mercury_in_flames Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I was just wondering what your opinions are on buying Retail or OEM. I want to get another dvd writer for my desktop and am not sure whether to go OEM or Retail. I've heard that there's a higher chance of getting faults from an OEM drive than a Retail one. Any help would be greatly appreciated.-GTR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 (edited) Retail or OEM doesn't matter qualitywise.However, warranty might be shorter on OEM-Drives and some manufacturers might send you back to the dealer instead of doing a direct replacement or answering questions, so check for that before buying. Edited March 28, 2006 by jadeclaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted March 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Just edited the title topic to reduce the speed of the thread becoming redundent.So what dvd writers do you have in your computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msquared Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Just edited the title topic to reduce the speed of the thread becoming redundent.So what dvd writers do you have in your computer?I am running 2 Samsung TS-H552U dvd/cd|rw 16X 8X / 32X 8mb cache. Sony DW-U14A 8X 4X / 32X 8mb cache.It is important to get one with a decent cache in order to not make coasters. Get NERO burning rom. I honestly think its the best burning software out there. it also has a dvd viewer and a sound playback device. when you create audio cd's it will equalize all the tracks so that you do not have differing volumes on tracks etc. really slick software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I have a Lite-On SHD-16P1S - OEM drive DL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted March 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I am running 2 Samsung TS-H552U dvd/cd|rw 16X 8X / 32X 8mb cache. Sony DW-U14A 8X 4X / 32X 8mb cache.It is important to get one with a decent cache in order to not make coasters. Get NERO burning rom. I honestly think its the best burning software out there. it also has a dvd viewer and a sound playback device. when you create audio cd's it will equalize all the tracks so that you do not have differing volumes on tracks etc. really slick software.If you don't have the biggest cache, it's ok as long as you have a large amount of ram, and some sort of buffer-underun protection thing. From what I've read, it doesnt matter if you have a 2mb or 8mb cache. It's what you do when you are burning that counts and the media. If you are using programs like sonic stage, wmp, the internet, downloading, etc, you are very likely to get coasters. I was burning with some really cheap dvd media when I first got my sony writer and out of 10 dual layer dvd's I would get about 3 coasters. Now i use better media and leave the computer to write. Not one coaster since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrain Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 lg supermulti dvd-ram DSA-4120bhttp://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Sp...?ArticleId=9931 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 I have two DVD-RAM drives:1 - Matsushita/Panasonic LF-D521 - a minorly problematic caddy-DVD-RAM drive. A slow writer, but at the time I purchased it [spring 2003], it was the least expensive solution available. 2MB cache. Stated write speeds: 2x DVD-R; 1x DVD-RW; 2x DVD-RAM [caddy or not]; 12x CD-R; 8x CD-RWThis drive has firmware conflicts with some software [notably DVD Architect] which simple workarounds thankfully exist for. Is somewhat noisy as the tray for DVD-RAM caddy compatibility has a number of parts which vibrate. Very annoying when watching movies. Overall has worked very well, turned out very few coasters; most annoying factor is the vibration sounds it sometimes makes.Oddly, this is the fastest and most reliable drive I've yet used for CD-DA extraction.2 - BenQ DQ60 - this has been reviewed around the net as one of the worst DVD drives ever created, but I've had no problems with it whatsoever. 2MB cache. $49 at the Futureshop.Stated write speeds: 16x DVD+/-R; 8x DVD+R DL; 4x DVD-R DL; 5x DVD-RAM [no caddy tray]; 8x DVD+RW; 6x DVD-RW; 40x CD-R; 24x CD-RWSo far I've had nothing but good experiences with this drive. Unlike many of the reviews I've read, I've had no problems burning CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM with this drive, though due to the cost of media I have yet to attempt DL media. It is exceptionally quiet except when spinning up to full speed for data CDs.I regularly write DVD-R discs at 8x speed [the discs' rated speed] and have yet to experience any problems doing so. Haven't made a single coaster with this drive yet [and have burned about 40 DVD-Rs and 10 CD-Rs]. Generally speaking, I have found that the amount of cache a writer has is fairly unimportant until you start getting up to actually writing DVDs at 16x speed, where a 2MB cache is far less than one second's data during writing. I regularly write DVDs using Nero with, at the very least, Thunderbird, Opera, Trillian, Apache [webserver service is always on], a DynDNS manager, phone answering machine software, and quite often a DVD playing a movie on the other drive [they're on separate controllers] .. with no problems whatsoever. In the past 3 years of writing DVDs [mostly at 2x admittedly but the last however many at 8x] I've yet to experience a single buffer underrun or cacheing problem. I tend to think those issues are false ghosts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 false ghosts with everything but DL i;d strongly reccomend people to stay away from the 'tuff disc' brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuge Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 (edited) My brother bought one DVD writer few months back but it take so much time to write one DVD disc that i`m totally pissed to see how can we use that ..So i`m still using CD-writer Edited March 29, 2006 by stuge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 My primary computer is my laptop which shipped with one of these:http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Sp...ArticleId=11915No issues in the 18 months I've had it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 My brother bought one DVD writer few months back but it take so much time to write one DVD disc that i`m totally pissed to see how can we use that ..So i`m still using CD-writer lol you cant compare the two. A dvd writer writes something like seven times the amount of data on a cd-r. A dvd+r can be written in about six minutes.My primary computer is my laptop which shipped with one of these:http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Sp...ArticleId=11915No issues in the 18 months I've had it.Pretty sweet, they have those at spv.co.uk. My lap top only has a cd writer and a dvd rom, hence the reason i use an external dvd writer. I wonder what writing a dual layer dvd when using only the battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auvi_Joe Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Pretty sweet, they have those at spv.co.uk. My lap top only has a cd writer and a dvd rom, hence the reason i use an external dvd writer. I wonder what writing a dual layer dvd when using only the battery?I am also using a NEC 6750A ( -Link- ) retro-fitted on my Fujitsu P5K notebook. The best $70 I've ever spent on a portable DL burner. Absolutely quiet, cool and reliable. I can burn a few Doublelayer discs on the single battery with no problem what so ever(P5k main battery can easily support about 2+ hour with optical disc continuously spinning for watching DVD etc. just to give you an idea). My main battery in Fujitsu P5k is about 2+ year old so the capacity is not as full as when it was new but should be still be good for 1-2 DL discs if not more.For home use, I have another NEC 2510A(also DL capable) in a Firewire enclosure for past 1.5+ year. Cost about $40 and some loose change. Fantastic product. Any coaster produced by it are caused by either my screw-ups or crappy media.Both were purchased as loose (OEM) drives and self installed. No problem what so ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 This is the one I'm using: A BENQ DW800A.No problems, no coasters and it even handles my old CD-RW discs, that are unusable in normal CD-writers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 I have a DVD+RW that came with my laptop!But sadly I can't get a better one like a faster drive and DVD+RW because its a laptop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 lol of course you can man, you can upgrade your dvd writer to the NEX drive the others have couldnt you? I am using a laptop and this is what I use: It's meant to be able to write at 4x on dual layer media but I always get crappy writes when i write at 4x so I stick to 2.4x. I think there's something wrong with my particular external drive though just because it wont write at 16x on ANY media i throw at it. Am planning to send it back to get checked for problems soon, still under warranty. I just plug the drive into a usb2 port and it works a charm. I prefer using this to my cd-rw/dvd rom drive in the lap top just because the external has smaller seek/access times, and is generally faster when it comes to reading discs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 (edited) lol of course you can man, you can upgrade your dvd writer to the NEX drive the others have couldnt you? I am using a laptop and this is what I use: It's meant to be able to write at 4x on dual layer media but I always get crappy writes when i write at 4x so I stick to 2.4x. I think there's something wrong with my particular external drive though just because it wont write at 16x on ANY media i throw at it. Am planning to send it back to get checked for problems soon, still under warranty. I just plug the drive into a usb2 port and it works a charm. I prefer using this to my cd-rw/dvd rom drive in the lap top just because the external has smaller seek/access times, and is generally faster when it comes to reading discs.Thats an Idea! I need to get an external hard drive first! Oh and a better sound card! lol Edit: and dont forget about 5.1 surround sound!But this will have to be after I upgrade my MZ-NH1 (If ever) Edited March 29, 2006 by danielbb90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted March 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 I think sound upgrades on laptops are a waste of time imho. At least with other peripherals its normally just the power cable and USB cable and thats it. With surround sound theres even MORE cables LOL Nooooo.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 (edited) I think sound upgrades on laptops are a waste of time imho. At least with other peripherals its normally just the power cable and USB cable and thats it. With surround sound theres even MORE cables LOL Nooooo..The one I'm looking at is PCMCIA So no cabels! And come on! Be greatefull its not a desktop computer!Trying to plug a usb scanner, hotsync cable, printer, Hi-MD usb cable, a usb mouse and a 1GB flash drive into 2 usb plugs!Yeh! And one was permently taken by the mouse! NOW THAT WAS A NIGHTMARE! lol Laptop easier! (Yeh ok usb hub is the answer! But I just never got round to getting one!) Edited March 30, 2006 by danielbb90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted March 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 LOL no way man!! It's dead easy to put a new USB2 card into a desktop. You can get 4 port USB2 cards, and firewire 400/800 cards. Those are alot cheaper than buying adapters etc for a laptop. My laptop only has 2 usb2 ports, a PCMCIA slot and a firewire port. :/Oh and those USB hubs where it splits the power of 1 usb port into 4 or more ports are stupid, they cant power a device to save themselves, well except for a mouse and a card reader and tiny things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 LOL no way man!! It's dead easy to put a new USB2 card into a desktop. You can get 4 port USB2 cards, and firewire 400/800 cards. Those are alot cheaper than buying adapters etc for a laptop. My laptop only has 2 usb2 ports, a PCMCIA slot and a firewire port. :/Oh and those USB hubs where it splits the power of 1 usb port into 4 or more ports are stupid, they cant power a device to save themselves, well except for a mouse and a card reader and tiny things.Oh yeh! Good Point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pata2001 Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 I have 4 NEC DVD writers. All work like a charm for cheap price.The latest NEC seems to be not that good in writing quality though. Ben-Q based Sonys seem to be the favorite now. Previous lite-on based Sonys are not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Oh and those USB hubs where it splits the power of 1 usb port into 4 or more ports are stupid, they cant power a device to save themselves, well except for a mouse and a card reader and tiny things.That's why you use a powered hub. At least that's what I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted April 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 spose, ive tried using the power adapter that came with my belkin one and the results were still pretty pooish. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 That's why you use a powered hub. At least that's what I do. You can get them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 yeah its just a usb 4 port thing that has an a/c input, simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 I found one! http://www.thesourcecc.com/estore/Product....product=2616524Do you think that one is any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury_in_flames Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 to tell you the honest truth, i would get one of the same quality with 4 ports instead, At least then if it doesnt work so well on your computer you havent spent as much money. I bought a belkin 4 port one for 25 pounds or about 50 dollars, and ive pretty much shoved it into the junk tub in my room, waste of time really. If you really wanted to splurge I would definetly reccomend a PCMCIA Firewire card yummy I wanted one of those to run my Lacie on firewire 800, but the card with firewire 800 was about 130 US dollars over here, not really worth it just to transfer files to and from my already puny laptop hard disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 (edited) to tell you the honest truth, i would get one of the same quality with 4 ports instead, At least then if it doesnt work so well on your computer you havent spent as much money. I bought a belkin 4 port one for 25 pounds or about 50 dollars, and ive pretty much shoved it into the junk tub in my room, waste of time really. If you really wanted to splurge I would definetly reccomend a PCMCIA Firewire card yummy I wanted one of those to run my Lacie on firewire 800, but the card with firewire 800 was about 130 US dollars over here, not really worth it just to transfer files to and from my already puny laptop hard disk.At the moment I don't need one, as I currently have only 4 usb things! (same as ports)But if I get any more USB things I will...I'm bound to or If I get my palm workin'! (Or I get a new printer! I don't know what happened to the last one!?) Maby by then there will be a good one out! Edited April 2, 2006 by danielbb90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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