Well, the fastest burner I've seen by far is the LG 4163B, but the speed comes with a drawback: The discs burned at 12x or 16x often have very higher jitter and assymetry error rates, which reduce compatability on picky DVD players, and ESPECIALLY on console game systems (PS2, XBox).Boss_Scorpius wrote:Umm.....DD I've read numerous reviews and still can't find out what dvd burner to buy. Can you recommend a burner which is fast in dvd read/write, and isn't picky about the media and has all the vital features (I don't even know whether I need a certain feature or not, I don't have dvd burning exprience)?
I need the burner mainly for data backup (just burning off bunch of iso images in my HD to save some space), occasional Dvd movie backup and burning.
Thanks and sorry it this has been already posted by someone, there were some recommendations in this 100 page thread but they're not very recent, so I thought I would ask again in case new burners came out that are better.
The LG 4167B seems to be an excellent replacement for the previous LG 4163B. It keeps the speed, but manages to solve most of the jitter problems seen in previous models. I don't have one of these drives, but I have been highly encouraged by the testing (properly done testing!) I've seen done on media this drive has burned.
Possibly the most compatible DVD Burner is the BenQ DW1640, which is capable of producing usable results on even some of the worst optical media. Another large benefit to the BenQ DW1640 is that it supports automatic bitsetting for all DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R9 media, which greatly increases the compatability of DVD+R/RW/9 media on older players that could not normally support it. This is the only drive that will do this automatically for all types of DVD+R media. Other additional features of the BenQ DW1640 are available as well through the free software put out by BenQ called QSuite. It includes QScan, which tests unburned media to tell you how fast the optimum burn speed is (note, this result changes with different firmwares!). SolidBurn, which allows you to re-write recording strategies for various media types if the results you get normally are not very good (this can happen when BenQ receives one grade quality of media to base their write strategy on, but another grade quality of media is commonly sold). Overspeed, which allows the drive to attempt to burn any +R or -R (single layer) disc at 16x, although the speed will be throttled if the drives sees it as neccessary. There are other features as well, but those are the main ones
If you are planning on only using high quality media, and don't mind paying more for it, then the absolute best burn quality you can get will probably come from the Plextor PX-716a.
The Pioneer DVR-110D is NOT recommended. The DVR-109 is a MUCH better burner, but not available anymore. Anyone considering buying the DVR-110D should look at my review here on it first.
My personal recommendation is the BenQ DW1640, but keep in mind there are pro's and con's for each drive, so while I prefer the DW1640 and it works well for me, you may find your tastes are better satisfied by a different drive.
EDIT: Current recommendations are BenQ DW1650/DW1655, Pioneer DVR-111, and Plextor PX-760.
The BenQ has awesome features, and can burn some media quite well that no other drive can ever make work. Pioneer's build quality is generally better, although the media support is lacking in comparison to Pioneer. Plextor's build quality is generally the best of the 3 (meaning less RMA's), and they also include some funky tools (Plextools). BenQ and Plextor support media testing, the Pioneer doesn't (officially, and the unofficial testing ability is crap).
Current DVD Burner Suggestion? Stick with Pioneer
Current suggested recordable media?
CD-Rs = Maxell CD-R Pro, Verbatim Datalife+, Falcon Media Pro
DVD
Current suggested recordable media?
CD-Rs = Maxell CD-R Pro, Verbatim Datalife+, Falcon Media Pro
DVD