The Dolphin tells it like it is....

[Pavel]

Not necessarily.

All you need is a 80-wire IDE cable for the burner, an 80 wire cable for the hard drives (preferably 7200 rpm), no applications running in the background, and you are set to go.

If you don't have an extra 80 IDE slot than you have to go out and buy a PCI adapter. The ECS motherboard desktop we have only has one 80 wire IDE cable, othewise performance loss will occur.

[Pavel]

You might want to tell your friend to get another 256, 512 is pretty much minimum especially if your friend is running WinXP.

Not necessarily. My sister runs XP SP1 on her PII (two) 333 mhz with 196 MB ram and it is just fine.

[The Digital Dolphin]

Hey DD,
I got a 50 pack of Verbatims DVD-r that are made in taiwan. DVD indentifier tells me that they are Mitsubishi. The media code is MCC 02RG20. If these are made in Taiwan, then how can they be mitsubishi?

P.S. have you ever bought TYs from NCIX? Thanks for telling me that TY DVDs don't have the foggy inner ring anymore.

The Verbatim discs will either have been made by Prodisc or CMC. To find out, look at the serial numbers:

Here's how to tell one from the other, courtesy of Gen-An of CDRlabs

You can tell by the inner hub serial numbers (they're etched into the plastic). CMC uses serial numbering schemes starting with PAH for +R and MAH for -R. Prodisc uses a scheme that involves two long strings of numbers separated by a "-" for DVD-R or a "+" for DVD+R. You can't tell this instore since the foam rings on top of the top disc obscure the hub area.

As for whether or not I buy DVDRs from <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=28 target=_blank>NCIX</a> or not...not really no. But I don't need to BUY the media to be able to get samples of the same media

[The Digital Dolphin]

If you don't have an extra 80 IDE slot than you have to go out and buy a PCI adapter. The ECS motherboard desktop we have only has one 80 wire IDE cable, othewise performance loss will occur.

Those 80pin cables are MUCH more important then a lot of people seem to give them credit for

[jimmyzaas]

You might want to tell your friend to get another 256, 512 is pretty much minimum especially if your friend is running WinXP.

I told him. Unfortnately, he is cheap and because sdr ram prices are high right now it is even less likely he would do it.

Those 80pin cables are MUCH more important then a lot of people seem to give them credit for

I concur. 40 wire cables = "communication error" in nero/dvd decryptor. that cross talk can really screw your expensive MIJ discs over.

Can you believe Asus still packs 40 wire cables for some of their new boards? Better to ship one 80 wire, then ship one 80 wire and one 40 wire. That way, an idiot wouldn't be misled, use it to install a burner and wonder why their brand new dvd burner is having problems burning dvdrs.

[Riflem@n]

Not necessarily. My sister runs XP SP1 on her PII (two) 333 mhz with 196 MB ram and it is just fine.

I guess your "fine" and my "fine are a bit different, if you open a few things I don't think it'll be much of a pleasant experience.

[The Digital Dolphin]

I concur. 40 wire cables = "communication error" in nero/dvd decryptor. that cross talk can really screw your expensive MIJ discs over.

Can you believe Asus still packs 40 wire cables for some of their new boards? Better to ship one 80 wire, then ship one 80 wire and one 40 wire. That way, an idiot wouldn't be misled, use it to install a burner and wonder why their brand new dvd burner is having problems burning dvdrs.

Ugh! That's pretty lame! I can't see 80pin cables costing THAT much more to make then 40pin cables... maybe a couple pennies?

[Boss_Scorpius]

Umm.....DD I've read numerous reviews and still can't find out what dvd burner to buy. Can you recommend a burner which is fast in dvd read/write, and isn't picky about the media and has all the vital features (I don't even know whether I need a certain feature or not, I don't have dvd burning exprience)?

I need the burner mainly for data backup (just burning off bunch of iso images in my HD to save some space), occasional Dvd movie backup and burning.

Thanks and sorry it this has been already posted by someone, there were some recommendations in this 100 page thread but they're not very recent, so I thought I would ask again in case new burners came out that are better.

[The Digital Dolphin]

Umm.....DD I've read numerous reviews and still can't find out what dvd burner to buy. Can you recommend a burner which is fast in dvd read/write, and isn't picky about the media and has all the vital features (I don't even know whether I need a certain feature or not, I don't have dvd burning exprience)?

I need the burner mainly for data backup (just burning off bunch of iso images in my HD to save some space), occasional Dvd movie backup and burning.

Thanks and sorry it this has been already posted by someone, there were some recommendations in this 100 page thread but they're not very recent, so I thought I would ask again in case new burners came out that are better.

Well, the fastest burner I've seen by far is the LG 4163B, but the speed comes with a drawback: The discs burned at 12x or 16x often have very higher jitter and assymetry error rates, which reduce compatability on picky DVD players, and ESPECIALLY on console game systems (PS2, XBox).

The LG 4167B seems to be an excellent replacement for the previous LG 4163B. It keeps the speed, but manages to solve most of the jitter problems seen in previous models. I don't have one of these drives, but I have been highly encouraged by the testing (properly done testing!) I've seen done on media this drive has burned.

Possibly the most compatible DVD Burner is the BenQ DW1640, which is capable of producing usable results on even some of the worst optical media. Another large benefit to the BenQ DW1640 is that it supports automatic bitsetting for all DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R9 media, which greatly increases the compatability of DVD+R/RW/9 media on older players that could not normally support it. This is the only drive that will do this automatically for all types of DVD+R media. Other additional features of the BenQ DW1640 are available as well through the free software put out by BenQ called QSuite. It includes QScan, which tests unburned media to tell you how fast the optimum burn speed is (note, this result changes with different firmwares!). SolidBurn, which allows you to re-write recording strategies for various media types if the results you get normally are not very good (this can happen when BenQ receives one grade quality of media to base their write strategy on, but another grade quality of media is commonly sold). Overspeed, which allows the drive to attempt to burn any +R or -R (single layer) disc at 16x, although the speed will be throttled if the drives sees it as neccessary. There are other features as well, but those are the main ones

If you are planning on only using high quality media, and don't mind paying more for it, then the absolute best burn quality you can get will probably come from the Plextor PX-716a.

The Pioneer DVR-110D is NOT recommended. The DVR-109 is a MUCH better burner, but not available anymore. Anyone considering buying the DVR-110D should look at my review here on it first.

My personal recommendation is the BenQ DW1640, but keep in mind there are pro's and con's for each drive, so while I prefer the DW1640 and it works well for me, you may find your tastes are better satisfied by a different drive.

EDIT: Current recommendations are BenQ DW1650/DW1655, Pioneer DVR-111, and Plextor PX-760.

The BenQ has awesome features, and can burn some media quite well that no other drive can ever make work. Pioneer's build quality is generally better, although the media support is lacking in comparison to Pioneer. Plextor's build quality is generally the best of the 3 (meaning less RMA's), and they also include some funky tools (Plextools). BenQ and Plextor support media testing, the Pioneer doesn't (officially, and the unofficial testing ability is crap).

[Riflem@n]

I've burned Prodisc 8X media at 12X before, not sure how the errors were but it works.

[etcbq]

DD,

I have upgraded my 1620 to G7P9. I am having a problem using Maxell 4X DVD-Rs, with manufacturing code: MXL RG02. So far I have made 3 coasters. No problem with the DVD+Rs, but they are identified as RICHOJPN RO1 though. My previous burner, an LG had no problems with either, and it's still the same batch of disks. How do I fix this problem? Thanks and keep up the good work!

[Boss_Scorpius]

Well, the fastest burner I've seen by far is the LG 4163B, but the speed comes with a drawback: The discs burned at 12x or 16x often have very higher jitter and assymetry error rates, which reduce compatability on picky DVD players, and ESPECIALLY on console game systems (PS2, XBox).

Possibly the most compatible DVD Burner is the BenQ DW1620, which is capable of producing usable results on most media types, with two exceptions: #1, it can NOT burn most Prodisc/Smartbuy brand media except for in rare circumstances (I've heard that some people who have RMA'd the drive 3 or 4 times have eventually gotten drives that can, but most can't), and also some discs that use the TYG02 Media Identification Code (MID Code) that are not actually made by the owner of that code (Taiyo Yuden), cannot be burned well, although in this case, using firmware revision B7S9 from the BenQ China webpage, will usually help. Another large benefit to the BenQ DW1620 is that it supports automatic bitsetting for all DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R9 media, which greatly increases the compatability of DVD+R/RW/9 media on older players that could not normally support it. This is the only drive that will do this automatically for all types of DVD+R media.

If you are planning on only using high quality media, and don't mind paying more for it, then the absolute best burn quality you can get will probably come from the Plextor PX-716a (or possibly the Pioneer DVR-109 but I haven't seem enough info to be sure on that one!).

My personaly recommendation is the BenQ DW1620, but there are pro's and con's for each drive. Also, the BenQ DW1620 is a really picky CD burner/CD Reader... so keep that in mind also.

Thanks a lot for your help. I guess I'll go with benq then. What kinda dvd media have you had the most success with, when burning with the Benq drive?

[JAC]

There's a $30 USD MIR on the Plex right now.

[The Digital Dolphin]

I've burned Prodisc 8X media at 12X before, not sure how the errors were but it works.

Do you mean the PRODISCR03 8x DVD+Rs? Yeah, those seem to be the exception. I still have questions about their lifespan however.

[Riflem@n]

Do you mean the PRODISCR03 8x DVD+Rs? Yeah, those seem to be the exception. I still have questions about their lifespan however.

I'm not sure what the media code was but it was a Smartbuy 8X DVD+R.