CD-RW + DVD rom combos...any thoughts?

[dmw16]

I'm looking into getting a CDRW+DVD rom combo. I'm looking at brands and so forth and trying to decide. I really want the plextor, but I'm having trouble parting for $170 for it. I was looking around online and I found the Toshiba for $80, which seems like a good price and I have heard good things about their DVD rom drives, but I dont really know how their burners are. Any thoughts on Toshiba or any other brand? Or just the combos in general?
thanks,
-doug

 

[Kaslan]

I recently purchased the Plextor Combo drive. I am very happy with it so far. I also have a Toshiba IDE 16x DVD rom and like the Plextor better. The money is high, but there is no substitute.

www.newegg.com 169.00 plus free shipping

 

[Soccerman]

I have an LG 8x-12x8x32 combo DVD/CDRW drive. it works perfectly fine, has buffer underrun protection, etc, so I'm happy. I bought it for $140 Canadian (so around $90 US or so), which isn't a bad deal considering a high speed burner (which I don't want to bother with) costs about $100 or so.

 

[MikeMike]

is there a specific reason you want a combo drive?

A high speed burner (Lite-on) + a nice dvd-rom drive (lite-on,Artec) would probably cost you less plus you can burn cd copy's from one drive to the other!!

jmho

 

[Ryan]

I need a combo drive also, since i am building a mini PC

 

[nortexoid]

u can pick the LG up around here in canada for 101 CDN.

u can probably get it for ultra cheap in the US....ive built a few comps using them, and they work great.
thought i couldn't get it to work w/ my ver. of ner (5.5.1.8), but the newest version might work..

they ship w/ easy cd creator, which works perfectly fine.

 

[Strafe]

IMHO, Plextor has always been the best of the best. For instance, when Plextor says 40X, it's really 40X. Also, if it matters to you, you can get a black combo drive from Dell.

 

[Zugzwang152]

Right now I'm running a 16x Pioneer DVD w/ 12x CDRW...but soon to be 16x Pioneer with a 40+ Plextor/Lite-On...

No problems with this setup, but then again I haven't had a chance to take a combo drive for a spin. I'm thinking of getting into the DVD-R products after they lower in price a little more, i'm not talking CD-R prices, but something where you won't commit suicide over a bad burn.

Also I found after researching that I like the look of the Pioneer slot loading DVD than the others. I don't know why heh.

 

[SUOrangeman]

Ricoh MP9120A here for 18 months. I love it ta death. I think I've ripped and re-burned (for CD-TEXT) about 200 audio CDs. I haven't had much use for the DVD side, as I have a standalone player. But, I do know that it is there should I need it.

I think I would only upgrade to a model that records on some DVD format.

-SUO

 

[John P]

I have the Toshiba 8x8x32 Combo drive and have been very happy with it. Through no fault of my own I was able to test a Samsung, HP and the Toshiba (Dell kept sending me the wrong drive) and I ended up keeping the Toshiba.