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Internal DVD writer

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by pmfturner

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I've been looking at DVD drives to install into
my PC (PIII, W98SE), and am getting more
than a little confused by what's on offer !
My requirements are not particularly onerous -
data and music back-up, and copying movies
and games. I don't think I need a dual-layer
writer, but would like the flexibility of -R/-RW
and +R/+RW, which also appears to give the
less expensive option for writing media.
I was looking at reviews of the NEC ND-
2500A, which seemed to fit the bill, but then
discovered that the reviews were over a year
old, so guess the technology has leapt
forward since then !
Can anyone advise what models of internal
drives I should be considering that will work
satisfactorily on my (old) PC, with the sort of
usage I envisage ?
Thanks.

11 replies

by willcomp

Unless you intend to transfer drive to a new PC in the future, just buy an inexpensive NEC, Lite-on, or Sony drive. You can get a decent 16X dual layer DVD +/-RW for under $65.00.

First, verify that you exceed minimum system requirements. PIII's cover a lot of territory.

Will also need a good sized hard drive. Don't recommend anything less than 80GB if movies are in the mix. 160GB or larger would be preferable.

I agree that Plextor drives are the absolute best, but would wait until I had a more modern PC to ante up for one. They are nearly double the cost of drives mentioned above.

Dalton

by murray brydon

I would agree that you are best not to spend too much on one of these drives as most basic drives support both + and - and when it comes to backing up your movies you can use dvdshrink (from dvdshrink.org) to copy a dual layer DVD movie to a single layer + or - DVD. And the 4.7GB of a single layer DVD should also be more than enough for backing up your data and music. I have had an NEC drive for around a year now and had no problems at all with it.

by wlbowers

Pioneer DVR-108 (DVR-A08 OEM version) is getting high reviews. Don't believe me read here.

http://tinyurl.com/c2ron

The above site is anandtech.com. One of the best technical review sites on the internet.

Once you get to the site page, click on the Review Index bar to navagate to subheadings.

I personal use the pioneer and sell them to any of my customers that ask.

The pioneer actually makes the mechanism for several of the drives that are on the market.

I have bought them as low as $60.00.

Lee

by keith hailey

I picked up a DVD 8-in-1 that does it all at Wal-mart for about $60. It's been doing it all since October, too, with no complaints from me.
It's a Pacific Digital.

Let's see, it says it writes
DVD+/- RW/R
CD-R/RW
and also Reads anything
with 8X Burn speeds on both DVD+ and - R
(and a whole slew of R's and W's on the side)

It comes with the Nero Software and so far it does the trick for me. And with the In/CD Program, you can actually use a /RW CD like a removeable hard drive.

Says it's run on W98SE with 128MB Ram with an 800 mhz Processor, But I use a P111 550 and it doesn't mind a bit.

You might even be able to find it cheeper at Sam's
(or E-bay)
(Kinda glad I kept the box)
Take Care

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