Think mine has given up the ghost - it will burn onto CD and DVD+RW, but refuses to burn onto DVD-R's even tho I am sure it's not the discs at fault as I used 6 from this batch only a few months ago and they burned fine.... Sure it's not the burning app either as I tried 2 different ones aswell as Windows burning tool aswell...

So.... I am looking for a new drive, all formats (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW)

But I have no idea whats good and whats not, and what price

Don't wanna spend a lot, under a score really, but want something thats decent...

Recommendations?

 

What make of drive is it? Have you checked the manufacture's web site for firmware updates?

 

You have such bad luck Thrush.

 

there so cheap now it doesnt really matter what brand u go for, usually got for around £18-20 unless u want litescribe thats a bit more.

 

It's an NEC 2500A, haven't checked thier site, but then I doubt I need a firmware upgrade to get it to burn which it used to do fine... If it burned on it's current firmware, can't see why it would need a reflash....

I tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it and updating the driver but not joy.....

And no, not fussed about lightscribe and all that bollox - just wanna be able to burn data to a DVD

 

i had an issue recently with writing, reinstalled wmp and its sorted itself out ..
dunno if microsoft have done summit like normal

 

Fuck reinstalling WMP - it takes hours to reload the library and sort all the tags n artwork out

I haven't done any updates for ages (WMP or XP in general) so I doubt it's changed there....

 

Is your DVD drive on the same IDE cable as your Hard Drive? If it is and the data you are trying to burn is on the same ide channel as the DVD-RW this can cause problems.

If you have more than one Hard Drive in your Pc, then copy the data to that instead of one that is on the same cable ad the DVD. Try this before you buy a new drive.

You could also try and install a standalone program such as Nero to see if it will burn ok.

 

Nah, HDD's both on IDE1 and optical drives on IDE2......

As I said before tho - I have changed NOTHING in my PC in the last year, and earlier this year (may? June?) I burned a shed load of data DVD's with no probs. It's only when I tried it in the last week that it's refused to burn to DVD-R, but has no probs with CD-R or DVD+RW.... Also, the DVD-R's I am using are the same ones I used on my last burn so the discs aren't different either...

I could understand getting one or even two dodgy discs, but I have tried EVERY single one of the 10 or 11 I have left in this pack and none work, two different burning apps, and the windows built in one..... So I think it must be the drive....

 

As said it doesnt matter what you go for, a drive is a drive.

Samsung do drives, obviously there a good make so get one of them,thats what id look for

 

Yes a drive is a drive, but a dvd player is also a dvd player - except that the £50 one will more than likely be better than the £20 one

So I don't wanna buy a shit one cos it's cheap, but also don't wanna buy an expensive one that might or might not be better....

 

Hence asking for personal recommendations...

 

I personally think that those discs may be dodgy as if the laser was faulty it would not burn anything. I have bought 50 pack of DVD's before and had around 20 dodgy ones in that pack. Dual Layer discs can also cause problems when switching to the 2nd layer.

If your heart is set on a new DVD-RW drive then I would go for :

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=636643

I know this is a sata drive, but if you have those ports go for it, if not buy the IDE version. If have always used Lite-On or Emprex drives and never had a problem with them.

 

Tell you what, I'll lend the discs to my pal, and see if he can burn to them, then we should see for sure... And I might buy some new ones and try them, as I also thought that if the laser was fubar it wouldn't burn, but it does burn to some discs....

However it might still be the drive not recognising the discs I guess. It does come up with CD DRIVE in My Computer when these discs are inserted.....

 

thats the thing thrush, all ther drives (on ebuyer anyway) have such little difference in price it doesnt really matter, go with a brand you know though, like samsung or sony and u should be alright.

 

agree with the above, they are all much of a muchness, just pick one up it will do the job