DVD burner recommendations.

[GMac]

As I mentioned in another thread here, my Plextor 40Tsi SCSI reader is slowly dying on me, so I'm in the market for a new primary optical drive. Given that SCSI optical drives of any description are pretty hard to acquire these days (I only know of two UK vendors selling them - either the Pioneer 10X/40X DVD-ROM or the NEC 40X CD-ROM) and ATAPI DVD burners are very affordable, I'm seriously considering a DVD-RW drive. The LiteOn (SOHW-1633S) and Pioneer (DVR-108) both look decent, so I'm wondering which models you guys would recommend (either of the above, or alternatives) and if there are any pitfalls to look out for when shopping for one (media incompatibilites, poor DAE performance etc).

Thanks in advance

GM

 

[Buck]

Lately I've been happy with NEC's 3500AG. Pioneer's 108D is equally as good. Anand compares the latest 16x burners here.

 

[sechs]

I have a Plextor which has done extremely well.

I've heard bad things about Lite-On DVD burners.

 

[Mercutio]

LiteOn for the most part have been very good for me. I've bought about 50 of them (8 and 16x Dual Layer models, mostly) in the last 3 months, so that's a decent sample size.

I've also had good luck with NEC 8x units, but I've only purchased maybe a dozen of those.

 

[MaxBurn]

All good suggestions above everywhere I read. Personally I have had good luck with my DRU510 Sony and my new DRU530a.

 

[Handruin]

Sony + Mercutio = :boom:

 

[LunarMist]

The NEC 3500AG works fine and is less than $70. I would buy another one, but my system cannot handle two IDE channels due to the excessive RAM and Firewire is too slow.

 

[time]

Another vote for NEC.

 

[Bozo]

I haven't any problems with any of the Plextors I've bought.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[GMac]

The NEC3500 seems to be well liked by everybody, so that's the one I'll likely be going for (it can also be had for less than £50 too, which is good with with festive season approaching). I just need to sort out some IDE drivers for my Epox NForce2 mobo out now (been all-SCSI up to press) - hopefully the current ones are a bit more stable than the early releases.....

Thanks to everyone who responded.

GM