Sean Johnson wrote:
I'm pretty stuck on Plextor drives. I've found them to all be very
reliable, and will tend to read damaged disks that other drives choke
on.
Just my 2c.
I could have bought another brand for less, but my Plextor has yet to
meet a brand of disc that it couldn't burn. I haven't had any bad burns
yet either.
One thing you might do is check http://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters to
read up on whichever models you are thinking about buying. This site
lists reviews and blank media compatibility reports for nearly every
drive under the sun. Check to see how picky the drives you like are and
read the reviews. If you find one that will burn perfectly on every
type of media that has been tried in it, that's a major plus. Many
drives have trouble writing to inexpensive discs.
When you find a promising drive or two, look to see if any of the
reportedly compatible media can be bought at your local shop. Better
yet, look for some you can buy in bulk on the cheap through a shopping
engine (I like pricewatch.com).
Be sure to verify that the media you intend to use will play in your
set-top DVD player too. Find your DVD player at
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers and look at the player's media
compatibility reports to do this. The compatibility lists for the
players aren't always as complete as they are for the
burners--especially for older players--but it is better to have looked
than not to have.
It's a lot of leg-work, but it beats buying a drive that will only burn
expensive media, or that won't burn any of the brands of discs that work
in your set-top box. When you find a drive/cheap-media/player
combination that works, you can save a lot of money by buying the discs
in bulk, even if you have to pay a premium for a more capable burner.
When you find a good deal on a DVD burner, and that burner will record a
wide variety of brands of discs, and among those varieties of discs are
some that you can get cheap, and those cheap discs will play in your
set-top DVD player... well, then start digging out your credit card
already! What more do you want?!
Just my 13 cents.
P.S.: Seemingly identical blank discs can be made by different
manufacturers even if they are the same brand/speed/model-number. Don't
buy bulk media unless you're ABSOLUTELY sure that it is going to work
for you. You might ask the vendor if they will sell you a sample disc
to test first. Who knows? It could happen.
--
"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate" - W. of O.
--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
