LG 4120B or LiteOn 832S

[SA]

This will be my first DVD burner. I'll use it for backups and home movies. So nothing terribly serious. I'm also choosing from what newegg has for under $100. From reading all of the posts, I think I have it down to the LG 4120B or the LiteOn 832S. I'm leaning toward the LG, but the lack of the full Nero software is holding me back. I have NERO 5, but would like the new version. So I need advice on the final decision. Feel free to offer other options I've overlooked. I've counted out Optorite, but haven't seen too much about NEC drives.

LG: I like the idea of DVD RAM for backup and 12X +R sounds good. but booktyping possiblities are still unclear to me. Does it do it or not. I'll need my burns to be as compatible as possible and the booktyping sounds like it will help. (new baby videos to send to relatives). Firmware updates seem rarer and are bit riskier to do with LG drives. Also seems to use a lot more of the CPU tahn other drives. Also saw some mention that its writing protocol was not the protocol of choice.

LiteOn: It's $15 bucks cheaper and comes with full NERO. More frequent and safer firmware upgrades. Cons-no DVD-RAM, slower than the 12X LG, but a minute or two won't kill me. Also sounds like it has disk compatibility issues and a lower ripping quality .

[Justin42]

You won't need booktyping if you use DVD-R discs, which IN MY EXPERIENCE (please no format wars ) are much more compatible than +R discs anyway. I know some people swear that setting the booktype on +R discs increases compatibility, but in my experience a player will either read a recordable disc (of either format) or it won't (of either format). The very few players that have preferences seem to prefer -R.

The LiteOns are great for what they do-- i.e., KProbe testing and the like. But I've always thought of them as "good for being so cheap" as opposed to "cheap for being so good", if that makes any sense. They're not BAD burners, I've just never thought of their quality as being in the same league as the Pioneers, Plextors, etc, of the optical disc world.

LiteOn definitely updates their firmware more, but they also seem to have occasional botched firmware. I haven't followed LG much but am very tempted to get a 4120 for the DVD-RAM capabilities. The LG does not booktype, but I believe there is some OLD prototype firmware for it out there that does allow it. (which of course negates the advantages of firmware updates!)

I wouldn't worry about the CPU utilization of any of the burners, but then again, I very very rarely try to do anything else while burning. Too many years of CD burning have that ingrained in my head, whether or not it's still the case!

Sorry this doesn't help clear up your decision, just some more food for thought.

[Kennyshin]

@Justin42

If you don't want any "war", why not say which players are able to read DVD+R and which players are able to read DVD-R and which players are not able to read DVD+R and which players are not able to read DVD-R and what happens when all DVD+R disks are bitsetted to DVD-ROM?

Two of my DVD players can read DVD+R and DVD+RW. One is Toshiba and the other is Pioneer. Both are rather old models and Toshiba is known for their DVD-RAM and DVD-R/-RW support while Pioneer is the biggest DVD-R/-RW supporter. They can even read my DVD+R DL disks burned with Lite-On and LG DL drives.

@SA

Setting booktype value to DVD-ROM does help in many situations. You can read about the history at dvdplusrw.org FAQ about compatibilities. DVD+R/+RW bitsetting has been one of the most discussed subjects at dvdplusrw.org forums since late 2001 though most of the threads that were there in 2001 and 2002 I cannot find, sadly. Read what the codeguys at rpc1.org and CDfreaks say about Lite-On's bitsetting utilities and their own OmniPatcher's "auto bitsetting" features. I always try to burn DVD+R/+RW disks as DVD-ROM when it's allowed. Sometimes the scan results seem to be better. Both Lite-On drives, at least all I know of the current Lite-On DVD writers, and LG GSA-4120B can do that though it may not be the factory-default.

The CPU usage on LG GSA-4120B can't be a problem in my opinion. It never has been a problem to me and I haven't heard actual complaint about it from any GSA-4120B user since April.

I don't know what protocol you said about is not the protocol of the choice. What's protocol in a DVD writer? Z-CLV vs. P-CAV? Z-CLV is slower than P-CAV especially when writing at 12x and 16x but P-CAV writers usually cost somewhat more than GSA-4120B.

There are basically two LG DVD writesr on the market today. GSA-4082B and GSA-4120B. Both will be forgotten soon because LG's more focused on 16x writers naturally, like everyone else. I have had access to at least 8 to 10 different firmware for 4120B alone from April to July. The latest 4082B firmware version is A206 which was released some weeks ago. LG at Pyungtaek told us yesterday that they are working on a CD writer firmware to improve writing on some low-cost CD-R media. Is LG firmware updates still a problem? Compare that to Lite-On's 1213S which I also have used for some time.

The buying decision should be more based on the need of DVD-RAM, 12x speed, low-cost 4x DVD+R and 4x DVD-R media, and price. They are the main differences. Kprobe is another thing. LG can do DVD-RAM and 12x speed. Lite-On 832S can be used with Kprobe PI/PIF scanning and they are able to write to certain 4x media at 8x. The $15 diference may mean something or not.

By the way, I was also comparing prices at newegg.com a while ago. Newegg has a price tag of US$97 for retail GSA-4120B. It's cheaper than South Korean GSA-4120B price but a little higher than Japanese price. You know what I'm implying.

[shimman]

for 8x media @8x & 12x writing, lg's writing quality is simply amazing. cdrw writing has little trouble but i think @ lower speed, it would be ok with less than good quality cdr
go to cdrinfo.com & cdrlabs.com for reviews on lg's 12x system, but i would wait for couple of month for next gen systems if you don't need the burner right now

[Frequency]

What do you think of Nec ND-2510 DVD±RW/DL? Im planning to buy that.

[Halc]

SA,

if you want as trouble free operation as possible, without hassling with hacked firmware, 3rd party modifications and hanging around in forums like these weekly to check what works and what doesn't, I suggest the LG as a more likely better option.

Why? Because it's stock firmware has been proven to produce discs that are more within specifications for a larger number of media than LiteOn burners have (ref: c't and PC Pro magazines test).

It is debatable, that 3rd party (and even LiteOn's own later) firmware are also quite good, but this has not been verified by trusted 3rd parties.

I'd recommend Nec as a reasonable option as well, but there seems to be some problems with it's reading capabilities (to some people even on high quality media). As such, I'm a personally little weary at this time of suggesting it as a good choice to people who want easy and carefree use.

Best of luck with your choice!

[Kennyshin]

Somewhere in Japan, there was a rumor of GSA-4160B appearing in mid-July. I read that at a Kakaku.com comment board. Obviously, it there has been some delay. If the original plan for GSA-4160B was for July release, LG must have had trouble selling all GSA-4120B in the second quarter. They probably have too many unsold units of GSA-4120B. Or, they haven't finalized GSA-4160B to produce yet.

Anyway, it's not that far now. In South Korea and Japan, it's already August!

[SA]

Any Price guesses for the 4160 ?

I can wait a few weeks, but if I do, I may spend my money may be gone for a bit.

I'm serously leaning toward the LG now, but the Nero thing is holding me back. For DVD authoring, is Nero Express really missing anything that the full version would have ? For CD burning, I have both (5.0 versions) but i mainly use the Express features.

[Justin42]

Just to clarify my post, it's been at least a year since I did serious format testing of DVD-R vs. DVD+R on my players. As such, I don't remember the absolute specifics, and things may have changed (quality of media, current burner quality, firmware, etc). I basically found out that I didn't need to worry about bitsetting, as if a player played ANY recordable disc, it usually played both formats. I remember an Apex player and my Xbox as having issues reading DVD+R (they played it but had some issues, for all I know it was media)

Strangely, DVD+RW seemed MUCH more compatible than DVD-RW.

Basically... I found bitsetting wasn't really worth it (For me) because I could just use DVD-R discs, get nearly 100% compatibility, and not have to worry about tweaking settings for burning. Also, (in my opinion) I can get higher quality DVD-R media than DVD+R (which improves compatibility-- I can easily get high quality made in Japan Maxell and Taiyo Yuden, which are harder to find in +R formats, although not as much anymore), so it was a no brainer that in my situation, DVD-R was the way to go. I still use DVD+R discs for data backups and the like, but anything being played on a set top box goes to a -R.

I have no experience with dual layer discs, as it sounds like bitsetting *does* help there. But I can't speak for that either way.

I'm glad it sounds like the LG is producing good quality burns as I am still seriously debating it to go along with my Pioneer in order to have DVD-RAM capabilities. (why can't ONE company come out with ONE drive that does high quality burns, DVD-RAM, bitsetting support, AND PI/PO scanning support? I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

[wicked1]

if your willing to hold of a few weeks why not wait for the pioneer a08 16x16x4xDL drive? I havent owned a pioneer yet that hasnt been awesome. The 832S is ok. I have one and its main use is Kprobe at the moment. I use my pioneers 90% of the time since I burn only dvd-r and they are excellent at that.

[SA]

Is the Pioneer going to fall in my <$100 range. As far as I can see, an extra 4X only buys me about a minute in burning single layer. I'm most concerned with burn quality and compatibility.

[kirpen]

If you are planning on using your drive for -r only I would warn that you must buy top of the line discs. If you want to use both type of discs then bitsetting is almost a must. I thought +r was very compatible when I got my first drive only to find out it was bitsetting by default. My second drive didn't have bitsetting and that's when I found 2 of my 3 players don't like +r. Now I use a drive that has bitsetting so I'm never at the mercy of media.

[Justin42]

J&R has the Pioneer A07 for $109 with a $40 rebate, if you can swing a few extra bucks for shipping ($5) and NY tax, if applicable... $69 for a really high quality burner is a great deal. (I picked one up and have had good luck with it so far, but I only use really high quality media-- if it ain't worth the ~20 cent price difference, it's not worth me burning. )

[wicked1]

If you are planning on using your drive for -r only I would warn that you must buy top of the line discs. If you want to use both type of discs then bitsetting is almost a must.

Not true at all with a pioneer. If its somewhat round and somewhat reflective it will burn it. I use the cheapest discs I can get my hands on 90% of the time and the burns come out fine even when a 4x is overclocked to 8x. When I say cheap I mean Longten cheap.That is the whole reason I like the pioneers so well. I have yet to see another brand that I have owned burn dvd-r's of extremely low quality with decent results. Dream on with the liteon. Mine chokes on the same discs at 4X that the pioneers both burn fine even at 8x in my 107d.