OK, I'm building a new rig and am looking for a little advice on what CD burner and DVD burner to get. I've searched these forums as well as a few others and I'm still undecided. I'm considering the following: (new egg prices) PX-PREMIUM-BPS/BL 52x32x52 -$78 cd burner only NEC ND-3500A BK W/SW 16xDL DVD burner $80 (4xDVD9) Lite On SOHC-5232K BBULK Cd burner combo drive $40 Lite On SOHW-1633S BLK 16xDL DVD burner $90 (2.4xDVD9) I would like to get 2 drives, preferably one combo DVDrom CDR drive and one DVDR9 so that I can make backups of DVDs while reading and writing. I would like to use the drives to make the best (1:1) backups of pc games and DVD9 (hollywood) DVDs that I already own. I've been searching the forums and it seems like Shoey prefers Lite On's and Nephilim prefers Plextor drives. If you guys had to get 2 drives between now and X-mas which ones would you get. (Any thoughts on SATA?) Thanks for all the help.
For what you want I'd highly recommend getting three drives. Here's why, 1) If you want to make the best 1:1 PC game backups then a combo drive isn't going to cut it. The Plex Premium is as good as it gets when backing up games especially when used with Blind Write. I've yet to come across a game that these two couldn't defeat. 2) A good DVD ROM like the Lite-On 166S or 167T is a great investment. It'll take the wear and tear off your burners because it does a great job ripping PC games and it will rip DVDs faster than a burner can. 3) As far as DL DVD burners go I'd recommend the Pioneer 108 - it's a great drive at a great price although Plextor has just introduced the PX-716A DL burner and you know how I feel about Plextors To sum it up if I was buying right now it would be a Plextor Premium, a Plextor PX-716A and a Lite-On 167T which isn't much different from what I have now - Plextor Premium, Plextor PX-708A and a Lite-On 166S. _X_X_X_X_X_[small] Got Indie? http://cdbaby.com/ My Movies! http://www.intervocative.com/dvdcollection.aspx/Rephaim Forum rules! http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487[/small]
Thanks for the advice. Any thoughts on SATA optical drives. I read some articles that said that there is no current need for SATA in optical drives yet. Also, is there really going to be much of a difference in the plextor 716DL and the Pioneer? I like the price and burn speed of the Pioneer better, but if the sexy plexi is better for burning copy protection I would definitely get that one. Also, Thanks again to you and the other moderaters here in the forums, we all appreciate your expertise.
Absolutely true. Today's optical drives can't even come close to saturating the top PATA specs so the added bandwidth of SATA is wasted on an optical drive. However SATA is very user friendly in the fact that there is one device per channel. No master/slave or jumper settings to mess with. Even so it's more novelty than practicality at this point. While the price, performance and quality of the Pioneer 108 are all top notch it can't back up games as well as the Plextor 708A or 712A. Time will tell whether the 716A can do games
