Good DVD Burner

[twolfe18]

do you guys have any reccomendations for a good (sub $40) dvd burner? i am not really interested in any fancy and expensive plextor drives or anything like that, i just want something that works well, and is quiet if possible. i have gone to newegg and zipzoomfly, and no specific burners jump off the page, they all seem to have the same stats.

[Video Dude]

I always turn to CDFreaks when choosing a new burner.

Very good quality scans have been posted for the LG GSA-H42N. It uses the Renasas chipset. The H22 uses the Panasonic chipset. It can set the DVD-ROM booktype for +R discs.
Link: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=202626&page=1&pp=25

The H42N is only $28 on NewEgg.


Read the other posts about the other brands as well. You might find something else. But I'm happy with my LG and it is very quiet. Not one coaster using Verbatim and TY media.

[CWR03]

A friend of mine bought a Memorex burner at Fry's Electronics, which is on sale for $40 every couple of weeks. He uses cheap media (even cheap DL media) and never seems to have a problem with a burn even at 16X.

[twolfe18]

thanks video dude, i think i will go with the LG. i went to cdfreaks, but most of the stuff they were talking about was over my head, and i couldnt view any of the scan images (you have to be a member).

[twolfe18]

actually, there is one other concern i had. i remember reading somewhere that some brands put some sort of limit on the ripping speed of dvd's. i dont know if this was supposed to be a firmware or hardware thing, but it was supposed to severely slow down dvd ripping.

now, if this is not a complete myth, do you know what it is called, and where i can find out more about it?

[Video Dude]

It is called RipLock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riplock

It is part of the firmware. It is possible to download a modified patched firmware to flash some drives to remove the riplock. However, be aware that you lose the warranty on the drive and can also render the drive useless if you are not careful or flash the wrong firmware.

[varekai]

@Video Dude

Just curious, is there a way to find out if your DVD-reader/burner has Rip Lock?
Is there any software to bypass it? Flashing firmware is to risky...

varekai

[Video Dude]

If you read reviews about the drive usually someone will mention that it has riplock.

Don't know about the software. I never had to deal with riplock. My drives don't have it.

[morph166955]

NEC AD-7170A

I've now had several different DVD burners, that one BY FAR takes the cake. its the only one I've had that does not have compatibility issues in either SL or DL DVD's. PLUS its also able to burn DL @ 8x and SL @ 18x. I dont use anything but these drives anymore (atleast right now, if NEC comes up with a better drive ill probably move to that)

[HansGR123]

I am using LG DVD Burner..it works fine and a lot cheaper than other BIG brands