Quiet CDRW/DVD(not DVDRW) combo drive ?

Andru · Post by **Andru** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:06 am

Hi,

Topic says it all, I need a quiet CD-RW-burner / DVD reader combo drive.

I searched for some topics on this forum and found some mumblings about LGs being quiet and not much else.

Should I go for an LG then, any experiences ? and which model(s) is quiet ?

Thanks for any hints

Andru

CoolGav · Post by **CoolGav** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 3:23 am

Either that or Samsung.

Oh, and a big welcome to the SPCR forum!

Andru · Post by **Andru** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 3:33 am

Thanks for the warm welcome !

I think I'll try an LG drive then... I can always return it if it starts yelling too much

Yes, this is my first post on the SPCR forums, although I've been browsing the main site and forums for a good few months.

On a side note, I wish I could find somewhere a list of noiseless monitors... my LG Flatron 915FT Plus makes more noise than my computer itself

I guess LCD displays don't "buzz" ?

Andru

Melluk · Post by **Melluk** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 5:47 am

Also consider Toshiba.

Andru · Post by **Andru** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:42 am

OK, my choices are these two (both CDRW/DVD combos):

LG GCC-4480B:
http://www.lgeus.com/Product/CD/GCC_4480B.asp

Toshiba SD-R1312

EDIT by ADMIN: long link embedded using BBCode to save side-to-side scrolling.

Both drives' specs say that they can (only?) read DVD-R(W) discs... no mention of DVD+R(W) readability... don't they read DVD+R(W) at all then? Is this true or does it mean + discs are also supported ? Some drive manufacturers report DVD-R(W) and +R(W) separately... I'm confused

Thanks for any help,

Andru

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 6:06 pm

Hello:

Andru wrote:OK, my choices are these two (both CDRW/DVD combos):

LG GCC-4480B:
http://www.lgeus.com/Product/CD/GCC_4480B.asp

Toshiba SD-R1312:
http://sdd.toshiba.com/cda/main.aspx?Path=/ [HUGE STRING OF NUMBERS DELETED

Both drives' specs say that they can (only?) read DVD-R(W) discs... no mention of DVD+R(W) readability... don't they read DVD+R(W) at all then? Is this true or does it mean + discs are also supported ? Some drive manufacturers report DVD-R(W) and +R(W) separately... I'm confused

Thanks for any help,

Andru

Welcome Andru! Here's a "tiny" hint: you can use http://www.tinyurl.com to shrink that 227 character URL down to 23 :http://tinyurl.com/pedc and save us some scrolling...

And yes, the writable DVD situation is just a bit confusing -- since there are at least TWO different *incompatible* formats and they are possibly only readable in like drives.

LushMD · Post by **LushMD** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 7:08 pm

Andru: I am using the LG combo drive that you listed and am quite pleased with it. It is quiet (as far as optical drives are concerned) and performs well. Take care.

Andru · Post by **Andru** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 3:38 am

Well, first of all I must say I'm surprised how nice people seem to be on this forum

Feels nice!

On to the point:

Thanks guys for the tips...!

But... I think I'll have to bury my hopes of a combo drive as an all-format reader... seems no (?) cdrw/dvd combo drive can read DVD+R discs

I think I'm opting for a (slow and) quiet DVD-ROM reader instead. Maybe some older Toshiba model would suit the job just fine. It's for a TV computer for watching movies anyway, so ability to burn CDs is not a necessity.

Any suggestions for a *quiet* DVD-ROM reader drive ? I think I'm going for some 12X or 10X reader ... I guess they're less noisy than newer (and faster) models (?)

Cheers,

Andru

padmewan · Post by **padmewan** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:03 am

(Delurking) After searching extensively through the forums this looked like the most relevant thread with the best information so far on DVD/CD-RW combo drives. Andru et.al., what did you finally settle on and how did it turn out? I switched over to a mini-ATX case and would like to consolidate my drives into an all-purpose optical drive, but don't feel the need to spring for a DVD-RW.

(off-topic, but the Audigy ZS Platinum is the anti-sweet spot for value. Better to go all the way to Pro or stick with regular ZS. Taking a precious 5.25" bay turned out to be a bad tradeoff).

PCGUY · Post by **PCGUY** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:37 am

I am in the market for SILENT dvd+rw and cd +rw drive and my choise (after help from SPC) is to go with PLEXTOR PX-708A - For reading DVDs you can slow it down using NERO drivespeed. Plextor PX-708A is going to superseded by PX-712A and I expect the price to nose down

padmewan · Post by **padmewan** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:53 am

PCGUY wrote:For reading DVDs you can slow it down using NERO drivespeed.

Is there some kind of specification or terminology I should be looking for to see if a drive is compatible with this standard (or with other forms of drive speed capping?). I don't mind if my drive, writing at maximum speed, sounds like a 747. I do mind when I'm watching a movie and there's no particular need -- in fact, it seems to me counter-productive -- to read-ahead at 4x or 8x.

Please let me know how your drive turns out.

PCGUY · Post by **PCGUY** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:05 am

This is the million dollar question I am trying to find out! So far noboady has given me the specs to look for that will indicate the speed can be controlled by NERO. But I know for sure that PX-708A speed can be controlled by NERO - This is the most popular drive in the market and one cannot go wrong with this selection

padmewan · Post by **padmewan** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:16 am

Aw... but that is a DVD-RW, and a lot of moolah.

PCGUY · Post by **PCGUY** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:21 am

Somebody was eluding the fact that ALL plextors (including non dvd-rw drives) speeds can be controlled by nero - look at this thread http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=11003

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:33 am

AFAIK, the high speed rates apply ONLY WHEN ACCESSING DATA! When playing DVD movies or CD music, the drive HAS to play at 1X speed. If not, the excess data would have to be cached into memory, then drawn from there... no, this does not make sense at all.

Having said that, when you insert a DVD or CD, usually the drive spins up to read the data indexes, but once you hit play, most are pretty quiet. There ARE differences in 1X playback noise, but those differences have not struck me as being huge; the worst, in general, tend to be slim drives.

padmewan · Post by **padmewan** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:33 am

Awesome! The most important thing this post pointed me to is the link to NeroDriveSpeed itself, which turns out to be a standalone, free software. Unfortunately the documentation page for the program is out of date, but it does list a few old drives that can be slowed down.

Thanks a million!

padmewan · Post by **padmewan** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 10:52 am

MikeC, sadly, my Cendyne doesn't, AFAIK, spin at 1x, based on (1) the noise, and (2) the way the "read" light goes on and off at regular intervals. I haven't had the time to look for firmware updates, though.

I'll say one thing: I'll never buy another computer product without first doing research on it.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 1:15 pm

Sorry, Mike but this time around I am forced to disagree. Any drive spinning at just 1X should be completely silent or extremely close to silent when running. This is simply not the case with the Samsung SD-816B when reading audio CDs (and yes, I disabled Windows' digital audio playback for that test; I tried both, the drive's S/PDIF-out, and its analogue out).

There are also situations where the drive will be playing back a DVD and it won't spin at only 1X either; the reason for this is that different DVD playback softwares operate in different ways. When you use a hardware decoder or a software decoder that reads in the right format, the drive will spin quietly but sometimes certain software titles read direct data, which results in 16X access (similar to DVD ripping software).

In the end, there's no better guarantee than having full control.

-Ed

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 1:18 pm

Don't forget that 1x DVD is something like 9x CD. I've had loud 8x CD drives before. Heck, my last CD writer was a 16x burner that spun at 24x max (on reads). That's roughly equivalent to 3x DVD. And that sumbitch was LOUD.

PCGUY · Post by **PCGUY** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:03 pm

Edward Ng,

Are u aware that PLEXTOR is coming with PX-712A

-- Also HP has come with using the DVD drive to burn DVD labels -- Read everything in here http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=11074

Hopefully I will wait till PX-708A price drops

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:19 pm

Yeah I read (and wept) about the PX-712; I paid $280 for my PX-708A. I bought it before PX-708U was even available!

Oh well; sucks for us early-adopters.

-Ed

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:45 pm

Edward Ng wrote:Yeah I read (and wept) about the PX-712; I paid $280 for my PX-708A. I bought it before PX-708U was even available!

Oh well; sucks for us early-adopters.

-Ed

I have been thinking of getting that Plextor 708A which is going for $180 at Newegg. How do you like that drive? What is going to be the difference with the PX-712?

Oh, and what came with your Plextor - Nero or Roxio?

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:32 pm

The PX-712 comes with Roxio, from what I read; I can't exactly remember what my PX-708A came with, since I already had Nero installed, I just put the drive in and got rolling.

Oh I love this drive; the refinement just permeates! The tray motor is smooth like butter, the drive servo is very, very quiet and smooth; easily as quiet, if not quieter, than the Samsung SD-816B that I had.

It's my first DVD burner so I can't vouch for performance other than the fact that a full DVD in under 10 minutes is convenient; comparisons normally place this drive as seconds faster than most others, which, to me, is hardly important. I am able to burn at 8X just fine to 4X TDK DVD+R discs, too.

The PX-712 is faster than the 708A; it burns DVD+R @ 12X and DVD-R @ 8X, while my drive only does 8X and 4X, respectively. I am unsure to the new drive's DVD+RW and DVD-RW burning rates as compared to mine.

-Ed

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:44 pm

Now that is interesting because I have the Samsung 816B! I am thinking of going to a DVD burner and the 708A is about as high in price as I want to go. I would imaging the new PX-712 is going to be lots more - is it available?

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:08 pm

Not quite yet; the SATA version looks particularly tasty!!!

-Ed

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:05 am

SATA version? Plextor is coming out with a DVD burner using SATA cables?

Well, that may be good and it may be not so good. I can't read the temperature of my Samsung SATA SP0812C with anything and who knows what problems a SATA DVD burner will present?

I think I've had enough SATA. In fact, I ordered a SP1614N and will give that a go and see what happens - I was having severe problems with my SP0812C not being able to boot into XP on 3 occasions in about a month. Now, since I ordered the SP1614N, it's working fine! Still can't read the temperature, but no CHKDSK errors and no problem getting to desktop for a whole week!

So, now it's either return the SP1614N which would cost restocking fee plus shipping, not very exciting, or put it in and see how noisy it is compared to my very, very quiet SP0812C - and just keep one as a spare.

PCGUY · Post by **PCGUY** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:34 am

JVM,

I am planning to buy SP0812C for my rig - the o/s is w2k professional. I have heard praised for this drive and you seem to disagree! How happy or sad or you with this sata version of samsung? Any advice before I buy

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 7:04 am

PCGUY wrote:JVM,

I am planning to buy SP0812C for my rig - the o/s is w2k professional. I have heard praised for this drive and you seem to disagree! How happy or sad or you with this sata version of samsung? Any advice before I buy

The SP0812C is a dream in that it is very quiet--but I have it in a Zalman ZM-2HC1 and mounted in a 5.25" bay. The Sonata is not the case to put that drive in the regular 3.5" bay.

I was not unhappy until I had 3 occasions where I couldn't get to the desktop and had to wipe it clean and reinstall everything. I was getting CHKDSK errors on booting up about 5 times in less than 2 weeks and then--boom! So I ordered an SP1614N and since I ordered the SP1614N, the SP0812C has been fine! No CHKDSK errors is about a week! No problem getting to the desktop. So, I don't know what to say except now it is working great! And it is very, very, quiet.

The thing that still bugs me is I can't get anything to read the hdd temperature--and I've tried DTemp, MBM, and SpeedFan. But that could be my MB or possibly the senosr in the drive as DTemp reports 18C and sometimes higher like 25C which are not realistic temperatures I'm sure everyone would agree.

I have the SP1614N coming and will likely put that in next week--but I am spoiled as to the quietness of the SP0812C and it remains to be seen just how quiet the SP1414N is.

But don't let my experience sway you away from the SP0812C. This is a very quiet drive and with your MB, you may be able to get the temperature reading. Otherwise, at this moment with the SP0812C working fine, I am happy.

Kind of confusing, no?

Oh, I don't disagree with the SP0812C. It's just something weird going on that I can't read the temperature and something wacky was going on that caused all those CHKDSK errors on booting. However, again, right now all is well and has been well for about a week and so I am not saying anything bad about the drive except that I can't read the temperature--which could be my MB because it is a SATA drive.

PCGUY · Post by **PCGUY** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 7:36 am

JVM,

I had an email conversation with MBM author about temp sensing!

Temp sensing will not work for any SATA setup on samsung drives but he said that non SATA version (SP1614N ) one can probably get the temp readings.

Since you have used the SATA and NON SATA versions do you see any advantage OR disadvantages between SATA and IDE drives?

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 9:00 am

Getting back on topic...

Yes, Plextor is releasing the PX-712AS, which is a SATA version of the PX-712A.

-Ed