Which drive to get?

[kling]

Hi there... I have not been following the news about DVD burner over the past 4-6 months... too much work, but am in the market for a new drive. Which one would you recommend on a fairly economical budget (I would love a Plextor, but the price seems to steep right now). Thanks in advance for your help.

[ItalianJob]

I just buy a BenQ 1620 OEM for QScan and PI/PIF/jitter scan possibilities, bitsetting, official overspeeds, good burning quality on +R and -R now too, DL 4X and good support team (numerous firmare updates).

I find one for 47 euros, with a BenQ CD (Nero 6.6 OEM, QScan, ...).

My NEC 2510 is now retired...

[Scour]

Hello!

Do you burn more DVD-R or DVD+R? For -R I recommend a Pioneer or LG-drive, for +R a Benq.

NEC and Plextor seems to be good for DVD+R and -R, Plextor is expensive but it offers many features like HDBurn, Q-Check etc.

[kling]

thanks for the replies. I usually prefer to burn DVD-R, due to its better compatibility on general DVD readers.... I am also not predominantly interested in sheer speed, but rather write quality.

[Scour]

Hello!

I think No. 1 choice for you is the Pioneer 109. The LG 4163 is a good choice, too, but the 4165 with better specs is soon hit the market

[ItalianJob]

- Pioneer are very bad PI/PIF scanners.

- NEC 3520/3520 reports PI/PIF but not jitter.

- BenQ reports PI/PIF and jitter (and as an amazing QSuite/QScan functionnality before the burn).

See CD-DVD Speed supported drive : http://www.cdspeed2000.com/go.php3?link=cdspeed30.html

[Scour]

- Pioneer are very bad PI/PIF scanners.

- NEC 3520/3520 reports PI/PIF but not jitter.

- BenQ reports PI/PIF and jitter (and as an amazing QSuite/QScan functionnality before the burn).

See CD-DVD Speed supported drive : http://www.cdspeed2000.com/go.php3?link=cdspeed30.html

He want a burner with good quality, not a drive for testing it, I think

[ItalianJob]

He can get both

[kling]

I read the Benq's review on CDRlabs.com, but noted some problems with certain brands... is that sorted out by recent firmware updates? My main concern is burn quality, not speed. Also the 1620 has been out for quite some time... are newer models more up-to-date?

[dolphinius_rex]

The BenQ DW1620 has some problems burning CD-Rs, so if you plan on burning lot's of CD-Rs, it'd be a bad choice. It also has some big problems with burning Prodisc DVD-R media.

Also, the firmwares for the drive are a bit all over the place. Probably the most stable firmware is B7P9, but B7S9 and B7T9 also have their strong points. But if you buy the burner, stick on B7P9 and stay away from most CD-Rs and Prodisc DVD-Rs, it'll do pretty well for you.