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1) what is the best DVD rom drive for playback of DVD via the HTPC


2) As I use write CDRW almost daily , I belive it makes more sense to get a separate DVD ROM and Separate CDRW to avoid wearing out the lens ( the CDRW can also be used to read audio CDs)


3) I don’t think there should be any problem selecting an audio player to play CD from the CDRW drive , while a DVD software to play DVD from a separate DVD ROM drive

By "best" do you mean fastest or quality?Speed wise I would say Lite-On 165/166.They rip very fast,read damaged and cheap media very well and are able to read most copy-protected disks.

HI

My criteria is more in terms of being able to read DVDs and yield the best picture quality .

speed is not as crucial unless it affects playback quality

next most important criteria would be noise level


I guess it all narrows down to 3 DVD ROMS,

1)Lite on HD 165,

2) ASus E 616
3) toshiba SD m1612

1) why it is reported that ASUS E 616 is not very good at DVD reading results ?

2)If I am not wrong , what does the report mean where I think all the 3 of them cannot handle protected audio CDs

I had no problems with my Pioneer DVD-116

Pictures look sharp, perfect i would say (you must have Star Wars: Episode II, the best looking DVD ever).

It's noisy enough, but quite less noisy than the lite-ons, so i heard.

It reads CDs very fast, it's DAE speed is limited to 16x, but if you're gonna get a CD-RW anyway you don't have to worry about it.

Of course 166S can handle protected cd ( i assume 165 too ) . For further information read my review . I assume Toshiba sd-m1712 too can handle protected cd .
For quiet operation i would go for Toshiba ( notice his ripping speed is limited/locked ) .

vbl117 wrote:For quiet operation i would go for Toshiba ( notice his ripping speed is limited/locked ) .

DVD ripping and reading speed lock has been removed in patched firmware.

Thanks
1) I think the Toshiba drive has no region protection and we can do something to make it region free

a) I confirm All 3 CD players can handle Audio protected CDs


2) Referring to the following ..
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Article ... =0&index=4


a) I believe the faster speed that Lite on has compared to Toshiba will not have effect on the image quality ? ( what does the higher speed mean ??)

b) Also DVD ripping speed of toshiba vs lite on ( 5300 vs 8881) ..I doubt it will just mean a few minutes slower per certain quantity of information transferred to the HDD ?

Toshiba with a special firmware is just as fast or even faster in some cases than Lite-On. Besides, it's much more quiet and better made. If you decide not to flash it with No Limit Firmware, Toshiba is noiseless at DVD movies playback.

faithfoo wrote:HI

My criteria is more in terms of being able to read DVDs and yield the best picture quality .

speed is not as crucial unless it affects playback quality

next most important criteria would be noise level

"Best picture quality" is not an issue with the DVD-ROM drives for normal playback viewing. They transfer the same digital information to the computer. On the other hand, your video card, monitor, and software DVD player will have a significant effect on picture quality.

One possible exception is if the DVD is full of errors or otherwise damaged. Some DVD-ROM's may be better than others at error correction, but with a decent quality DVD disc there should be no worries.

A few months back, I did some research on DVD-Rom drives because I was planning on buying one ( retail version ). I had 3 main criteria: 1) DVD-Rom speed 16x, CD-Rom speed 48x, 2) 512 KB buffer, and 3) able to play all DVD formats: DVD-Rom, DVD-Video, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, and DVD-RW ( and 2 minor ones: I wanted a software bundled with it and if possible a black front bezel version. )

The only one that fit the bill was the ASUS E616 ( no black version available? ) and it was the only DVD-Rom drive that was ATA100, where as the rest were ATA66 or ATA33.

So I ordered it at a local computer store and every time I called to check to see if it had come in, I was told "it's still on back order". Last Friday after 2 months of waiting, I was told "we can not get the retail version anymore, only the OEM version - the same for the LG DVD-Rom drive", so I very angrily cancelled the order.

I checked and I can get the LG GDR-8161B and the Sony DDU1621C1 retail at Future Shop ( the only other ones I liked. ) I think the LG does not come with any software but the Sony comes with PowerDVD ( which is what I wanted since I got WinDVD with my video card. ) There is another computer store I haven't checked on whether they can get the Asus E616 retail.

I thought about getting a dual DVD burner ( probably the Sony DRU510A ), but there might be 8x drives out at the end of 2003, so I prefer to wait until then to get the 8x drives. So this leaves me with 4 drives to chose from and to further complicate things Gigabyte has announced they're coming out with a DVD-Rom drive that is unique: GO-M1600A which includes a VFD display and a FM tuner ( I don't know what the release date will be. )

http://computex.gigabyte.com.tw/TechnicalColumn.shtml

My criteria is similar. I guess I need best error correction for DVD+R reading. I get some read breakup on my burner, but my Lite-On 163d reads no problem. That drive is old, and I need a second reader. What do people suggest for best error correction for good playback?

Has anyone have any new news on the Gigabyte DVD-Rom drive GO-M1600A ( also known as GO-M6000A and GM-100 )? This drive was announced at the end of May 2003 at a Computex show.

http://computex.gigabyte.com.tw/Product ... mqd1.shtml

Since then, every once in a while, I have been doing Google searches for any new information and have found pretty much nothing everytime. A few days ago, I was viewing pictures from another computex show ( website article dated September 26, 2003 ) and found 2 new photos of this drive, one with the drive installed in a computer-mini case, and the other in a display case with other products. After doing a new Google search, I have a few more pictures from the recent Computex show:

http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?d ... 33&dPage=7
http://www.amddiyoc.com/2003COMPUTEX/post3.htm
http://www6.tomshardware.com/business/2 ... _3-08.html
http://pcweb.mycom.co.jp/news/2003/09/26/30.html


Another photo I have is below. I do not have a DVD player and I have been planning on buying this DVD-Rom drive and later to buy a dual DVD burner (8x). I have been buying DVDs for a year now and I wanted to start watching them as soon as possible. When is Gigabyte going to release this drive?

Morpheus, what is the point of this drive? (Absolutely no sarcasm or derision intended - I am honestly trying to figure out the target market and intended use for this drive, so please don't take offense.)

It looks like it belongs in a car's dashboard, but is apparently intended to be used in a home computer. I don't think it will operate in a stand-alone configuration. It also has an FM tuner, hand controls (the tuner knobs) and a remote control. It seems a bit schizophrenic - with bits and pieces of a standard DVD-ROM drive for a computer in the home office, an FM tuner/CD player for the car, and a DVD player for the home entertainment center. What is the main target? How do you intend to use it, if you get one? Have you found a suggested price? I'm sure it must go for much, much more than the $35 or so a plain DVD-ROM drive will set you back.

cfitz

It looks like it belongs in a car's dashboard, but is apparently intended to be used in a home computer. I don't think it will operate in a stand-alone configuration.

They wanted to give it that car dashboard look. I have 2 spare 5.25" drive bays which I want to get one of those double-deck LCD screens or VFD screens (usually 40 characters by 4 lines). What I really want to get a 5" colour LCD monitor for the double drive bay so I can watch videos on it but those are very rare (most people scratch-build it.) This DVD-Rom drive has the VFD screen so it gives you that look which I want. It also has a FM tuner which is something that I want as well (it is also a MP3 player too.) I listen to music for several hours a day (I take my walkman when I go out, and when I'm at home I listen to the radio, CDs or internet radio - this will allow me to listen to FM radio while I'm at my PC.) It can operate as a stand-alone configuration - you can use the remote to operate the drive while the PC is powered off.

What is the main target? How do you intend to use it, if you get one?

I bulit my PC last year from scratch as a high-end Pentium 4 Multi-Media and Home Theater PC. I got about 80% of it done and now by the end of December I want to finish it by getting 5 components: 9-in-1 flash card reader, 5.1 speaker system, 17" letterbox LCD monitor, the DVD-Rom drive, and a HDTV tv tuner card. (After that I wanted to upgrade my CD-RW drive and/or a DVD 8x burner) The main target I would assume to be people like me who have a HTPC or MMPC (you said it yourself: "home entertainment center".)

Have you found a suggested price? I'm sure it must go for much, much more than the $35 or so a plain DVD-ROM drive will set you back.

I haven't found a price for it - that's why I posted my message, I'm asking if anyone knows any more information on this drive such as when it would be available in Canada and how much would it cost, etc. I was going to get the ASUS E616 which is $70 Can for the retail version but I want this one instead - and I don't care if I have to pay double that price to get it.

Morpheus wrote:They wanted to give it that car dashboard look.

And they succeeded.

Morpheus wrote: It can operate as a stand-alone configuration - you can use the remote to operate the drive while the PC is powered off.

Okay, that is handy, particularly for the FM listening.

Morpheus wrote:I bulit my PC last year from scratch as a high-end Pentium 4 Multi-Media and Home Theater PC. I got about 80% of it done and now by the end of December I want to finish it by getting 5 components: 9-in-1 flash card reader, 5.1 speaker system, 17" letterbox LCD monitor, the DVD-Rom drive, and a HDTV tv tuner card. (After that I wanted to upgrade my CD-RW drive and/or a DVD 8x burner)

Sounds nice.

Morpheus wrote:The main target I would assume to be people like me who have a HTPC or MMPC

That is what I was thinking, but it looks so much like it belongs in a car!

Thanks for the explanation, and good luck in your search.

cfitz

that would look awesome in my case oh yeah, i would like those features

I love my Pioneer 305S. It extracts very quickly and has excellent picture quality. It may be expensive, but I'm glad I bought it.

I use a lite-on 166

It gets the job done.

Well, awhile back I read 2 reviews on the Gigabyte GO-M1600A:

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2003/gigabyt ... 600a-1.htm

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1488

The jury is still out on this one. I don't like the pci card or this set up with the soundcard and the 2 front speakers. This was not made clear to me in the 2 reviews but if you don't want to operate the drive when the pc is off then I think you can skip the pci card - except for the fact of the FM antenna connector on the pci card. If you can find a FM antenna that plugs into an usb port then you don't need the pci card.

(The reason is I have only 3 pci slots left which I need for 3 other components - so there is no way I can use the Gigabyte pci card. Add to that I don't really care about operating the drive with the pc power is off or that I just bought a 5.1 speaker system which is connected to my soundcard and I don't want to rewire the front 2 speakers to the Gigabyte's pci card.) In just don't understand Gigabyte's setup at all. Why you can't just output the sound to your soundcard and then to your speakers? So, I'm not to sure now about getting this DVD-Rom drive. (I had it down to this or the Plextor Premium. - I just got the Plextor PX-708A)

Having problems with this drive it wont rip dvd's keep on saying movie is encrypted...trying to rip this on dvdshrink

Try Anydvd and see if that clears it up. Slysoft who is clone now has it on their site with a free trial, works for me.

My computer has been screwed for the last 4 months (bought a flashcard reader, plugged it into my motherboard and it promptly screwed up my pc.) So, I'm building a new system and have all but 2 parts picked out - the new soundcard, and a double-5.25" drive bay LCD. I'm going to do research for these 2 items and pick out the models that I want by mid-March and start ordering the parts and have the new system by done around mid-April.

Currently I have a DVD-burner (Plextor-708A), and a CD-RW drive (Plextor 24x/10x/40x). I wanted to replace the CD-RW drive with the current Plextor Premium (52x/32x/52x). Then I saw the Gigabyte GO-M1600A - and I wanted that as well. The Problem is that I don't know which of these 2 new drives to get. If I get both and put it on the same PC then I would have to get a single 5.25" drive bay LCD instead of the better double version (not to mention if I have a spare IDE channel to plug it into). Or I could put 1 of each into my 2 PCs.

Well, the Gigabyte GO-M1600A (DVD-Rom 16x drive) was supposed to be out in January 2004. It didn't. Now February is over and still no drive. I haven't heard of anything new on this drive and why it is late coming out. Well today I stumbled upon a new DVD-Rom drive that is very similar to the GO-M1600A: the the VPC1000 Multimedia Hub
here is the 2 reviews I found:

http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/multimedi ... /index.htm
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/ ... ndex.shtml

The Distributor is: MAX Distribution
http://store.maxdy.com/asvpc1000.html

The manufacturer is: Asour Technology Inc.
http://www.asour.com.tw/pro_vpc1000.shtml

The setup and function of the VPC1000 is identical to the GO-M1600A, although I think I like this drive better. The VFD display is much better then the GO-M1600A. However there is 3 cons to this drive: 1) it looks like the display panel has to be manually flipped down to open the tray (he didn't say how the tray opens/closes), 2) the unit runs hot (so you need good cooling), and 3) the FM tuner is alittle clumsy to tune up and down the frequencies.

I'm now thinking about getting the VPC1000 instead of the GO-M1600A (I still need to do more research into this drive.) Interesting thing... I went back and looked at some photos I had of the GO-M1600A and I noticed the VPC1000 drive is almost identical to the GO-M1600A . The back of the DVD-Rom drive is the same, when the front panel is flipped down the tray section is the same, only the display panel is different. The PCI card from the VPC1000 is identical to the PCI card from the GO-M1600A, and the remote has a similar button layout (although the remote from the VPC1000 is better) - so I thinking - maybe Gigabyte passed on the drive to another company (Asour Technology Inc.)?

Any Updates on either of these drives?

From the reviews I read in the fall of 2003, the Gigabyte GO-M1600A drive was suppose to be out in January 2004. It never came out. Then around April 2004, I was reading some reviews on the CeBIT 2004 show and one of them had a photo of the GO-M1600A with the caption that Gigabyte was still working on it and it hasn't been released yet - probably later on this year. Now its July 2004 - and still no drive. Its been about 13-14 months since this drive was announced (end of May 2003). I pretty much have given up on this drive.

http://cebit.giga-byte.com/Details.asp?ProductID=73
(its now called - GO-M1600B)

http://www.bit-tech.net/feature/41/3

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... oe%3DUTF-8
(mentions "a more solid extendible frontage")

I was planning on getting the VPC1000 Multimedia Hub instead. Its virtually the samething as the Gigabyte GO-M1600A but with a different looking display. I have read some good reviews on it AND its been available for the past 4-5 months. Here's a list of where you can buy the VPC1000:

http://store.maxdy.com/wheretobuy.html

I'm building a new computer which I'm hoping to have finished by the end of September 2004 and I'm planning on getting the VPC1000 for it so I can watch DVD movies on my 17" 16x9 LCD montior with Logitech 680s for the sound.

damn you morpheus, you knew my dvd-rom drive went bad

why must you tempt me with that dvd-rom

i still haven't found a price for either one of those drives yet