So who makes a good DVD burner nowadays ? I need a new one.

[ItsMeAlison]

I think it's time to upgrade my Pioneer 108 DVD burner. Served me well for a few years but I think it's time to move up.
I'm inclined to get another Pioneer. What's their current model and is speed the only increase I can expect ?
I have no experience with Lite-On or Sony or NEC - does anyone here use or recommend them ? or not recommend them ?
Is Tiger fully compatible with burners out there today or are people still using Patchburn ?

I'll be using this drive in my MDD dual 867 running 10.4.8

thanks for any help you can offer.

[Zoidberg]

Old review but I stand by it: http://forums.macresource.com/read/1/640...#msg-64039

I use the Lightscribe feature pretty regularly; my clients love it. I don't do high volume runs (maybe four or five at most) so the lengthy burn time for the image isn't a big deal for me. (The lengthy burn time only applies to the image aspect; the data side is a speedy burn.)

The LaCie I review, sold by OWC, is still what I recommend. It's available both in the case (per my review) and bare.

More: http://forums.macresource.com/read/1/202409

[RAMd®d]

Also, the Pioneer 111D is a good value.

I've got a late model Samsung that also does LightScribe. It's not recognized as an Apple shipped/Apple supported drive, but it works very well.

[jdc]

that depends on how much DVD burning you do?

if its just a few discs here and there, spending $40 on a new burner to save a few minutes a month seems silly to me

the absolute cheapest place to get any new burner is newegg...

[deckeda]

I got an OEM plain-box 111D Pioneer to replace my 106D. Tiger loves it just fine. I wanted dual layer and better speed. Of course, I'm still going through my stack of 4X blanks, so ...

One nice thing I didn't expect is that the 111 rips CDs faster than the 106.

[Racer X]

General concensus is the Pioneer or the NEC (whatever the current models are)

Pioneer may last a wee bit longer, and the NEC may be a wee bit quieter.

[Panopticon]

[quote RAMd®d]...
I've got a late model Samsung that also does LightScribe. It's not recognized as an Apple shipped/Apple supported drive, but it works very well.
Same here. Great drive for $30 shipped from newegg!
Review on XLR8, just search for Brand: SAMSUNG and Model: SH-S182M. Leave other boxes empty. http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/drivedb/se...vedb.lasso


btw, new NEC burners are supposedly made in partnership with Sony and are not the high quality the old ND-35xx series were.

[RAMd®d]

Pano, that's the one.

The other is a 110, flashed from a 110D.

[incognegro]

I have the NEC 7170A
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827152076

NEC Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache E-IDE / ATAPI DVD Burner

$35 shipped ground

Yes, it's the Sony/NEC hybrid. So far, so good.
For $35, whaddya want?

[jawg]

I recently upgraded from my Pioneer 107 in a FW case to a Pioneer 111D flashed to a 111L also in a FW case. I also have the above mentioned NEC 7170A in a FW case. They are both performing excellently. The 18X ripping on the NEC is impressive. They both can read and write to DVD-RAM discs. Got both of them from newegg.com.
If you want LightScribe, Best Buy (yeah, they are not my favorite retailer) recently had the LightScribe LG GSA-E10L DVD Burner in a no fan USB-2 case for $79.99. This drive also does DVD-RAM.
Lots of good choices out there right now.