DVD RW question....

[Jim O'Dell]

Well, I have come to the conclusion that my DVD recorder for the computers is dead. :( It still plays, but will not record. It's an external unit, so we could use it for both computers. I fear it has taken a tumble along the way which is causing the no record problem.
So, what is your favorite internal SATA DVR ? I'm leaning toward Pioneer. This one is very quiet (the Pioneer external we have) and they come with decent software for the retail packaged units. (Nero 8 with the newest model, Nero 7 with the older, but not cheaper, unit) I'm out on the Sony units as they seem to employ something that keeps discs from reading properly on non Sony drives. Doesn't make sense, but both of my prior CD burners were Sony and had this problem.
If I can get the new DVD burner in LOML's computer and back up the seemingly dead hard drive, I'll have a 160 gig HD to play with and see if I can wipe it clean and make it usable in the USB enclosure we have it in now. I'll use it for my back up, and transfer to her computer to do any discs I need to make.
Thanks for any insights you have!
Oh, and I found another V-Bulletin forum for computers that is really nifty. Lots of help on it, just like this site. If interested, go to: http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum/windows-xp/24485-multimedia-audio-controller-problems-451.html?posted=1#post159950 This is the thread, about 5 years long!!, that I have been getting some help on my audio card problem. I'm Coolmeadow Kid there.
Hope you've had a great weekend! Jim.

[mark page]

I have always purchased Plextor units in the past. I have to admit that I am not up on the latest units available as it has been at least five years since I had to replace one. Plextor always before manufactured their own units, but now I don't know. Many brands now are rebadged units from several manufacturers. I know this doesn't help too much.

[Chuck Wintle]

Jim,
I recently purchased an LG GH20NS10 which works very well and is 20x to boot. These are not expensive drives, about $35, so the investment is low.

I dropped Nero 8 because it installs so much stuff, mostly junk IMHO, onto the computer and takes forever to load.
I use a free program now called Imgburn which seems to do almost what nero can do.

[Jim O'Dell]

Thanks guys. I can get the bare drive in Pioneer for about 38.00 or the retail package with the software at 49.99 plus tax, shipped free. This is also a 20X machine, dual layer machine. It's not light scribe. Somehow, I bet there aren't many that build their own machines from the ground up. Yamaha might. It seems that the Pioneer is in conjunction with Comstar. At least the external unit was. Internal units may not be.
Thanks for the info.
Charles, I down loaded the Imgburn to look at it, but I'm used to the loading system of Nero. I used the software Sony packaged before on the CD burners, B's Recorder Gold, or something like that. It was pretty basic, but seemed to work ok. You are right that the Nero takes a while to load. I just looked in my control panel under program uninstall, and the Nero doesn't list the size of the program. Hmmm. All the other programs showed size. Seems like the upgrade down load was 22 mb or so.
Thanks again! Jim.