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Hi,

My computer has only one bay, so I'm looking at a 'all-in-one' solutions. I want a DVD writer with the following two features :
o read well scratched pressed DVDs. My son is pretty bad with his movies.
o burn well DVD+R media for archival.

Obviously, before asking the question, I did read the forums.
The polls in here suggest strongly the Pioneer drive (DVR-111/DVR-112). However, anecdotal comments here seems to say that it's not as good on scratched DVDs. And a review on 'another site' say that compatibility with +R media is limited (logical as Pioneer is in the -R camp).
The BenQ is another favorite, but discontinued, so I'm worried for support and new firmwares.

Thanks a lot for help...

Jean

Hi Jean,

I've found that the drives from Lite-On and some of the more recent Samsung drives handled scratched discs pretty well. On the down side, the writing quality of these drives isn't as good as say the ones from Pioneer or LG.

If I had to throw my 2 cents in, I'd take a look at some of LG's more recent offerings. Maybe Lite-On if you're going to use better quality media. Anyone else have recommendations?

Yeah, I do. Nothing like preventing the loss of a DVD as opposed to resucitation of a damaged DVD.
When my grandson cracked his Spiderman disc (fortunately, it was disc 2 of 2 with the filler, not the main movie),
I defined my fair use rights as making a back-up copy ASAP (as soon after purchase ).

Jean, to the immediate question:
It's not always possible to do that and recently I had to do one that was scratched to the point of unplayability.
I used an NEC ND-3520A, which information doesn't help you.
It's due to the incredibly short product life cycle.
Once a good reputation is established, the item is no longer available.

Ian wrote :
> I've found that the drives from Lite-On and some of the more recent Samsung drives handled scratched discs pretty well.

Ok, that's good to know.
And it seems that the Lite-On can be used for DVD scans, if ever I fancy that...

> Maybe Lite-On if you're going to use better quality media.

That's definitely part of the equation. As soon as I finish my current stock, I'll move to something better.

> On the down side, the writing quality of these drives isn't as good

I currently have a HP 640c, which is a BenQ DW1625 in disguise. Do you think it would be worse than my HP ?

CowboySlim wrote :
> Nothing like preventing the loss of a DVD as opposed to resucitation of a damaged DVD.

Problems usually need tackling from multiple angles, but don't worry I'm working on education because I have only so much time to burn DVDs over and over again.

> Once a good reputation is established, the item is no longer available.

Yes, like the BenQ story, it seems.

Thanks a lot, both of you !

Jean

tourrilhes wrote: I currently have a HP 640c, which is a BenQ DW1625 in disguise. Do you think it would be worse than my HP ?

If I remember right, the writing quality was pretty decent with the DW1625. Maybe on par with your HP with good media and worse with some? I'd have to go back and check.

I personally have had best luck with Pioneers when it comes to reading badly scratched discs. They don't easily allow bitsetting though for +R discs, so if that's your preference, a Liteon may be the way to go. Liteons 20 series of drives are not the greatest rippers IMO, failing to read at all numerous brand new DVD's in my experience, what they can read they read fast though. Some of LG's latest drives are severly riplocked, ie the 22 & 42 lines, I'm not sure about the 50 & 55 series( I suspect they are too).
IF I could only have one drive, I would pick the Pioneer 112 or 212, and use good -R media.

My 1 cent is that I have recovered more discs with my Lite-ons (especially my old Sony rebadge). Completely unreadable due to poor media no problem.

My other 1 cent is that with a USB port and a good, cheap enclosure you never are restricted to one drive. Both my Lite-ons are in external enclosures now.

Dealsonic has some really good (Cypress AT-2 chipset) models for ~$20. Link below.

EDIT: Posted wrong URL the first time. Updated now below.

Plumax @ Deaslsonic Link

VideoRoy wrote:Dealsonic has some really good (Cypress AT-2 chipset) models for ~$20.

Are you hitting any burning speed barriers when using that enclosure? If not, what is the fastest successful burn that you've done using it? (16x/18x/20x)

Sorry I was gone for a few days. I knew this enclosure would limit speed but I rarely burn anything over 8x any way.

The fastest I have tried was 16x Verbatim -R and that seemed to work fine. Doubt I could get much over that but have not tried.

Other than that it is a pretty nice box for the price.

Not to highjack this thread but there is a great thread over at Freaks on enclosures.

I have found great information here a couple times.

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