Hey Im new to the forum and I need a little bit of help. I had an NEC 3520A which worked great for about 2 years (or about 2000 burns). It worked great at first but slowly it started burning skips into the discs, mainly towards the end of the movie (I mostly burn dvd movies). And now it has gotten so bad that it burns skips all through the disc, making them worthless. I use taiyon yuden 4x media from supermediastore for all burns.

1. My questions is there a way to fix the drive? I assume it just crapped out on me. I have not kept up with dvd-rw drives since I bought my 3520 several years ago. Im not too worried about fixing it if I can find a suitable replacement.

2. What drive would be best for burning dvd movies and getting the most reliably clean burns? Speed, and noise level of drive are not important. Although I would prefer it to be black for aesthetics. I heard the pioneer 111 and benq 1620 are pretty good?

3. What media is best with the drive you recommend.

4. Where is the drive available? I mostly use newegg for computer hardware, but shop elsewhere if need be.

It sucks to find out that a hundred discs that you have backed up are just costers! I guess I should have been checking them. Please help, I need a new drive fast.

In as the 1620 is nowhere to be found anymore, go with the Pioneer 111D. It's a goody. Suggest Newegg.

Could you do a few scans?
Have you tried other media?

Burning DVD movies means that you might like a drive with bitsetting, like LG, LiteOn...
I recommend Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+R and Verbatim 16x DVD+/-R

LiteOn burners have learning (HyperTuning, Online HyperTuning), can do quality scans quite accurately, and respect your privacy by not burning a unique burner 's serial number on DVD-R while LG, for example, does this.

Well I have alot of movies to back up. I mainly want them to just burn without too much trouble and to not skip or anything. Im not a DVD-burner guru. I know other computer hardware but with burners I just want one that works without having to mess with it too much.

Dealing with the fact that alot of the "best" burners are no longer in production, what is the new $50 or less burner that I can count on. Is there one or two obvious choices. Ive heard pioneer 111D and LiteOn (but no specific model number). I appreciate any other in depth suggestions that can be offered.

(again for mass dvd movie backups. Gets around protections, and doesnt skip)

Yes, I would agree the Pioneer 111D is very good with Yuden -R if that's what you are burning... I always suggest matching media and drives because certain drives definitely have an affinity for certain media types.

Pioneer 111. It turns out quality burns on media that other burners don't like. It looks like the 112 may be as good but I haven't seen enough scans as yet.

I am using the 111D cross flashed to 111L and it has been working great with TY02 +R 8x media. In a seperate thread I started a discussion about the quality of 12x burns with this same media/drive combo and as of yet I can not find any reason not to burn 12x outside my personal fear of quality loss. Having done several dozen 8x and half a dozen 12x burns the quality comparison from one to the other is amazing. Not that I suggest that you burn at 12x, that is your decision, just stating that the 111D@111L and TY02 media seems to work together in exceptional fashion. Also, when crossflashed to the 111L you get automatic bit setting to DVD-ROM for +R disks, DVD-RAM read and write and LabelFlash(limited use in the U.S.) Bonuses for nothing.

On a side note and as a warning, the 111D seems to be a relatively poor scanner to other drives like the Liteys. If you take the price, around $29 U.S. for the Pioneer from NewEgg, you could spend another $30 and get a second drive for scanning and reading the more difficult, ie scratched, disks out there thus getting the best features out of both drives. Plus, you get two drives that way for less than the price of one of the more expensive drives!

Ok the Pioneer 111 seems like the winner. Just so I know, is there a preferance between dvd-r and dvd+r media for movie burns? I have always used tayio yuden -r but I have heard people say the +r is better. What is the difference? Or specifically the pros and cons of each?

"Protection schemes are a problem however, the drive failing to bypass even Safedisc v2, which is found on older games. It also failed to rip our key2audio protected disc. So this drive is not the ideal choice for backing up protected discs."
From cdrinfo.com review found here: http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...6771&PageId=24

Does this mean I wont be able to copy protected discs? This worries me guys, if this is the case then I need another suggestion on a drive to get.

Just ignore that. That was pertaining to gaming discs. Movie decryption and protection bypass is a software process, as you probably already know. Has nothing to do with the burner.

On our own review of this drive. The 111 passed our Safedisc 2 test and protected Audio discs. http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Pion...ced-tests.html

Actually ZipZoomFly shows the Benq 1620 in stock for $35 with free shipping.

The debate on +r and -r continues. The best suggestion I can give is to test your standalone players and see which media you feel yields the best playback results. Some players will skip and freeze with certain dye types...

See this thread:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=103718

The Pioneer 111 does very well with both types of DVD media, even the very picky MCC 03RG20s. As to the debate, I find +R provides better burns on a wider variety of burners and, when bitset as the 111 will do with Buffalo firmware, is widely playable. Also, from a purely technical standpoint, +R is superior. This advantage does not seem to translate into any real world difference. Stick with TY and Verbatim (some exceptions from time to time) and you should be happy.

Ok so the Benq drive is available. For my purposes listed above^
Pioneer 111D or Benq DW1670? Thanks for helping me out with this.

The newer BenQ 1670 is considered an inferior drive, not in the same league as 1620-1650. Of the two, Pioneer hands down.

I wouldn't chose the 1670 -

The Asus DRW-1612BL is a three-sheep burner, if you want that. But it's not very special.
Why not the Pioneer 112?

So the 112 is better than the 111, any reason to get the 111 over the 112? What are the differences?

Get both Poineer and Lite-On, one for burning and the other one for reading & scanning.

Check the 112 thread...the jury is still out an not looking good. Just get the 111D. Your are over thinking this whole thing!!!!!

The 112 is very new -- it's only been available for a few weeks for most of us, and the firmware isn't as mature as it is for the 111. If you are buring 4x and 8x Yuden, then no reason for the 112. The 112 offers 18x burning (with selected 16x media) and that's really the only practical difference.

The 111 is the better choice if you just want solid performance and a lack of coasters.

If you want to fiddle and experiment like a lot of us here, then the 112 might be better for you. Many of us get the latest drive just to have a bit of fun with it.

Ok I am going with the Pioneer 111D after everyone's great advice. Thanks alot everyone.

Now I just want to buy a spindle to test it with. What would be best for this burner? -r or +r (whichever you think is best)

What brand? Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim, or some other brand?

I dont know how to look for TY002 or whatever, maybe someone could teach me. I would like to buy from newegg just to save on shipping as my burner will be coming from there.

I would recommend (in that order):

Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+R (YUDEN000 T02)
Verbatim 8x DVD+R (MCC 003 - if available)
Maxell MIJ 16x DVD+R (MAXELL 003 - only the "Made in Japan" Maxell!)
Verbatim 16x DVD+R (MCC 004)
Verbatim 8x DVD-R (MCC 02RG20 - if available)
Maxell MIJ 16x DVD-R (MXL RG04 - only the "Made in Japan" Maxell!)
Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R (TYG02)
Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD+R (YUDEN000 T03)
Verbatim 16x DVD-R (MCC 03RG20)
Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD-R (TYG03)

That's the premium brands...
If you want to get some other, cheaper media, I would recommend getting RICOHJPN R03 or CMC MAG E01.

Could you link me so I get the right media? Im not sure how you are identifying TY as being T02. Is it available at newegg, or do I have to look elsewhere?