Hello, my old DVD writer failed (it can read and write only CDs) and I need to buy new rive as sson as possible.
I have a few options (this is what is vaialbale to me today):

DVD RW LG H58N Double Layer +/- 20X
DVD RW LG H55/58N Double Layer +/- 20X, BLACK
DVD RW LG SATA Double Layer +/- 18X, BLACK, H20NS
DVD RW LG USB2.0 externi E60N retail, MULTI, 8.5GB
DVD RW LG USB2.0 externi E50N SLIM retail, MULTI, 8.5GB
DVD RW NEC AD-7200 Bulk
DVD RW NEC AD-7200 Bulk BLACK
DVD RW NEC AD-7200S All Format, SATA, Bulk BLACK
DVD RW NEC SlimLine for notebook, bulk
DVD RW ASUS BLACK RETAIL 20xDVD+-R/8xDL/14xDVD-RAM
DVD RW ASUS DRW-2014L1 20x Lightsc.black RET
DVD RW Pioneer DVR-115D-BK 20X bulk black
DVD RW Pioneer DVR-112D-BK 18X SATA bulk black


I'm close to buy Pioneer DVR-115D, but 100 % sure. What would you recommend?

Thnaks

none of those.

Samsung SH-S203B.

NEC=Sony, after the root kit crap, I don't buy Sony.
I have been happy with Philips and Samsung.

This is a subject i'm also looking into. Very nearly got the samsung sh-s203, until i saw there's an sh-s223 and the 203 doesn't seem to be available at overclockers Does anyone know the difference other than a 22x speed rather than 20x???

Mikas - pc advisor has the pioneer 215 115d in 4th spot and is highly recommended, but the sh-s203 is in 1st place. pioneer is eide not sata.

Thank you guys, but I don't have option to buy any Samsung drive. It is not offered. It would be more expensive to order it via Internet and wait shipping and customs costs.
No, I placed as a list what I can buy.
I have both SATA and IDE ports on my MB. Why is it better to be sata?
Pioneer is more famous than any LG drive, so I'm closer to buy Pioneer. I don't know if I should buy 112D 18X which is SATA or 115D 20 x which is IDE.
I'm dissapointed that my Asus DRW 1608P lasted only 2 years, since I didn't use it much. It cannot read most DVD and cannot write DVD. For CDs it works great. Is there any way I can check something, maybe to try to repair it?

My first choice - Samsung, second choice - LG, third choice - anything else.

Used to really like Plextor's. Now, they are too expensive. Plus I had a PX-716 fail after less than a year a while back.

then choose the "Sony dru-840a" if you can get it.
its the same hardware as the S203B.

Go with the DVD RW Pioneer DVR-112D-BK 18X SATA since it is available to you. SATA drives because the smaller cable will help with cable clutter and air flow.

Like jsc, I liked plextor, But they were overpriced and they no longer make drives and I have a samsung that I like (Modified windows file so that I can use Nero to do a quality scan).
Have a Plextor 716A, Plextor 755 sata, Samsung, Sony (Will not buy again for 2 reasons DRM attempt and most are rebaged Liteon anyway), an LG and a Memorex (rebaged Forgot)
Of the ones listed I'ld probaly go with the Pioneer or the LG. I think the Asus may be a rebaged pioneer.
No performance difference between IDE vs Sata; however as dallasjoh point out the SATA has better cabling.
Generally I do not find to much differences in recording quality for the majority. I also tend to record DVDs at 8 -> 12 X. Use a scanning program to determine quality of DVD.

I would recomend you visit this site as there is a lot of info on the specific DVD writers. They also have quite a few reviews.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/

I just recently purchased the PIONEER DVR-215DBK and if you have the option to buy that I would suggest it. It's very fast and quiet unlike my previous HP dvd 940.

to answer your question of why sata is better then ide. sata has faster thru put and there is no master or slave jumper tp contend with and I'm using a LG DVDRAM GSA-H62L double sided with lightscribe

Ref kg4icg:
While SATA150 and 300 Have greater throughput, DVD drives do not benifit from this as they are not bootlenecked by the IDE channel Throughput of 133. So NO performance gain.

Yes Master/slave is a small plus BUT not that big, the biggest Plus is the cabling.

not to mention most new mobos only have ONE ide port

inwhich ide is slowly dying because of the easy features of sata and 2 there is an advantage sata has over ide's in dvd drives, especially in video encoding and playback. ide is a bottleneck in that aspect

kg4icp:
Repeat No performance difference, Even for video encoding/playback.
Data beeing stripped off of a DVD is a function of read/write speed which is the same for IDE or Sata. I am not defending IDE. and yes it may/will die off - 5 or so years from know. Any performance difference for video encoding is primarly a function of processor/memory speed. And yes there is some difference between brands of drives - BUT NOT because it is sata or IDE. Max data that can be read from a DVD is based on the drive RPM's and this is well under the 133 of IDE.

My IDE drive performed Identical as the SATA drive. I ONLY changed my 2nd IDE DVD drive to sata because of cabling.