Hi, i need a new dvdrom drive.

what would you say is the best make to go for that will have no problem reading all types of discs and that doesn't rattle and shake?

i was thinking a plextor?

swr.

samsung 816, plextor have become crap, dunno why, but they have.

Toshiba's are excellent readers.

Yup, I speak from experience. The Plextor is NOT the way to go. The drive itself isn't bad but it has compatibility issues with software (ie errors with DVD Shrink everytime). I originally bought the Plextor as a replacement to my Lite-On LTD-165 (which is a POS BTW) and the old Lite-On actually performed better overall. My experience with Lite-On wasn't great but everyone else here seems to have great results with the 166. Mine was probably just a defective unit and I do think I remember hearing somewhere that the 166 is much better than the 165 model. Anyways if you don't go with the Lite-On 166 then my recommendation would be the Pioneer 120 (make sure it is the tray loading model and not the slot loader) as it seems to be a great drive overall. Also what do you plan on using your DVD-ROM drive for? I ask this because some drives are much noisier than others. The Lite-Ons sound like a 747 coming in to land when they fire up, so if you watch movies or would prefer a quieter drive then they are NOT the way to go.

LiteOn 166 is a good drive, but:

1) it can be noisy, and makes funny swishing noises when you put in a CD/DVD

2) they're picky with media -- DON'T use cheap/scratched media in them

3) reports of longevity problems

apart from that they're fast, reliable and cheap.

I'd be inclined more toward the Pioneer tray-loading ROM drives if you're using it to read DVDs.

Originally posted by jase
LiteOn 166 is a good drive, but:

1) it can be noisy, and makes funny swishing noises when you put in a CD/DVD

2) they're picky with media -- DON'T use cheap/scratched media in them

3) reports of longevity problems

apart from that they're fast, reliable and cheap.

I'd be inclined more toward the Pioneer tray-loading ROM drives if you're using it to read DVDs. I totally disagree. Well maybe not totally he did say one thing I agree with LiteOn 166 is a good drive but I think I would say a great drive.:)
I'm on my second liteon DVD drive first one being LTD-163. Which died after many years of riping dvd, games and whatever else I needed to copy.:) Noisy :confused: I never know why people say that. I don't know how many I've installed and I don't find that! I mean I rip, play movies and burn cd or dvd to same. Some times the only way I even know its been on is when it ejects when my burning program is done. All I can say is I find my DVD (HD166S) to be a great drive and it does anything I need it to do.
One more thing is I recommend this drive to friends all the time. :cool: Well thats just my two cent. :hdspin: :round: :hdspin:

I used to recommend them, and indeed have put them in number of PCs I have built for people.

I've had 3 of them back though with faults, and they read fewer brands of discs than the Pioneer, LG and Toshiba drives I've used (I'm not saying they're rubbish readers, they aren't, but others are better).

My particular drive (6 months old) has taken to making some decidedly strange noises reading CDs lately. Clonks, scrapes, whooshes and all sorts. Makes me cringe every time it happens, but it still seems to soldier on so I'm not in a rush to replace it just yet.

One thing to bear in mind is that none of the drives out at present are capable of keeping up with an on-the-fly copy of a DVDR at 6x or 8x. I'm hoping that improved drives will be out soon.

wow, thanks for everyones input

swr

I usually disagree with jase on many topics but im with him on this, Ive had 2 liteon's and whilst very fast both died within a year, They are noisy although very good drives when working but with the 2 i had i noticed that after a few months they become very media fussy (meaning the more you use it the worse they seem to read) Anyhow for the price there still good drives although i would recommend the pioneer 120 or 121 before the liteon, a little slower i may add but brilliant at error correction. I also have a toshiba 1712 which is very good but i couldn't really rate it as i only use it for reading dvd-ram.

We agree on something? <faints> lol

What you have to bear in mind with the LiteOns is that they perform very well, yet still manage to be pretty much the cheapest on the market. Something has to give.

A surprisingly good reader in my experience is the LG DVD-ROM. Reads everything fast, though not quite as fast as the LiteOn.

The Panasonic/Matsushita drives are not bad either, but CD protection reading is deathly slow and DAE is 8x. But DVD reading is as fast as a LiteOn and they're built like tanks and will last a good long time :)