I have a Dell Inspiron B130 with windows xp home edition.
Disk Drive - Hitachi HTS541040G9AT00
DVD/CD-ROM - TSSTcorp CDRW/DVD TSL462C
That is the info I picked up on my Nero system info. It said it could write cd's but not dvd's but could read both. I am looking for a drive that can write dvd's also. I have no idea what to buy. Your help would be appreciated.
Get a quality DVD-RW drive!!!!They'll do cds as well.
Why?
Higher backup success rate.
Higher compatability rate for stand alone players.
They'll last a long time.
Fewer issues!
I favor the ones that can booktype the plus format to dvd-rom-making their backups very highly compatable for the pickiest of dvd players.
Benqs are my favorite,but getting very scarce.Excellent booktypers. Try to find the:
1620
1640
1650
Or if lightscribe feature desired,the benq 1655.
Plextor is among the finest drives out there-PX 716A and you'll pay $140 or so for them. Here's some other brands,but not sure what their best model #'s are:
Lite-on
NEC
Pioneer
LG
Check out newegg.com. They have some great buys for quality drives.
Make sure you feed it quality dvd media. Media quality is the #1 issue when it comes to dvd burning. Taiyo yuden and Verbatim are some of the best.
Looks like that TSST drive is a dvd-rom/cd-rw drive. You can use it as the reader and a new DVD-RW drive for burning. It'll save a lot of wear and tear off your new burner and make the dvd backup process easier.
What about that one? I don't know much about drives but how would I use one as primary and the other as backup? And once I get one I will probably be needing instructions on what to do.
to get an idea of the top rated drives cnet have reviews for you too look at,basicly the top 5 in no particular order
plextor px-712A
Memorax 16x dual layer
lite-on SOHW-832S (comes with Nero v6.0 ????)
Sony DRU-700
BenQ DW1620
Pioneer are also an excellant brand personally i prefer lite-on's
What ever drive you get make sure it can write to - & + type discs and it would'nt hurt to get a dual layer burner as the disks will eventually come down in price,at the mo a DL disc will set you back around $7-$8.00 NZ
EDIT: The lite-ons should come bundled with Nero v6.0
EDIT:2...lol... Those lite-ons are the two drives i bought they come with face plates to change the colour (and will have Nero) ,have'nt tried any scribing yet,the disks are'nt to badly priced if you buy a pack of 50 or more
thing is I don't need one of the expensive drives. The only thing I will be doing is burning dvd's. I already have a great drive but it want burn dvd's. So can I get buy with buying a cheaper drive that just gets the job done with burning dvd's?
I have the NEC 3550A and BenQ 1655. Both are top performers. The NEC can burn DLs faster than the BenQ, but in burning DLs, slow and steady (2.4x) gets 'er done right! The BenQ 1650 and 1655 are getting hard to find, but you should be able to get the NEC 3550A for about $35(US) or so. Good luck!
There's some other quality drives out there in the same price range. Just because they may sound cheap,I'd put these drives above others in the $100 + drives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!