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What's the lifespan of CDRW writers?

PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2004 3:07 am
by eranros
I've searched for this on many forums, and only found some personal remarks, no hard data.
Does anyone know how long these drives are supposed to last? Now that writing speeds have reached a plateau, more or less, the rate limiting factor becomes the drive's lifespan. (In the beginning of this technology, you knew that you would probably replace the drive with a faster one before it dies). I know that the drives have some specification of how many hours they can work, some even have it written on them, or in the manual, but is there any study with real life usage?
I recently heard a rumor that Samnsung CDRW break down after about a year or so. Has anyone had that experience, or read something about it?
I'll be happy to read your opinions and experience, and mostly if you can post links to actual testing in the area.

PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2004 9:29 am
by Kitto
As liteon mentioned in their website, they said their burner can use for 70000 hours.

PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2004 2:32 pm
by TheWizard
No hard facts, just like there are no hard facts supporting how long CD-R discs last. There are plenty of speculations based on individual users' scenarios, but nothing hardcore yet. Just because a company says a drive will last for 70,000 hours doesn't mean it necessarily will. It could last for more or less than that figure.

The problem with finding hard data is that there are so many variables. Each person uses their writer differently. Some people mistreat their burner, whereas others may barely use it. A person who mistreats their burner will report a low lifespan; a person who rarely uses their writer will report a high lifespan. I haven't even taken into account the many variables that are put in place before the user gets his hands on it. For example, maybe the QA on a particular batch of burners was not good, therefore that batch may fail quicker than other batches. Perhaps something occurred during the shipment of the item, either from the overseas manufacturing plant to the United States warehouse, or from the warehouse to the retail store.

PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2004 2:53 pm
by dolphinius_rex
Realistically, a drive should last you at least 3 years of moderate use, under good conditions. In most cases it will be more then this I believe, and in some circumstances it will be less then this. Sometimes drives are deffective, and sometimes drives get dirty and gummed up, and this can cause premature failure. A good drive might last you 10 years if properly kept up! I know Yamaha has made some pretty awsome drives in the past, even some of their very first drives to come out have been known to still be in operation for some people!

It's too bad you can't bring your burner in for a "tune up" though :roll:

PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2004 11:48 pm
by burninfool
I have a Cyberdrive CW058D that's almost 3 years old and is still going strong,my Lite-On LTR-52246S is only 1.5 years old and is starting to slow down and make noise.
Moral of the story...Don't expect a Lite-On to last very long. :wink:

PostPosted: Tue May 25, 2004 12:26 am
by TheWizard
dolphinius_rex wrote:A good drive might last you 10 years if properly kept up! I know Yamaha has made some pretty awsome drives in the past, even some of their very first drives to come out have been known to still be in operation for some people!


Aye, I know some old-school HP burners still in operation. They are ancient by today's standards, but still chugging along!

PostPosted: Tue May 25, 2004 12:40 am
by dolphinius_rex
burninfool wrote:I have a Cyberdrive CW058D that's almost 3 years old and is still going strong,my Lite-On LTR-52246S is only 1.5 years old and is starting to slow down and make noise.
Moral of the story...Don't expect a Lite-On to last very long. :wink:


I don't think that's very fair... I've known Plextor's to die quicker, and Plextor doesn't have a bad rep for lifespan. Everydrive is it's own, and performs according to its' components. My most trustworthy drive currently in ownership is my LiteON 48125W, which has seen thousands of burns, even MORE K-Probe test runs (which do work to kill the laser over time) and I've been using it for about 2 years now. My longest living drive was a Yamaha 4416 that lasted me about 5 years before I gave it to a friend, and it lasted a while after that even!

PostPosted: Tue May 25, 2004 1:24 am
by wicked1
my old philips omniwriter (2X) is still chugging along in my dads computer. Burns pretty good quality still too. Its about 6 or 7 yrs old and seen ALOT of discs.Kprobe scans still look good.

PostPosted: Tue May 25, 2004 4:00 am
by vinnie97
Yamaha 4416


This drive is a workhorse for sure. I still have one (it's currently laying dormant) but it was operational as of last year when my TDK-rebadged Lite On drive died without even a year of use. :roll:

PostPosted: Tue May 25, 2004 10:34 am
by dolphinius_rex
vinnie97 wrote:
Yamaha 4416


This drive is a workhorse for sure. I still have one (it's currently laying dormant) but it was operational as of last year when my TDK-rebadged Lite On drive died without even a year of use. :roll:


I think Yamaha had very good quality control for their drives. I've heard of a lot more Yamaha drives surviving for extreme periods of time then dying after a short run.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 7:18 pm
by jase
The early 16x Yamaha drives had horrendous QA issues. But apart from that I think you're right, although they did have a reputation for pickiness.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:40 am
by pranav81
I know a guy who has an old HP 4x and is still happy with it.


::Pranav::