Hey all,

I'm in the market for a new burner (have a Plextor 8/4/32 right now) and I saw Lite-Ons at a local computer show for $76.

Mmm...tempting.

But I've heard some stuff from various online sources and friends that makes me wonder, like:
1. It's noisy
2. It has flimsy construction, especially in the way the CD tray slides in and out.
3. Useless, poorly written manual that is not even a printed manual.
4. The quality of the burn is not good, especially at faster speeds. Other readers may have a hard time reading discs burned with the Lite-On. And audio CD players might also have problems.
5. Only a 2MB buffer as opposed to 8MB in some other burners.
6. Higher CPU usage compared to other burners.
7. Doesn't work well with TDK and Verbatim discs.

I'm also looking at the Yamaha CRW-F1 which looks like an awesome burner especially for music (jitter correction features). I'm specifically looking at the cdrlabs review here: http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index...ge=Performance

It shows the Yamaha at 1.75% and the Lite-On at 14%! Ouch.

So, while the Lite-On's price is certainly tempting, I'm just wondering if this is a case of "you get what you pay for." Right now I'm sort of leaning toward the Yamaha, even though I know it costs more and is a little bit slower than the 48X Lite-Ons. Plus, I have to admit that that Disc T@2 feature is a cool toy. Unnecessary, but still cool.

I'm not trying to put down all the Lite-On fans here. Just looking for honest info. Thanks for any replies.

> 1. It's noisy

At 48x, the CD spins at 11000/min. Most drives are noisy then...

> 3. Useless, poorly written manual that is not even a printed manual.

Use this forum as a manual....

> Only a 2MB buffer as opposed to 8MB in some other burners.

True. Yamaha 16x writer has 8 MB, LiteON 48x has 2 MB...

> 7. Doesn't work well with TDK and Verbatim discs.

Older TDK (12x and lower) and Verbatim (esp. 24x and higher, while 16x Metal Azos work) do not perform well in newer LiteOns.
New TDK 32x (manuf. by TDK, only available in Europe) work well at 48x.

The Yamaha would really be the better burner if it could write SD 2,51 without AWS and if you could select a speed between 16x and 44x with OWC enabled...but even then, only few people would pay twice as much money to get a Yamaha.

If you do not want to write SD 2.51 without AWS, and if the price of the Yamaha is OK for you, then get one...

Gear-driven. Some have reported problems, but usually after some user-generated event that broke a tooth off a gear.

What exactly were you needing a manual for? It's hardware, put it in and go!

TDK doesn't make discs any more, at least not in the US. High-speed drive are all finicky about media, were you expecting to write at 48x on 16x media? Mine works well with 32x Verbatim.

I'm currently burning at 48x on TY and Phillips, (yes, CMC) media with very few errors, none at all at 40x.

Given the SmartBurn technology, buffer is irrelavant.

Given the price of the new LiteOns, they are nearly "disposable drives". Use it for a while and toss it when the next version somes out. Right now, with rebates, i can get 2+ LiteOns for the price of a PlexWriter or Yamaha
BTW, 48x burned audio discs are playing in my car player with no problems.

You say the manufacturers info on a drive is the most "honest"?

Hopefully, his decision is not based on the information that BoSkin has provided.

It's right here :
http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/prod...ter/index.html

www.liteonit.com.tw/index-english.htm

The most honest of all honest ones.
Is your decision is dependent on online sources, friends' and LiteOn fans' opinions ?

Don't help them to bury the light,
don't give in without a fight

no, his decision will be based on rdgrimes decision

Now I'm really confused, or space and time has gotten mixed up...
How could alexnoe quote Boskin before Boskin had posted...?
Really weird...
*puts paranoia-suit back on*

for very good audio back-up buy YAMAHA

for back-ups of protected data buy LITE-ON

BosKin posted his message twice He ignored my question, because he didn't believe himself what he posted, so he deleted it and set his post behind mine.
Is it possible to move posts within the thread? I mean to move his one back where it belongs.

confusing thread.....i hope the first poster still gets it....

OK, once I got the space-time continuum problems worked out , I think there are some good posts in this thread.

As far as the noise comment goes, I realize that fast-RPM drives will be noisy to some extent, but then it is up to the manufacturer to mitigate some of that noise. My post should have said "it's noisier than other similar drives" rather than just "it's noisy." True? Is it noisier? I really dislike really noisy components.

Regarding the tray, does your tray go out fast about halfway, then slow to a crawl for the rest of the way? That's what I've heard that these do.

True, I don't really need a manual usually, but I was just asking to get an overall picture. Even though I probably won't use it, it still reflects on the company if they have a poorly written, error-filled or lackluster manual.

Nobody has commented yet on the higher CPU usage. I have read reviews that say the Lite-On has higher CPU usage than other drives. Any problems doing other stuff while burning (I'm on XP, by the way)?

I would agree with you guys on the 2MB buffer not being a factor because of SmartBurn. But on the other hand, I thought that the ideal objective is to be able to burn without having to have SmartBurn kick in. In other words, if it has to take action, then you actually have a buffer underrun problem. SmartBurn eliminates the consequences of that, so you still get a good burn, but deep down in there, you still have a buffer underrun problem. Right?

"But who cares? As long as you get a good burn." Well, yeah, I guess. But I'm just bringing up the above point for the sake of argument.

Thanks, guys, for the replies here. I think right now it looks like my choice will be between Lite-On and ASUS. Yamaha's drive looks good, but now it's looking too expensive for what you get.

EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I just bought a Turtle Beach Audiotron and will be taking on the daunting task fo ripping my large CD collection to 320K bitrate MP3s, using EAC. (320K might seem like overkill, but I have the disk space, and I'm trying to replace the need to ever fish out my CDs from the rack again.) Sooo.....that may be a factor in my decision, if I decide to use the Lite-On for ripping. Also for burning custom audio CDs at a fast speed, I want it to be good quality for that also.

Smartburn and Burnproof are not the same thing. If your setup is ok you will not use burn proof as even with only 2mb buffer your buffer will be full all time. Smartburn stops you writing too fast on poor media. Noise ; i have a yamaha and a (2)lite ons, the lite on is much quieter. CPU; when burning to 2 lite ons at 40x at same time on same ide channel the cpu usage was never above 20% (XP) and that was from mp3 to audio cd with p3 1000.

I too was a bit sceptical at first, only had em 3 weeks, just get one you will be amazed - i was.

OK, thanks! Well, looks like I'll get either a Lite-On or an ASUS then.

A few more questions:

What's the difference between the LTR-48125W and LTR-48126S? I can't see find the difference on Lite-Ons website. They kind of lump the two together under the same specs.

Do you have any links to head-to-head comparisons between the Lite-On 48x and the ASUS 48x? I'm wondering if the ASUS does anything the Lite-On can't do, or does something better than the Lite-On.

How close is Lite-On to releasing an even faster drive (say, a 52X)?

Thanks for your time.

My 48x is the quietest RW drive I have owned, (#6).

Not noticeably, but each of the 3 I've had is a little different.

A really meaningless measurement, as it depends onyour CPU. Mine averages 2-5%. All these measurements are readily available at CDRLabs.

The 48126S does not yet exist. It's the new chipset that is thusfar a mystery, may or may not be upgradable to 52x24x52 at some point. Stay tuned.

Thanks. Man, this site is great! Glad I found it.

I really don't get the absolute requirement that a burner be noise-free. When I'm burning something I usually have my speakers blasting some MP3s or the TV on or whatever. I have never ever had to burn a disc at the local city library. I've never had my wife glare at me for opening the cd tray too loudly. Besides, any noise that may emanate from said burner is surely drowned out by my Swiftech MCX462 fan.

All you jokers who need a quiet burner need to get a grip.

Lol if you had ever had a yamaha 2100 you wouldnt say that, mine sounded like an aeroplane taking off when you put a disk in, the whole case would vibrate.

Joe: I've heard a Yamaha 2100 "in action" once. It's really frightening...it was even worse than an Asus 50x CD-ROM.

What a shame, and I thought we had a clairvoyant on the team.

I just want quiet devices, no matter what they are -- burner, power supply, printer, whatever. I am fed up with noisy fans. I am fed up with CD drives that vibrate the entire computer desk when they spin up (I have two of those right now -- an Acer and an Afreey).

So, while it is certainly not the most important, determining factor in my purchasing decision, it still is very desirable to me to have a quiet system.

One other thing: You say you are listening to MP3s while you burn, and even if you were not listening to MP3s, the sound of the burner would still be drowned out by the fans in your system. Talk about laughing at some people......I've had a few friends with similar setups. They spend $400+ on a Klipsch Promedia surround speaker system, and all of that great sound quality is constantly accompanied by a loud chorus of cooling fans and buzzing, vibrating CD drives. LOL!

For your information the computer I keep in my room is fanless and silent when it's not doing anything, and I like it that way. My game computer is like a jumbo jet I keep that one in the basement. And my Lite-On 48x is the loudest component in my computer and let me tell you it's damn quiet. Not everyone is putting these drives into new computers with 10 fans. My P3 866 w/512mb burns at 48x fine

I can't seem to find the figures you are quoting. The only drive that got 1.75% for CPU utilization is the LG GCE-8400B in the first test. In that same test the lite on got 0.95% CPU usage, which is better than the Yamaha's 1.07%.

Then in the second test, it does appear that the Lite-on uses more CPU than the yamaha, by about twice. But look at the performance! The seek times of the Yamaha are not acceptable for a new drive. And the Lite-on is going ~5x faster which would use a little more CPU anyway.

Looking just at those test results, I would find myself most inclined to buy the Asus - great performance and low CPU usage. But seeing how I already own the 48125w (equivelent of Visiontek 48x in that test) I think I'll just stick with that.

@ BadReligion:
Those numbers aren't CPU utilization. They're related to DAE errors

that's a frightening thought, have you measured a temp inside that "fanless" case?