Hi All,

My old external Plextor PX-716UF is getting to the drive's heaven and I need to buy a new external burner. I have a choice between:

Samsung GSA-E60N
LG SE-S204N with LightScribe
LaCie d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe

All the drives with USB external ones 20x.

Which one would be the best choice?

Thanks

Hi,This drive is a sibling from LG's H55 series. Having a Panasonic chipset, it is not very recommended.

Quote:

LG SE-S204N with LightScribe LaCie d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe

From the image on Lacie.com website, this drive looks like some internal Samsung drive slapped into an external enclosure. But I haven't seen any information about the drive that is used. So you don't know what you get with that Lacie unit.

If this is your only choice, then I'd go with the Samsung 204.

Michael

Thank you. After searching the net I am inclined to go for SE-S204.
I have heard that Sony external drives are re-branded LGs. Is it true?

I can get also a few internal drives wrapped into USB enclosure (BLUE EYE 5.25"):

Samsung 20X USB 2.0 SH-S202 DL
LG 22X SB 2.0 GH22NP20 DL
Pioneer 20X DVR-115D USB

I am not sure that it is a good idea to buy an internal drive with enclosure to use it as an external full time. Probably, the original external SE 204 would be a better option.

What do you think?

Andy

Sony rebadges Samsung, Liteon and Nec drives. Their latest external drives (830 and 840) were Samsung based.
Well, the main difference between a retail external drive from a drive manufactuere and a combination of internal drive with an external enclosure is, that the retail external unit will work as advertised (unless your USB controller is slow).
The advantage of a combination internal drive + enclosure is, that replacing the drive is easy (not possible with the Samsung 204).
If the advertized speed of 20x is reached (this depends on the chipset), then the Pioneer from that list would be an excellent option. You might ask the vendor about the chipset used in the enclosure. Nec based enclosures are excellent.

Michael

Thanks a lot!

You are saying that Pioneer DVR-115D with the NEC chipset would be better than SE 204. Why?

The Pioneer is an excellent "General Purpose" drive. Burn quality with not-so-good media is often better than with the Samsung.

Another advantage: If the drive breaks, you can replace it by something else. This is not possible with the external Samsung unit.

The main question is now: "is the enclosure perfectly compatible with that Pioneer drive?"

Michael

There is a good review of DVR-115D and SH-S203D:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...22450&PageId=0

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...22494&PageId=0

I have compared all the review sections side-by-side; only a marginal difference in performance. it does not look as one is superior to another

Hi,then it's just a matter of taste and personal preference to decide what drive to buy.

Michael