Alright, so I am currently thinking of buying a new dvd reader, because my current write/reader isn't very good at reading. The thing is I don't want another flop of a dvd reader. I need one that is very good at reading scratched media, can anyone make any suggestions to a dvd reader that is good at reading scratched media, and doesn't have trouble trying to read the disc? It's very troublesome trying to view a dvd that has a micro scratch on it, and my drive refuses to read it. Please give your best suggestions.

Hi FLCL,
what drive do you have now? NEC or Optiarc?
LG DVD-ROMs are probably the best drives for scratched and damaged media (LG GDR H30N, etc), their DVD writers (GSA-H42N, etc) are very good at reading too

What interface do you have on your PC - SATA, PATA, or both?

My Samsung and LiteOn drives (burners) do a very good job with reading dodgy media.

Welcome to the forum, BTW

LG readers are very slow to pick up speed again after a reading issue.

I have a Samsung SH-S182M right now, and I'm running PATA, Arachne. I have heard that Lite-on is good at reading scratched media, as well as NEC. I just don't know which model would be better, because i really don't want to end up wishing i had bought another one instead, you know?

That drive should be great with scratched stuff...my 182D is.

The NEC drives I've had are very fast, but the disc has to be in good condition, so I wouldn't recommend one for scratched discs.

My LiteOn LH-20A1H does a fairly good job, though.

When I first got the drive, it was great, then after a while it slowly stopped reading discs and having more issues. It seems like it attempts to read it, but fails.

Whats the worse your LH-20A1H has read? Generally my discs aren't too scratched, but there isn't much you can do when it comes to rented discs.

If they're generally not too scratched, the Litey should do a good job, and fast.

I use my Litey as my primary ripper, and it's very rare I come across a disc it can't read. The Sammy is my second choice as ripper in case the Litey can't read a disc, but so far the Litey's done well.

Edit: however, I have to add - my neighbour gave me a disc once, that none of my drives installed then could read - an older LiteOn, and BenQ 1650, and an LG E10N. The Samsung was the only one to even register the disc, let alone read it

I agree with you that older Nec's had serious problems in reading that type of discs, the 720X serie seems to be better in this area.

That's good to hear ...my Optiarc 5170S is a bit picky in that area, like my 4551A before it.

I also head of a good Lite-On drive, the 16P9S is supposedly pretty good at reading scratched media, but it's only a reader I believe.

I had the 4551 ages ago and I ended up with a Pioneer 110D just to get better reading results. But then again - sometimes it can just be that one particular disc gets better reading/ripping results in one reader and then the next time with another disc - it's another reader that can read it without to many problems.