[GLLUG] DVD+RW recommendations

[Marr]

On Friday 07 March 2008 1:44pm, Stanley C. Mortel wrote:
> I'm looking for a good DVD burner for use on a linux server for backups to
> go off-site. So many of them seem to be junk.  In the past I've had good 
> luck with Plextor, but it seems they no longer manufacture them and are
> selling rebranded pioneer units.  The only one I've found that doesn't have
> mixed reviews (as in lots of bad ones) is an LG SATA model that is almost
> $300.
>
> So, anyone have a recommendation based on real world experience for
> something that can still be bought new, and that works well with
> Linux?

I have 3 Pioneer DVD burners here -- DVR-105WB, DVR-109BK, and DVR-111D 
(oldest to newest). The DVR-105WB will be 5 years old this month. For the 
last couple of years, it's been used daily to burn CD-RW media (daily 
backups) and hasn't failed me yet.

Long ago (June 2001), I bought a Plextor PX-W1610TA (CD-R/RW burner only, not 
a DVD burner) which was very reliable and seemed to take anything I threw at 
it, but it lasted slightly less than 4 years before it started acting very 
flaky, at which point I replaced it.

Based only on the failure of the Plextor CD-R/RW drive and the success with my 
original Pioneer DVD-RW drive, I've been buying Pioneer DVD burners ever 
since. I don't burn DVD media every day on any of the 3 Pioneer burners, but 
I've rarely had any DVD burn failures and none which weren't solved by 
lowering the burn rate a notch. Usually, I'm more suspicious of the media 
than the drive.

The Pioneer drives themselves are all still working fine. For all I know, 
Pioneer may just be a rebranded drive too, though.

Good luck with whatever you go with!

Bill Marr