Newbie Dilemma Liteon 52327S or LG 8520B?

[CDRecorder]

I'm sorry to hear that, Cfitz.

I certainly won't contradict your experience, but I will add that I've purchased four Lite-On drives (four CD-RWs) in the past two years, and none have broken or been found to be defective. I could just be lucky, though.

[cfitz]

I would probably say it is more likely that I am unlucky.

To be fair, the two defective 52327S drives were both bought at Circuit City stores in my area within two weeks. I got them at different stores, but both stores are relatively close together, so it could just be that the local Circuit City warehouse got one bad batch of drives that went out to all the local stores.

Furthermore, neither 52327S was totally DOA. One burned with lots of C2 errors and also read with poorer quality. The other couldn't burn 48x TY media any faster than 32x. Whether or not I enabled SMART-BURN, it always limited the burn speed to 32x about halfway through the burn.

Take a look at a comparison of a good 52327S (drive 0) to one I rejected as having insufficient quality (drive 1 - the first one of which I spoke in the last paragraph):

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cfitz771/ ... ults_1.htm

As I said, I still like a lot things about Lite-On drives, but I am just a bit gun-shy about their quality control.

cfitz

[aznmidnite]

To answer some of your questions, aznmidnite:

The media compatibility for LG drives is just as good as Lite-On, if not better. The only sputters worth mentioning that I have seen are with some Lite-On drives and CMC media. Case in point, the LTR-52246S choked on Imation CMC discs rated 24X, 32X, and 40X. Are CMC discs the best? No, although I expect better results with Imation discs as they are some of the better CMC discs out there.

I do know that LG will honor the warranty with OEM drives. LG gladly accepted my broken OEM GCE-8320B and sent me a replacement drive. Since several people have documented that Lite-On's tech support is not very good, you may not be able to get an RMA# if you can't contact them. The chance that you'll receive a lemon drive is not high at all, but in case you are worried, order from a reputable vendor (like Newegg.com) that will send you a replacement drive hassle-free. That way, you can totally avoid Lite-On and go through the vendor for warranty issues.

While this post seems biased toward LG, it is only because I am a die-hard LG supporter, as stated before. The fact of the matter is, you can't go wrong with either LG or Lite-On. If I was in your shoes, I would pick the LG simply because it is a few bucks cheaper than the Lite-On. Speaking as a recent college graduate without a job, I could put the few bucks I saved on the drive toward more important things like FOOD!

Great, first I was leaning towards Lite on...now LG... and again, can't decide. I do have some blank CMC media already (and there are alot of CMC made ones near where I live in Canada), however, in those tests done by Ian, looks like the CMC performed well. However, in the media compatibility thread, there were more brands of CMC tested with the LG, compared to Lite on. How about those c1 and c2 errors with the LG? The review stated that LG had more errors than the Liteon, or has that been corrected my more recent firmware (the reviews were done in the past, and at different times)?

Thanks.

[CDRecorder]

Take a look at a comparison of a good 52327S (drive 0) to one I rejected as having insufficient quality (drive 1 - the first one of which I spoke in the last paragraph):

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cfitz771/ ... ults_1.htm

As I said, I still like a lot things about Lite-On drives, but I am just a bit gun-shy about their quality control.

cfitz

I agree, something seemed wrong with "Drive 1" in your testing. You're probably right when you say that Circuit City just got a bad batch of drives. Either that, or Circuit City treated the drives badly, and they got damaged. That reminds me of some hard drives I bought last summer. I bought three Maxtor 30GB hard drives in a row from my local CompUSA, and all three were defective. Actually, I should say that the second was gotten in exchange for the first, and the third was gotten in exchange for the second. I chose those drives because my four other Maxtors had been reliable. A few weeks later, I bought a very similar Maxtor 40GB drive at Office Depot, and it worked perfectly.

[TheWizard]

Media media media

It's the answer to about 90% of people's inquiries on these forums. Sure, the Lite-On produced less errors than the LG with certain media, but I guarantee there is other media that produced less errors in the LG than the Lite-On.

You know what I think you need to do, aznmidnite, purchase BOTH drives! You already exclaimed more than once that you can't decide. So, be on the fence no longer! Take the plunge and get both the LG and Lite-On!

[aznmidnite]

Hmmm...I would buy both drives, test them out, and return the one I didn't want! But then again, I don't know about the return policy @ the place I am buying them at (not Future Shop, which I had no problems returning my last CDRW drive - Mitsumi 485gte).

[CDRecorder]

Media media media

It's the answer to about 90% of people's inquiries on these forums. Sure, the Lite-On produced less errors than the LG with certain media, but I guarantee there is other media that produced less errors in the LG than the Lite-On.

Absolutely right; I should have mentioned that, too.

You know what I think you need to do, aznmidnite, purchase BOTH drives! You already exclaimed more than once that you can't decide. So, be on the fence no longer! Take the plunge and get both the LG and Lite-On!

That is definitely not a bad idea if you want to have the benefits of both drives!

Edit: I just saw your post, Aznmidnite. You could always keep both drives, too!

[aznmidnite]

But I don't think I need two drives!

Btw, as far as media compatibility I know there is the media compatibility thread, and the reviews of the drives, but have they been updated recently? I was wondering how they handle those what some people call "low end" CDRs made by CMC (seeing as I have an unsused 50 spindle of Memorex 48X CMCs!)? Seems like the cheaper CDRs here in Canada are made by CMC. Unless someone can tell me what other brands I can buy in Canada (Vancouver area).

Darn it.......should I just flip a coin to decide which drive?

[CDRecorder]

Darn it.......should I just flip a coin?

Maybe...

Seriously, I'll come right out and say it: I think you should get the Lite-On. The media compatibility is good, the write quality is good, and there are good tools, such as KProbe, available for the Lite-On drive that won't work with the LG.

Those are some of the important reasons that I like my Lite-On drives (all four of them, hopefully soon to be five).

[CDRecorder]

With firmware QS09, the LTR-52327S will almost certainly write to your Memorex 48x discs at 52x, and the write quality will probably be just fine. With QS0A, there's no telling whether it will write those discs at 40x or 52x. With QS0A, my LTR-52327S writes "newer" 48x CMC discs at 52x, but "older" 48x CMC discs are limited to 40x.

[aznmidnite]

Ok, so is the "recommended" firmware for the Liteon the QS09?

So those people getting all these c1 and c2 errors, are probably just from defective units?

I think I'll buy one of the drives later today...

[CDRecorder]

I don't know if there is a "recommended" firmware version, but you can find out a lot about this subject here.

[TheWizard]

Btw, as far as media compatibility I know there is the media compatibility thread, and the reviews of the drives, but have they been updated recently?

The Media Compatibility List is constantly updated.

[aznmidnite]

I was looking around at reviews again, and PCWorld rated the LG (#1 & #2) in the top 10. They did review a Liteon LTR52246S (which placed 6th), but they did not review the 52327S. That really puzzles me. Then again, maybe they never got one to test.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,110332,00.asp

[aviationwiz]

PC World doesn't do good Optical Drive reviews. You need to look at Ian's reviews if you want good reviews.

[CDRecorder]

I agree that PC World doesn't test many of the things that Ian tests in his reviews. I don't think I've ever heard PC World mention writing quality (C1 and C2 errors) or media compatibility, and I've read PC World for more than five years.

[aznmidnite]

And to add more of a dilemma for me, the new LG GCE-8525B (52X32X52) came down in price where I live...well about $6.00 more (before taxes) than the Lite On 52327S.

But I haven't seen any reviews for the 8525B. Ok, I guess I'll just make up my darn mind and get the 52327S...I think!

[aznmidnite]

Ok. Latest update. I was this close to getting the Lite-On 52327S, but ended up ordering the new LG 8525B from Future Shop. It was on sale for $47.99 (CDN) after rebates. It should be coming in the mail in a couple days.

I know, there aren't any reviews on it yet, so it was kind of risky. But it shouldn't be that bad, right? Plus Future Shop has a decent return policy incase I don't like it.

I'll let you guys know how it is. I hope it's decent!

[cfitz]

Sounds good, and yes I think you will be happy with it. Since you are the first, maybe you can write a mini-review for the rest of us!

cfitz

[aznmidnite]

I will definitely post my findings! Although the only blank CDR media I have is some 48X 700MB Memorex (CMC).

I'm eagerly awaiting it!

[CDRecorder]

I'm glad to hear that you've ordered your new drive!

I hope it works well for you, and I'm sure it will!

[aznmidnite]

Hi all,
Thanks again for all your input. I'll run some tests as soon as I have it, and have it installed.

Thanks again for your time.

[TheWizard]

aznmidnite: casey said he owned a GCE-8525B and, like his other LG drives, he had this to say about them:

LG rocks,
I have LG8520, 8523 & 8525 (the only drive I fit to PC's I Build) and the build quality is tops. Quiet, solid, excellent tray mechanism and very, very quiet when burning.
I.M.H.O. far better fit and finish than any Liteon I have come accross.

So, you can't go wrong.

[aznmidnite]

Hi all,
Thanks for pointing that out TheWizard, it gives me some faith that the writer will be at least decent!

Thanks again.

[epony]

If I may interject late in play, I too have had the "pleasure" of being undecided on the LG/LiteOn matter for many weeks now...

eventually, I bought the LG 8523B, but for no better reason than the fact that my 8824S Yamaha died after 3.5 years of intesive use, right before a 12-CD burning project with a 5-hour deadline!!

So, without much deliberance I literally ran down from my appartment to the local computer shop and bought the only 52x drive they had in stock.

The only pause was to decide on whether I should purchase the combo CDRW/DVD drive or the "plain" - and decided to go for the plain, since DVD isn't my main concern right now.

I will of course lament in due time (say, a week) on my not purchasing a DVD recorder - but since they didn't have any in the store and I had my deadline, I might try to replace it after the weekend's crucial burns...

Anyhow, I'm going to dive into my burning odissey, and let you all know how it went (installation was a mere 5-10 mins. and really not worth mentioning)

Adios,

Epony