**Read First** Dvd Burners.. What to look for?! **

i still reckon the pioneer dvr 112d is da best $35 aud here black and no burning issues even over the sata version reason is ata is supported 100% sata im not sure wen it comes 2 cd/dvd

remember

good brand
good price
good color
good speed
good quality
all good

 

While my SL burns are fine, I'm getting really crappy DL burns, primarily on the return path, i.e. the second layer, especially towards the end of the burn.

I'm using decent software, AnyDVD + CloneDVD2. I'm using the best available media, TY for SL & Verbatim for DL. My current burner is a Sony SL cross flashed to a LiteOn DL. I've tried all the software suggestions from this forum, but still no luck. My conclusion is that I need a decent burner.

The consensus of opinion seems to be that both the Philips SPD2413BD and the Pioneer DVR-112D are both decent burners. They are currently both selling at NewEgg for just under $30. Is there any preference of one over the other?

 

well if it helps pioneer could b owned by denon under another name and i know there stereo systms r over $10,000 aud because there the best but pioneer r rated as the best other than denon i think

 

In my opinion, as far as DL burning, the Litey & Pioneer are equal . . .

However . . . If you plan to burn +R discs, the Litey is superior while for -R disc burning, I prefer the Pioneer

Both will booktype DL discs while only the Litey booktypes +R (without using hacked firmware)

Just my 8½¢ worth . .

 

Thanks for the input folks. I'll go with the Pioneer 112D. Hope it solves my problem.

 

If memory serves me correctly, I updated the firmware either late last year or early this year.

Considering how inexpensive DL burners are now, I'm quite happy getting a new one.

Just out of curiousity, if decent DL burners can be had for around $30, how much do top-of-line burners cost? Or are these considered pretty much top?

 

Installed my new Pioneer 112D today & updated the firmware.

I burned a movie which had previously produced a lousy burn (coaster). As part of the test, I even used a lesser quality media (Memorex DL brand, Ritek manufacture). Played perfectly on my standalone player. Looks like my problem is solved.

Many thanks to all you knowledgeable folks on this forum.

 

Did I get a bad Pioneer 112D or something? Back in May I got one and have burned at most 250 discs, and now it is making clicking sounds that match with the activity light flickering and it had issues accessing data on a disk which may or may not have been it's fault, and it just burned a bad disk where one of 15 episodes was completely trashed and nero said that the burn failed. Could this even remotely be caused by outdated firmware or a bad connection? I wouldn't think it could but just wondering.

 

well having looked around quickly it seems the 1.15 firmware I got before was up to date and windows says that the driver is up to date. I took the case out, cleaned off a bit of dust on the outside, blew on and reconnected the power and IDE cables and tried letting ti access a dvd, things still make noise there there seems to be a bit less. Would you say that my drive is dying? would it make sense to get another drive? while it seems sata and ide don't really offer any major advantages over each other, I do find the IDE cable to be bulky and pointless, but the 212D by pioneer seems to be horrible, and the 215 is not available in the USA yet for some reason. Are there any drives that are known to be good for under $40 or under $100 that are guaranteed to last at least a year? I would feel safe with a NEC but there don't seem to be any around, Liteon makes so many drives and has such mixed reviews, it is just annoying finding a good drive.

I can say that I have almost no real requirements though, as long as it burns all types of dvds/cds it is fine by me, I really don't even want lightscribe and can live with sata or ide as they each have their disadvantages (sata would likely require me to buy another sata cable unless I find retail). So what would you recommend?

 

wait 1.15 is not the newest, I got a bit mixed up betwen firmware and drivers at one point as I was on an eu site and it made it seem as if the frimware was different between countries (I figured it could be based on region) and I was looking for drivers not firmware but 1.24 is the newest, I doubt it will do much as the drive is probably just getting old but here goes nothing.

 

I read on another thread (I totally forget where) that some guy who is fairly knowledgeable with hardware, opens the cd/dvd burner case & checks that all the screws & nuts are properly tightened. With shipping across oceans, etc., some of them can loosen up. If your burner is out of warranty, you might try that before buying a new burner.

 

but the drive only cost like $30, why pay $30 to ship ti overseas for repairs? Besides, I don't know how long the pioneer warranty is but I would like to assume it is a 1 yr limited warranty, and I doubt I am applicable but it seems there is an issue with a few of their burners including the 112D that cause it to not work in certain conditions and the site says they will send a replacement or newer model free of charge if that is your issue, but they don't even ask about the conditions that the drive endured when in use, so I don't know if I want to try that as I doubt my house meets and rare extreme conditions that the drive should be able to withstand.

 

yeah I am thinking of getting a Pioneer 215D when they come out in the USA, I remember I went with the 112D as opposed to 212D both because the computer it was originally put in had no sata ports and because I heard that ATA/IDE was better and that SATA disk drives went horribly slowly, though I don't hear anyone saying that now.

I am not sure what was up with my drive, as I said yesterday I did update to 1.24 firmware. the media that has been making noises was Memorex 16x DRD-R's burned at 4x I think, maxell dvd-rw's burned at 2x, and the disks I recently burned verbatim printable dvd+r's. However I found that the printable discs don't have any waterproofing and any water on them will make the ink run so I am planning on getting Taiyo Yuden dvd-r's with watershield and since someone said pioneer is better with dvd-r as opposed to +r I guess that is kind of a good thing even if it does have older correction on the disc.

Recently burning a few discs today, on my second one, heard some slightly quieter noises but they sounded okay, much more the way a hard drive normally can ahve slightly quiet accessing noises and they seemed normal to me. In burning discs the accessing light is holding constant and so far 1 disc came out good and this other one will be done in a few minutes hopefully also good (I am burning as 4x). I have yet to try asking it to access data on a disc to see how things go there as that is where most of the noise seemed to lie though. Since I only have one drive it can't hurt to get a second one.