Good vs Bad DVD writer drives (LG vs Sony burner)
 

I know some DVD Writer drives are better than others.

I read somewhere that LG drives are awful, but unfortunately that is what I am using at the moment. I also have a very slim 'external' USB DVD Writer drive from Sony.

Would I benefit from using the Sony external compared to LG Internal for my DVD burning purposes?

I have not had any coasters from the LG drive so far, but it doesn't read some of the scratched DVDs properly.

If a DVD is burnt fine (and verified using ImgBurn VERIFY function) on LG drive, can I assume that the disc will fail (to be read) only if there is something wrong with the disc media? Can a drive's 'writing method' be superior to other drives? What are the after-effects of using an inferior writer drive to burn a DVD (even if the burn goes fine and verified)?

I use Verbatim AZO Series blanks and my LG drive is 2.5 years old.

Thanks.

You may end up with less bad burns. But if there's not an issue now, there's probably nothing to worry about.

Yes. But...

An easy way to see an inferior burn is visually. Flip the discs over. Look carefully at the dye. Compare between the burners. Does one appear to be uneven or discolored in any way? I don't mean perfectly concentric zonal burning rings, but irregularities. Darker patches, splotches, etc.

Some rigidly strict "media testers" are probably screaming at the monitor right now, insisting this isn't a proper way to "test" discs. However, marginal burns, as caused by a burner, on otherwise known-good media, do quite often reveal themselves visually. It's rather nice, actually. Further proper testing procedures will then almost always concur.

So if the disc looks good, you think it plays/reads fine, then it's probably good.
If you want to be absolutely certain of it, test the disc. See post#2 here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/medi...a-quality.html
Run a scan disc, followed by a benchmark. The benchmark should be a steady straight line (teeny blip at worst).
Test LG burns in the LG drive, and then again in the Sony drive.

The disc will be more difficult to read/play. Generally it's still decent in the same drive that made it, but even that's not always the case.

Good discs. :thumb:

I have several LG drives, too, and several of them burn fine. A few of them are horrible worthless drives, and came with the computers. One came with the computer and is fine. Another is a retail drive and it's so-so, with some discs exhibiting oddities in the dye, and being harder to read. Obviously, I don't use the problem drives outside of testing use.

That's a very useful reply admin, thanks for that.

None of my burns using LG were uneven. and no coasters so far. I will perform those disc integrity tests and see how it goes.

Regards