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I'm looking for an alternative to the Sony Optiarc DVD burners; I don't like the jerky, clunky, noisy tray movement.

What would be a best choice given what's currently available?

Anybody have a specific model they like in another brand?

Your choices are kind of limited these days. Other than Sony Optiarc, you have LG, Lite-On, Samsung and Pioneer. Even then, I don't know who's making Pioneer's drives these days.

The new Pioneers are using a MTK chipset like LiteOn as far as I know so they aren't like they used to be and I wouldn't want one. Maybe one of the newest Samsung burners might make you happy but they use MTK too so it's kinda up to your preference I guess. I've got Optiarc, BenQ, LG, and Samsung burners in here and they all do OK but my favorite right now is the 7240/60 series burners that you don't like, second choice would maybe be the LG.

So is there a preferred model in a Samsung ? or LiteOn? And what's wrong with the MTK chipset?

Is there any manufacturer other than Sony Optiarc that uses the NEC chipset? I'm guessing not.

Noticed you didn't mention Plextor, Ian. Are they rebadged ? You've previously mentioned the Asus 24x is a LiteOn. Also, I've wondered who makes the HP and IO Magic drives these days. and Newegg has a new TEAC listed.

Are there some superior burners out there, that are not available in the consumer market?

Plextor and Asus are MTK as well. MTK is everywhere. That said I have a LITE-ON with MTK and it is okay for my occasional use and better for CD-R's the the Sony-Optiarc I own. Also have an LG and I like those drives alot. Plextor, BenQ, and Yamaha got out of the optical disc market for a reason and while I miss having not having those options, I still have a PX-716A and a PX-755SA as well as a couple DW1640's lying around. Hope they work if I ever need to plug them in... they have been in storage for a while!!!

stix wrote:Noticed you didn't mention Plextor, Ian. Are they rebadged ? You've previously mentioned the Asus 24x is a LiteOn. Also, I've wondered who makes the HP and IO Magic drives these days. and Newegg has a new TEAC listed.

Are there some superior burners out there, that are not available in the consumer market?

The current crop of Plextors are either Pioneer, LG or Lite-On. With PLDS licensing the Plextor brand, they're mostly Lite-On now. HP and most of TEAC's drives are Lite-On as well. I think ASUS still makes some of their drives, but a good portion of them are Lite-On too. Isn't IO Magic Samsung? They seem to go with whomever is cheapest at the moment.

The SSD market is quickly going this way as well. We're already down to a handful of chipset manufacturers and the only real difference between drives is the firmware and the memory used. I see Lite-On taking over this market soon too.

Ian wrote:The SSD market is quickly going this way as well. We're already down to a handful of chipset manufacturers and the only real difference between drives is the firmware and the memory used. I see Lite-On taking over this market soon too.

That is indeed sad news. I was excited about the development of SSD's, but not with LITE-ON at the top of the heap.

How can you tell if your DVD burner has the MTK chipset or not? I'm pretty sure my BenQ does not, but my Pioneer might.

SkaarjMaster wrote:How can you tell if your DVD burner has the MTK chipset or not? I'm pretty sure my BenQ does not, but my Pioneer might.

What Pioneer is it?

Pioneer DVR-216D

The 216 was one of the last ones to use an NEC chipset.

Yep, 216 is one of the last GOOD Pioneers with the NEC chipset in it. The Sony/Optiarc drives have the latest NEC chip in them which is why many like them so well, but they still have the scanning limitations that all the NEC chips have so many opt for the MTK for testing if nothing else.
I'd hang onto that Pioneer till it dies.

Yep, it is actually my first Pioneer, so I will hang onto it for a while. It also burns CD-Rs almost as good as my BenQ DW1655.