that's almost 30 years old and it's still running and sounding great.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Jeff,

Check out the link I posted. They have the black model available for $90.00, That's only $21 more than the OEM white version.

 

[JJR512]

In my opinion, if you're going to the top end, now is not the best time to buy a CD-RW drive. The reason I say that is that although 40x drives are still fairly new, I've already seen a 48x drive--on the shelf at Best Buy, no less!--and yes, that is 48x write, I double-checked to make sure I wasn't reading the read speed. It's the Benq ("inspired by Acer", whatever the hell that means) 48x/12x/48x drive, you can see it here: http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=...at=&e=11142356 I'm sure the other more notable brands won't be long with their own 48x drives, hence my statement that now's not a good time to buy. If you really want the best, wait for a major-label 48x drive.

 

[John Thomas]

Well, that's kinda why I was in the market. Because of the 48x drives coming out, it's knocking the prices of the 32/40 drives down. CDR/W drives, for me anyhow, don't need to be the latest/best model. Remember, I've got a 4x right now.

 

[Chris Bardon]

I'd avoid the LG drives. Actually, I've had nothing but problems with ALL of the newer drives I've tried. I had an LG 12x for about six hours before I got rid of it, as well as a couple others that just didn't work. None of them could make a disc that would read in my DVD Rom, DVD player, Playstation and CD player. Strangely enough though, my HP 7200i still does. This 2x drive has been a great investment (lasted me almost 4 years now)!

 

[JJR512]

I've never even heard of LG.

Brands that I would personally consider include Lite-On, TDK, and Plextor...maybe some others, but I'd try to find one of them first.

 

[Kami]

I'd avoid the LG drives. Actually, I've had nothing but problems with ALL of the newer drives I've tried. I had an LG 12x for about six hours before I got rid of it, as well as a couple others that just didn't work. None of them could make a disc that would read in my DVD Rom, DVD player, Playstation and CD player. Strangely enough though, my HP 7200i still does. This 2x drive has been a great investment (lasted me almost 4 years now)!

Funny, I personally own two LG's with no problems (one is like 2 years old now) and I've built 2 other systems with them and no problems yet. You just got a bad one. What was your problem with the 12x?
Their 12x model also has a nice 8meg buffer, so unless you have a real POS computer, buffer underruns won't happen. As for disc compatibility, what software and what brand CD-Rs are you using? My LG burned CDs play in both an ancient CD player and burned SVCDs and VCDs play in my Panasonic DVD player which is really picky for that stuff

I've heard good things about Liteon too...so I will probably try them when/if my LG ever craps out on me.

 

[Jeff]

Kieran,

Thanks for the heads up. Too bad Newegg doesn't ship internationally, they would double their business.

 

[SteveBjr]

Plextor & Lite On both make great CDRW Drives. I have a Plextor and i love it, i've also built a few computers with Lite On drives and they are very nice as well.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Jeff... woops sorry.
1) I didn't realize you were in Canada, and even if I had...
2) I didn't realize that Newegg wouldn't ship to Canada.

Bummer. Their loss, I guess.

 

[Nick L]

Just an FYI LiteOn is the company that actually makes the plextor drives. Plextor just puts a different badge on it. So when you buy a liteon your buying a plextor and vice versa.