# Recommend a DVD +/- RW drive

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-dvd-rw-drive/304367>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 18, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-dvd-rw-drive/304367 "2005-05-18T06:33:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-dvd-rw-drive/304367/1 "2005-05-18T06:33:05Z")

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I’m done with my current DVD+R/RW drive. It writes at 2.4x and I can’t even get discs for it anymore. So I want something faster. I’d prefer the dual format for greater chance of it working in our DVD players. The RW isn’t cruscial, but would be nice to have.

Dual-layer would be nice, but I don’t want to overpay for it if the price hasn’t leveled out to a reasonable price for the benefit. I’ve seen many internal and external drives for under $100 on eBay running the gamut of Memorex, NEC, Sony, etc.

So for those with a good deal of knowledge of burners, what would you recommend? Also, if a certain brand you mention works better with certain brands of media, please list that as well. Buld disks are obviously cheapest, but often a drive has an attitude about them.

FWIW, it doesn’t matter if a drive is internal or external. I can live with either. Thanks in advance.

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-dvd-rw-drive/304367/2 "2005-05-18T17:40:47Z")

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I just switched to a Mad Dog external, do everything, +/- dual layer drive and I’m extremely happy with it. USB seems to have matured enough that there are no performance compromises compared to an internal drive and I can easily use it to backup any of the five computers in our house. I got mine on sale at Compu USA and Costco carries them online for about the price you’re looking for.

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**Author:** ![RealTronic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-dvd-rw-drive/304367/3 "2005-05-19T01:41:44Z")

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I just switched recently myself, and seeing as the dual-layer ones are dirt cheap now, I think it’s no use even thinking about getting a single-layer one now.

I bought a NEC SD-3520A which handles virtually all formats (of course no DVD-RAM). If you upgrade the firmware, it even handles dual-layer DVD-R (some stores will probably sell them pre-flashed - they do it here in Japan anyway) in addition to the more common (right now anyway) DVD+R9.

I think this NEC is the best-selling DVD-RW drive in Japan right now, followed by the latest Pioneer model. I highly recommend both.