reliable cd/dvd drive

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by ffreeloader, Dec 21, 2007.

  1. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    I'm in the market for a decent cd/dvd drive as the cdrom drive on my workstation is no longer recognizing audio cd's and doesn't correctly recognize some other types of cd's either. About the only thing it will still do is write cd's. It's 5 years old so I can't complain though. This TDK has been an excellent drive.

    In doing research into new ones on Newegg I'm finding that the reliability of new drives isn't very good. Almost every one Newegg stocks has about an 80% positive feedback rating, and that's because of doa drives, drives that die within a rather short time, failures to write to disk, or read either cd or dvd disks.

    Anyone have any recommendations on good cd/dvd drives? It needs to be an IDE drive though as my two sata slots will soon be taken up by hard drives.
     
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  2. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Drives these days seem to be less duarable - probably because there is less room for the manufacturers to build in reliability at the prices they have sunk to!

    For a long time Plextor were the 'top' drives, particularly if you were into music. They still seem to get good reviews.

    As Plextors have to be searched out here I have reluctantly decided that a 3 year life for a drive is normal - but the price is so low that it hardly seems to matter. :biggrin

    Harry.
     
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  3. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    My current DVD burner is a Plextor PX-712A. If you can find one anymore, it's a good-un.
     
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  4. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    I agree, that over a lifespan the cheap drives seem to even out in price, but, I absolutely detest having to pay for shipping back to the seller for defective drives. Thus the question on reliable drives in which what would have been considered a dismally high initial failure rate a few years ago isn't going to be the norm.
     
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  5. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    I have had zero problems with the LG ones i sell.. i've been selling them in new boxes since 2003 and never had a fault myself or one reported by a client.
     
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  6. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    I know the Plextors are good drives. However I use BenQ and to be honest I had it for over a year now and it still runs smooth. Mind you the BenQ drive that I have is a DVD-RW drive.
     
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  7. Mathematix

    Mathematix Megabyte Poster

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    Another vote for Plextor drives - quiet and very reliable. They're the only ones I buy. :)
     
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  8. fortch

    fortch Kilobyte Poster

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    Years ago all I would buy is Plextor, but that has changed dramatically. After a rash of drives (at least 3, one of which was an Iomega -- rebadged Plex), I changed to NEC, and have had pretty good luck. Either that or LG, which...believe it or not, makes a decent drive. Can't say much for the rest of their electronics, though.
     
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  9. Toasty

    Toasty Byte Poster

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    I have always put Pioneer drives in the pcs I have built over the last 3-4 years and never had a problem with one of them yet.
     
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  10. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    This pretty much jibes with the vast majority of reviews of Plextor cd/dvd drives on Newegg. I know they were once rated very highly for reliability, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore as it seems that Plextor drives are just rebadged drives made by someone else anymore.
     
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  11. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I have NEC one no problems to report
     
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  12. Andy L

    Andy L Bit Poster

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    I only used to buy Plextor drives too, but from what I've read and heard, they don't seem to be any more reliable than other brands nowadays. My PX708A died recently after 3 years' service and I bought a Lite-On 20A1H to replace it. I still have my Plexwriter Premium for ripping audio CDs though, which is an excellent drive :thumbleft
     
  13. Raffaz

    Raffaz Kebab Lover Gold Member

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    I agree that the plextors are the best, but they are to pricey for me. Ive never had any problems with lite-on and LG, and ive been running these for at least 3 yrs.
     
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