[Anarchy965]

I already am very happy with the drive I own for ripping audio, but now I need a good CD-RW drive for burning copies of my CD's to bring with me to places where they might get scratched. So I'm looking for recommendations for really good(looking for quality not speed) CD burner or DVD burner drives.

I know there have been threads like this in the past but after looking through them I still can't find any really good drives.

 

[leqin]

Internal or External?

 

[Redo]

I've enjoyed my NEC 3550a, but they aren't as easy to find as they once were. Great EAC rip speeds in secure mode, and they read damaged discs fairly well. Plus I've not once burned a coaster.

 

[Anarchy965]

Internal is preferred, but if you can recommend any really good external drives suggestions are welcome.

 

[ssportclay]

I am using a BENQ DVD-ROM drive along with a BENQ 1620 burner drive with good results.CDFREAKS is a good place to go for research on such things.

 

[lordkelmain]

The BenQ 1640 and 1650 are pretty nice. A bit loud, though, just like the NEC 3540 and 3550. The Lite-On's are pretty quiet from what I've seen, but the one I have is from five years ago.

I just got this the other day but haven't yet used it much. I recommend the SATA version though; I personally despise having to deal with IDE cables nowadays.

- lk

 

[Joshatdot]

Value: NEC 3550 , Pro: pretty much any Plextor

 

[musicmind]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssportclay /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am using a BENQ DVD-ROM drive along with a BENQ 1620 burner drive with good results.CDFREAKS is a good place to go for research on such things.

+2 on cdfreaks.com. Really great reviews there, and extensive tests with lots of different media. Very comprehensive

I recently got the LG H42L and the ASUS 1612BL for two separate PCs and I'm very happy with both (http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Asus...-Burner-Review).

The Asus is really quiet, the tray is slightly "flimsy" as noted in the review, but not fragile.

 

[medwed]

Nothing can beat Plextor Premium II drive. It's $180 though, directly from Plextor.

 

[dealmaster00]

The best CD-Burners are made by Lite-On. However, the best DVD+CD Burners are made by Benq and NEC. A great place to get feedback about optical drives is http://club.cdfreaks.com. I would personally suggest something like THIS if you are only looking for CD burning capabilities.

 

[pedxing]

Short summary of my recommendations:
Pure CD Burner - Plextor Premium II - in the US, only available from Plextor USA office in limited quantities.

DVD buners that burn good CDs:
The BenQ's previously mentioned - they also make very good CD scanners. Pioneer makes good DVD/CD burners, but their scanning capabilities are sorely lacking. Too bad, BenQ is leaving the optical market.

Notice no one said anything about liteon DVD burners?

 

[ErnDiggity]

The BENQs have really high burn quality (1640>1620>1650>1655) for DVDs what does this Plextor offer above that?

 

[ssportclay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErnDiggity /img/forum/go_quote.gif The BENQs have really high burn quality (1640>1620>1650>1655) for DVDs what does this Plextor offer above that?

Plextor is a great brand name with a long reputation.You will pay a lot more for a Plextor DVD drive than a BENQ with similar features.They are both rated about the same so you can't go wrong with either one.Drives are throw away items that you use for a few years and replace.Time or technology will kill most any computer drive in a few years.

 

[pedxing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErnDiggity /img/forum/go_quote.gif The BENQs have really high burn quality (1640>1620>1650>1655) for DVDs what does this Plextor offer above that?

Not much. This is why plextor has left the consumer level optical drive market and decided to rebrand other drives. plextor did rebrand BenQ drives at one point.

Again, DVD burners may not necessarily make good CD burners. Finding a DVD burner that burns CDs well might be a balancing act. I currently use all these three burners at once - plextor, pioneer, and liteon. They all have strengths and weaknesses.