A first-time DVD-drive buyer needs help!!

[alpinemonkey]

At the moment my PC houses an LG DVD-ROM RDR8160b, but I recently discovered that this drive does not read/like DVD+R's, and it just about struggles with DVD-R's.

This means that I need to buy myself a new drive, as I would also like to have a DVD writer anyway.

I have seen on ebay that you can buy them for under £30 and this sounds wonderful to me. However, I havn't got a clue about quality and/or connections (wires etc!).

I do know that my DVD-drive at the moment is the Secondary IDE master and the cables at the back are the power (which is a little white box with different wires coming out of it) and what I believe to be an IDE wire (a thick, flat thing).

So help me please!!! What's the best make and what will fit in my PC....oh, and I use Windows XP Pro by the way!

Thanx in advance.

[saphalline]

Most DVD burners will fit into your system exactly like your current one. The basic cables and connections for optical drives haven't changed in years, but you do have to be careful not to mix too much. Ie, don't put a DVD burner into a Pentium system! :p

I estimate that a retail package DVD burner from a good hardware shop or online vendor shouldn't cost you more than £35-40 over there. They really have gotten quite cheap over the last couple years. You'll want to look for a dual-layer, multi-format DVD burner - one that can burn DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R9 (aka DVD+R DL), DVD-R9 (aka DVD-R DL), and CD-R/RW. These drives can also read any CD or DVD. One of the specific models that comes to mind is the NEC 3550A, but any name brand DVD burner that can do all of the above will work fine, too. LG, Lite-On, Sony... they all make good quality optical drives. But it is important that you get a DVD burner that can do it all! Don't cut any corners.

[alpinemonkey]

thanks for the thorough reply! Will do some investigating!!! :D