Sony DRU500 or Pioneer A05 ?

[ptmsssg]

Hello;

I am going to buy a DVD burner and it will be
Sony DRU500 or Pioneer A05.
If you have any comment or recommendation, please let me know ?

I don't care writing speed or formatting (DVD+ or DVD-).
All I care is quality/stability.

Thanks,
ptmsssg

[gooki]

I don't care writing speed or formatting (DVD+ or DVD-).

Get the toshiba SD-R5002, cheaper, slower, but very reliable, and good build quality.

Also available in sexy black.

[markrb]

They are both good burners. If you don't mind being married to one format then the Pioneer is much cheaper.
If you can get the Cendyne version instead. It will save you a few bucks over the boxed Pioneer. It's the same drive only reboxed under the Cendyne name. Watch for sales as these guys often can be found for good money.

Personally I own the Sony and so far I like it. I am having some issues with -RW discs, but it maybe a media problem and not the drive. I have to do much more testing to know for sure.

Mark

[ptmsssg]

I checked outpost.com and Pioneer A05 was $299, and Sony one was $349.
If Sony one is reliable for both DVD-/+, it may be worth to choose.

I've never thought of Toshiba's burner. I hope other people's
comments.

Thanks,
ptmsssg

[markrb]

If you are patient you can find the Cendyne for about $200.

Mark

[Vikroda]

I used to have the Toshiba. It was okay but there were some problems (see some of the older threads) so I wanted to upgrade the firmware. It wasn't anywhere on the Toshiba web site so I emailed their support. They told me that it wasn't posted on their web site due to problems with hacked firmware or something like that and I would have to contact someone else. I emailed the next person in their company who replied by saying that I would have to mail my drive to Toshiba and pay $45 for them to update my firmware! I said no thanks and decided to return the drive and get the Sony instead.
True, the Toshiba is cheaper, but if you add the cost of updating the firmware once or twice it quickly becomes more expensive than the Pioneer or even Sony.

[andyg]

Check this out, maybe this will help

http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/20030207/index.html

[gooki]

I had no problems finding the upgraded frimware for the toshiba sd-r5002 ad www.firmware.fr.st

They had both the hacked, and origional unhacked firmwares listed.

Just read the toms hardware review. Good on them for doing the comparison, and I agree with a few of their statements like:

"You will notice that all the burners in the tests are pretty much equal. Though some models did better in some tests, the differences are minimal for both read and write. We can't even distinguish by price, since the recommended price for each of them is around $300."

But when they talk bullocks like this:

"However, if you are more interested in video, the DVD+RW format is still the best solution. It is much more flexible to use and, what's more, it is compatible with Philips home players."

Is just plain silly. I've never had a problem with DVD-R discs playing on philips devices. Additionally who uses RW discs for video's? (except ofcourse those who are forced to, owners of 1st generation DVD+RW writers).

[ptmsssg]

"You will notice that all the burners in the tests are pretty much equal. Though some models did better in some tests, the differences are minimal for both read and write. We can't even distinguish by price, since the recommended price for each of them is around $300."

I have been using Pioneer A03 which I bought from eBay.
It is quite low quality and succeeded to burn only on pioneer
expensive DVD-R media and meritline DVD-R media with 1x speed.
All other media had a problem with my burner.

So I want to research enough before I buy a new one. I would pay
$100+normal price, if it is really reliable.

[andyg]

I have the Pioneer A05 and never had a problem yet. Just shop around, somebody local always has a sale on media, I't may take a week or two to find a good brand on sale for a $2 a piece or less. Fom the cheap brand I had tried Khypermedia 1X ($1 a piece), burned several DVD's and didn't have any problem recording or playing back on DVD (Daewoo).
I will not use them however, there are many reports that Khypermedia goes unreadable after short period of time, Just like Princo brand.

Also, I agree with Gooki, only the 2 years + older DVD players may have compatability problem with -R or +R format, -RW or +RW should be only used to test Your DVD (if your standalone player can read it).

[SomeJoe]

If all that matters is quality and stability, may I suggest the Verbatim DVD+ Producer.

It, like most other DVD+R/+RW drives, is a Ricoh 5125 mechanism (identical to HP DVD200i, among several others). I found it on sale for $189 after rebate, and it burns rock-solid DVDs. Never had an error, never made a coaster. No problems with CD burning, either.

Uses the Ricoh standard +R/+RW firmware, current version is 1.51.

It is a 2.4x drive, like others of this series. All of the Ricoh 5125/2.4x drives are rapidly being replaced on store shelves by the new 4x mechanisms, which are back up in the $279+ range, so if you want one cheap you need to act fast.

[markrb]

I just found this at forums.anandtech.com.
If you want the Pioneer you can get it for about $160 or so. This is the same as the Pionner A05. If this price was around when I bought my Sony I would have bought this instead.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=975513

Mark