# Buying Optical drives



## realdan (Apr 23, 2008)

I am looking to buy an optical drives capable of burning CD and DVD media and that basically means the need is a DVD writer.

I am confused and can't decide which one to buy especially because one cannot rely on reviews anymore.

The better test to decided what to buy is reliability and users experience counts a lot so if you don't have any issues with the drives u have bought and think it appropriate to suggest it. Pls do so.

I don't want a fast drives which end its life fast too.

Pls suggest what model of dvd writer to go for which is currently available in the market.


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## pratik03 (Apr 23, 2008)

Samsung SH-S203D (SATA Interface)

Silent & fast. brought it 1 week before.

faster drive doesn't mean shorter life


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## thetillian (Apr 24, 2008)

Go for Samsung or others the LiteOn is the best.


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## ankushkool (Apr 24, 2008)

liteon or samsung... no doubt


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## capt.rej (Apr 25, 2008)

Ya *realdan*...go for da *Samsung SH-S203D*
it costs around INR 1,200/- and is a steal at such a price fr the performance...
just make sure ur Motherboard has an empty SATA port...as this Writter sports the new SATA Interface...


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## sam9s (Apr 25, 2008)

nope samsung is not known for it quality. I am surprised no body recomended sony, or ASUS. I have used all DVD drives for years and I can say Sony never gave any problem in any department, then liteon (relatively) new, and recently I tried ASUS SATA DVD RW, is working like a charm for the past 6,7 months.


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## NucleusKore (Apr 25, 2008)

LiteOn LH20A1P


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## Ethan_Hunt (Apr 25, 2008)

Lite-On LH20A1P is a noisy drive.Needs firmware update to read Dual Layer DVD's.Had it for close to a year.Didn't have major problem burning DVD's till now.Ocassional switch to PIO mode(once) & minor tray issue(2 times).That's about all that I have come across & nothing apart from that.It had failed 4 DVD's in a row once but I suppose I had a bad luck with those media.After that it had worked fine.


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 25, 2008)

Sony DRU 190A


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## utsav (Apr 25, 2008)

ASUS rocks without a glitch . i am very satisfied. I have lost three samsung octoedge drives so samsung is a big NO


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## channabasanna (Apr 25, 2008)

I have a SAMSUNG DVD Writer, which i have kept it away now as it is a junk. SAMSUNG has lot of problems in its tray. I have never used the Drive roughly like pushing the tray inside or inserting a pin to open the tray.
Whenever i press eject button it used to come after 3 or 4 presses of the button, so when in warranty i got it serviced from SAMSUNG. Again few months ago i had same issue.

So i decided to change the drive, hence brought a SONY DVD Writer, now when i just opened the tray of SAMSUNG i found that the Gears in the tray were broken for almost 1 inch of length.

I would say build quality of SAMSUNG optical drives is very bad. I even have seen the same issues in 2 of my friends system's.

I would say SONY.


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## NucleusKore (Apr 25, 2008)

allwyndlima said:


> Lite-On LH20A1P is a noisy drive.



Yes like an aeroplane taking off



allwyndlima said:


> Needs firmware update to read Dual Layer DVD's.



Like DIgit DVDs? Yes, and its through a nice GUI flasher provided by LiteOn the firmware can be updated, no shell or dos commands to fiddle around with.


Have it now for a year and a half, no problems.


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## realdan (Apr 25, 2008)

the thing is i have never ever bought a samsung...that was when people said about quality issues with their drives

so far i have only used sony, liteon..i should say i have issue with both..failed to read/write dvd in both the brands.

i still have sony dru-810a using it in another PC for more than a year at least..dont remember exactly when i bought it...

the Sony AW-G170A..that i bought wasnt reliable and failed to read/write dvd now..even when it was working it took longer to read dvd..which means slower than the dru-810a..at least in my case..or maybe i m just unlucky to have the problem

i bet the samsung drives model recommended is still very new and people may not have used it to the extent to judge its quality..isnt? oh! that particular model was recommended by digit as editors pick..

what about sony dru-845s? have anyone burnt heavily with it? is it performance and reliability good?


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## pratik03 (Apr 25, 2008)

samsung had quality issues & tray porblems in their older models
but in this new model (SH-S203D) tray quality, read/write speeds & overall build quality are much better than previous model
also it is much faster than my older sony drive

all other members blaming samsung try this model


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## realdan (Apr 25, 2008)

looks like this time samsung managed to get it right...from what i see

pratik03 subject the tray in and out mechanism to an intensive test  ..maybe not on the one u have but somebody else


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## bajaj151 (Apr 25, 2008)

allwyndlima said:


> Lite-On LH20A1P is a noisy drive.Needs firmware update to read Dual Layer DVD's.Had it for close to a year.Didn't have major problem burning DVD's till now.Ocassional switch to PIO mode(once) & minor tray issue(2 times).That's about all that I have come across & nothing apart from that.It had failed 4 DVD's in a row once but I suppose I had a bad luck with those media.After that it had worked fine.




I have updated my firmware to the latest (KLOP)....but still digit dual layer dvds not reading on my drive.


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 25, 2008)

u shud go in for Sony DRU 190A ... if money isn't an issue , go for ASUS


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## NucleusKore (Apr 26, 2008)

bajaj151 said:


> I have updated my firmware to the latest (KLOP)....but still digit dual layer dvds not reading on my drive.



Download patch
Disconnect from the internet
Disable all antivirus, firewall, active defense, etc.
Run the patch
Reboot immediately after it's installed

Firmware: *www.mediafire.com/?yzflzi0icg0


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## bajaj151 (Apr 26, 2008)

NucleusKore said:


> Download patch
> Disconnect from the internet
> Disable all antivirus, firewall, active defense, etc.
> Run the patch
> ...



But I already updated my firmware...


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## NucleusKore (Apr 26, 2008)

bajaj151 said:


> But I already updated my firmware...



Then try again, it will overwrite it but do it as outlined above


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## realdan (Apr 27, 2008)

BBThumbHealer said:


> u shud go in for Sony DRU 190A ... if money isn't an issue , go for ASUS



i m scared of the sony dru-1xx range...did you buy it?
which asus model..is it drw-1814BLTor drw-2014L1T? anyone have real life experience using them?


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## Cool Buddy (Apr 27, 2008)

if u r buying lite on make sure the service centre is closeby and plz buy a 2nd drive of another company bcoz once ur liteon stops working and u give it to the service centre it will come back only after u have exhausted ur warranty, till then it will stay in Singapore or Germany or wherever there company is locted. The fact is its the worst drive and the service is PATHETIC. I hate digit for recommending these to everyone.Speaking from personal experience. I made the mistake of suggesting liteon to my friends and they r no longer my friends.


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 27, 2008)

realdan said:


> i m scared of the sony dru-1xx range...did you buy it?
> which asus model..is it drw-1814BLTor drw-2014L1T? anyone have real life experience using them?




yeah ... i got it and found it better than Samsung ! 

for asus ... drw-2014L1T


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## acewin (Apr 28, 2008)

how can I get sony DRU-8xx series writer, here in locals, I see only DRU-190A, but 810A seems to be much better than 190A.


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## realdan (May 2, 2008)

it seems different people have recommended different model..lets have a poll to decide


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## techtronic (May 2, 2008)

Did you consider the option of buying a USB DVD Writer ?


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## praka123 (May 2, 2008)

samsung and problems-it is not relevant now.it is just FUD.dont compare old samsung drives.now samsung has changed quiet a bit


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## csczero (May 2, 2008)

Dude ....try LG .....its reliable


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## dheeraj_kumar (May 2, 2008)

Dont get any Optiarc drives from Sony. They suck. They cant read DVD-Rs after some time. You need to reflash firmware, which might work in some cases, but most ppl prefer an exchange.


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## confused (May 3, 2008)

AFAIK sony is just a re badged benq.
and been using benq for 2 yrs now. no probs yet.


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## spindoc (Sep 1, 2008)

bought a new sony 18x dvd drive, 

can anyone tell me how it works?


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