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I need help choosing a good dvd-rom

PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 2:13 pm
by DaBlacK
First of all, I want to say that I've been spending the whole day searching for info and reviews on dvd-rom's and I'm even more confused than I was when I began my search.

What I want is a dvd that:

- can read all dvd formats: -&+r/rw (not sure about -ram, but it would be nice to have it). This is my main criteria. The other are optional, but this one and the next one are a must.

- is robust. I don't like drives that die on me after one year or so. I curently have an 6 years old 32x sony cd-rom that's still working, so I expect the same from any drive

- is as quiet as it can be (especialy during movie playback)

- has good cd-rw read speed (I work a lot with cd-rw's)

- has good error correction

As for performance, of course it would be nice to have a lightning fast drive, but that's not a must. If it can read cd-rw's at more than 8x it will sufice for me.

The problem is that I can't get any brand of dvd there is. So it will have to be one of the following brands: Pioneer, Sony, Asus, Lg, Nec, Toshiba, Teac, MSI, Samsung, Plextor, Lite-on.

I'm sure you can help me get out of this fog I'm into :).

Damn, this is a long post :oops: . I hope you had the pacience to read it. :D

PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 4:07 pm
by Dartman
The Liteon 166 is most peoples choice, fast acurate rips, reads all media available, cheap.
But it is a bit noisy when spinning up and reading some things. I have one and it does everything I ask of it except maybe ripping some protected audio cd's.
Others say the Toshibas are very good once you get the hacked firmware that unlocks the speed limits on ripping. It is sposed to be pretty quiet too.

My previous 166 did die after a year but it's so cheap now and does what I want I just bought another one. I have 3 other Liteon drives including a 163 dvd that is overs 2 years old now and they have all continued to work flawlessly.

PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 5:29 pm
by burninfool
I've had a Lite-On LTD-165(similar to the 166) for 18 months and it works great but it is noisy,I've heard good things about LG DVD-ROMS.

PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:00 pm
by DaBlacK
I was thinking about Toshiba SD-M1712, but, after a few hours browsing I foud 2 reviews of this drive.

In the one from URL CDR-Info, it can read everything (-ram not tested)

Then again, in the URL Digit-Life review, it fails to read the dvd+r (again -ram not tested).

In the drive's specifications, and in what I can see from the Nero CD-Speed drive info (the same in both reviews), it doesn't suport +r/rw media at all.

What's the truth? (I hope it's not out there :lol: )

PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:05 pm
by Dartman
I believe when you get the right firmware it will supprt + media. There is a thread Right here I believe with links and some info about it. If not just do a search here and elsewhere and the firmware you'll need and info should show up

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 10:10 am
by Han
TOSHIBA SD-M1712 is Multi DVD compatible, therefore it reads any DVD standard: DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM right from the box with original 1004 firmware. That is the fact! You can flash its firmware with the hacked one and unlock drive's full potential. Toshibas are known to read CD-RW discs extremely fast...

Do not get fooled by the old reviews. Sometimes there's a bug in the test program or they have a badly recorded DVD±R(W) disc that just couldn't be read...

The newest TOSHIBA SD-M1802 doesn't read DVD-RAM anymore, and currently there's no patched RPC1 firmware for it.

I would suggest SD-M1712 model, if it's still available. I'm sure it'll meet all your expectations.

I have a two years old SD-M1612, patched with "no speed limit" firmware. It still works like new, reads any DVD format and is absolutely noiseless at movies playback. :D

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 10:49 am
by dodecahedron
isn't DVD-Multi = DVD-R/-RW/-RAM (and not +R/RW) ? a DVD-Forum specification.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 2:16 pm
by aviationwiz
I have the LTD-163D, it is a great drive for ripping, but is very loud. Pioneer drives are known to be made rock solid, I'm not sure how loud they are, but you could do a search, or perhaps others have the drive and could reply here.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 3:31 pm
by Han
dodecahedron wrote:isn't DVD-Multi = DVD-R/-RW/-RAM (and not +R/RW) ? a DVD-Forum specification.

You're right, my bad. :oops:

The DVD Multi specification covers all currently developed formats which have been approved by DVD Forum, including:

DVD-Video
DVD-ROM
DVD-Audio
DVD-R
DVD-RW
DVD-RAM
DVD-Video Recording

DVD Audio Recording format, currently under development, will be added to the DVD Multi specification upon completion.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 4:21 pm
by dodecahedron
however back to the original question in this topic, AFAIK both the Lite-On 166 and the Toshiba 1712 read all formats: +/-R, +/-RW, -RAM.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 5:22 pm
by Dartman
The 166 is multi read also so it is sposed to read dvd-ram and I guess dvd audio according to the specs posted. I don't have any ram disks to verify with and I don't know if DVD audio was added like it said but I have some of those I can check with.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 6:10 pm
by DaBlacK
Not all dvd-roms read DVD-Audio? This is something I wasn't aware of. I allways assumed it was just like in cd-roms, where any unit can read both data and audio cd's.
Heck, I want a drive that can read DVD-Audio. It's not a popular format, but my Audigy2 suports this and my amp and speakers are up to it, so.....

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 6:27 pm
by Dartman
Well it sees all of the data on the disk but I can't get the audio to play. Probably my built in sound and power dvd can't do it.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 6:30 pm
by DaBlacK
Well, the Audigy2 comes with a dvd-audio player. Does power dvd also support dvd-audio? Maybe that's the problem.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 6:40 pm
by Dartman
I don't know if 4 does and I'm using the 5.1 sound that's built into my MSI so that is probably both part of the problem. I have a Pioneer 563a that can play DVD audio and SACD's so it's not a real big thing for me right now but I'll bet it will work in your setup.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 6:58 pm
by DaBlacK
Come to think about it, the DVD-audio format has a resolution of 192kHz/24bit for stereo, and 96kHz/24bit for multichanel recording. The sound card should be able to cope with that, and I doubt any on-board sound system can. I think this is the problem in your case.

But the thing is, I never saw any claims about dvd-audio on any drive specifications. At least not directly. I see "DVD-ROM (DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-10, DVD-18 )". Is any of this DVD-audio? I'll check on that. If someone allready knows the answer to this or where to look, please tell me.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:07 pm
by dodecahedron
well, since DVD Audio is part of the DVD-Multi spec, any drive that is DVD-Multi supports DVD Audio!
i believe the Lite-On 165/166 is DVD-Multi, and Han says the Toshiba SD-M1712 is too. so there you are, the 2 most recommended DVD-ROM drives support DVD Audio.