DVD Burners & Softwear?

[cmigliaccio]

Looking to get a DVD burner for my laptop, and am curious as to what brands (or even models) people suggest? I'm a poor college student, so want to get it as cheaply as possible (seem to be going for ~$65 on ebay at lowest), but I'd also be receptive if you all think paying a bit more provides signifcant performance differences.

Thanks for any help,
Chris

[AAR.oner]

personally, i've always preferred the Plextor's...i had one that lasted me almost three years, and heavy burning...plus, outta the dozens of folks i've talked to, only one person had any problems with there's...

i also have a Lacie d2 external [NEC guts]...no probs so far

[thisistoto]

Plextor. There is no arguement, and they arnt that much more expensive. They are solid strong burner

[feralicious]

Originally Posted by thisistoto

Plextor. There is no arguement, and they arnt that much more expensive. They are solid strong burner

I agree with Toto!

[AAR.oner]

the PX-716 external is about as top notch as you can get...more than you were orig lookin to spend, but well worth imo [i'm guessing fera and toto both woul;d agree]...

you might can also find a PX-708 [prev. model] online for even cheaper, google it

[PintOfGuinness2]

In regards to the plex 716 external I cuncor wholeheartedly. Ordered one from Newegg last sunday 189.99 arrived weds and I've been using it eer since. So impressed with this burner 100X more reliable then my old Sony DRX-700 so glad I bought this

[cmigliaccio]

Thanks for the help... I'll look into those Plextor models, although it's interesting that you mentioned the one with NEC guts, as those seem to be the cheapest.

[sillyolbear69]

cd's just dont have enough room and with the new dvd systems for tvs i can use them for all my music now , i think its time i got with the program.below is what i have in my system now and i want to get a dvd burner.i figure if ya want to know things ask the pros so i pose this to anyone that can help . any other info that you can offer would be great also. in advance i thank you immensly


brand?
type??
should i wait for faster burning speed?
internal ?
external?





http://docs.us.dell.com/support/edoc...4500/specs.htm
ive added a 120 gig secondary internal hard drive
also added a cd burner
and im running 1 gig of ram

[guido12]

I too am looking into a DVD burner. I have about 50 Hi-8 tapes that need a new home. My Hi-8 player got damaged during a horebask riding canter incident (too much jarring forthe poor thing - me and the camera!) Anyway, I plan on borrowing a Hi-8 and getting all my tapes copies to digital. So I will need a digital video camera and a DVD burner. I'll be looking for the replies for suggestions.

[AAR.oner]

re: DVD burners--

based on personal experience, a few other's experience, and the various computer mag's "testings", i would recommend going with a Plextor drive...right now, the best model is probably the PX-716...it has one of the fastest burning times out there, has wide compatability with media brands, and will also burn to the newer Dual-Layer DVDs if you can afford the DL media...as far as internal or external, it's up to yuo...externals are of course more $ than internals...

===========================================================

re: transferring from HI-8 to digital...you will need a HI-8 player, or a HI-8 cam for starters...*if* the Hi-8player/cam has usb or firewire outs, you can probably capture directly from it to the video editing/capture software you use...

if there is NO usb/fw out, then you'll need an A/D Video Converter...Canopus is a good brand...they range from "inexpensive consumer-level", to pro-level--all depends how much you wanna spend...compare all the "Digital Video Converters" they have...the models you want to look at will be the ADVC___ units...from there, you can probably find cheaper prices at the various online retailers....

Canopus -- http://www.canopus.us/US/Products/in...duct_index.asp

[sillyolbear69]

thanks for the info ,how long does it usually take to burn a dvd aproximatly ? ok is internal better than external?? pros and cons??vice versa .

[BoNeZ]

Originally Posted by sillyolbear69

how long does it usually take to burn a dvd aproximatly ?

Depends on what speed you are burning at and how large the DVD is. Typically for me, burning a full 4GB DVD at 4x takes about 20 minutes. I have a LITE-ON LDW 411S.

[Lars411]

I have 2 of these NEC dvd buners. They're highly rated.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827152047

Heres another place to get reviews

http://www.cdfreaks.com/

[AAR.oner]

Originally Posted by sillyolbear69

thanks for the info ,how long does it usually take to burn a dvd aproximatly ? ok is internal better than external?? pros and cons??vice versa .

depends on media and speed you burn at...typically, i prefer burning at 4x using TY media, which takes approx 12-15 mins with a PX-716A drive

at 8x, approx 6-8 mins...

re: internal vs external--neither is really "better", just depends on if you want an internal slot drive or an external via Firewire...i've used both and have never seen any difference as to "quality".

[AAR.oner]

Originally Posted by Lars411

I have 2 of these NEC dvd buners. They're highly rated.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827152047

Heres another place to get reviews

http://www.cdfreaks.com/

i've heard some good things about the NEC drives, and also smoe bad things...i've only owned one [it was loaded into a Lacie d2 external shell @ $200+] and it died in less than a year, so i'm back to Plextors...

for future refernce--the link you provided Lars is for an OEM product, which means it ships out-of-box, no software, etc...alot of folks warn against getting drives that are OEM, due to increase in possible "issues"--its one of those roll-the-dice situations, much cheaper, but more likely you get a lemon...