[mythtv-users] DVD hardware

[Brian Wood]

On Feb 25, 2008, at 8:42 AM, Rod Smith wrote:

> On Monday 25 February 2008 02:33:41 Ben Newman wrote:
>> Only tangentially myth related I know, but does anyone else have
>> troubles keeping a working DVD drive in their system?  We seem to  
>> only
>> be able to keep a drive in our system for about 3 months before is
>> starts having problems when trying to watch DVDs: skipping,  
>> stuttering
>> and eventually just not able to read a DVD.  I'm assuming this is  
>> just
>> because the cheapie DVD drives I use just aren't meant for the heavy
>> use frequent DVD watching puts them through, but it sure is
>> frustrating.  Does anyone have any recommendations on a solid drive
>> that won't need frequent replacement?
>
> My experience is that CD-ROM/CD-R, and now DVD, drives are the least  
> reliable
> component in any computer. I don't really know why this is, from a
> manufacturing/technology perspective, but it's rare to find a drive  
> that'll
> last.

Hmmm... That has not been my experience. In fact the only DVD drive I  
have ever had fail was in a standalone player, not a computer.

I have a total of 7 DVD writers (just counted) and none of them have  
failed. Some are 5 years old. There is no commonality of makers, HL,  
Lite-On, Pioneer, Panasonic, LG, TDK and Philips, I just buy what I  
can get cheaply.

I do clean them regularly. I suspect dirt and dust are the cause of a  
lot of reported "failures".

Th major difference I have noticed is that some are a lot noisier than  
others, something that has not bothered me.

Having said that, I am aware that Plextor has a very good reputation,  
but like most of their gear they are costly.

beww