Choose me a DVD-RW drive...

[BlueMagician]

Hi all!


As you can see by my sig, one of the final pieces of my rig puzzle, is that of a DVD-RW drive.. Wondering if anyone can recommend a nice drive with the following attributes:

* Must have a black bezel
* Must be at least 12x DVD-R
* Must be D/L compatible
* Whatever model is recommended, must have a similar looking DVD-ROM (reader) model available by the same manufacturer
* Would be nice if it were SATA

I've been looking at the Samsung 552B which is just ideal (except for the SATA), but finding it in stock is a mission right now..
Yes, I know I'm fussy.. But this is why I ask you guys...


Thanks as always,
S.

[BUFF]

I've been looking at the Samsung 552B which is just ideal (except for the SATA), but finding it in stock is a mission right now..

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_4260.html
Novatech also have it in stock.

[Lee H]

I'll throw my thoughts in and recommend the NEC 3520A

Cracking drive and an improvement on the already loved ( by Tomshardware ) 3500A

[aidanjt]

i have a LiteOn SOHW-1653S DVD+/-RW, it writes up to 16x, Dual-layer compatible, and it hard-decrypts CSS dvd video streams, which is pretty cool

[BlueMagician]

...I'll throw my thoughts in and recommend the NEC 3520A ...

The NEC3520 looks pretty tidy, but the only NEC DVD reader drive I can find to partner it, is a model called the 3800, and I'm not sure if that's discontinued...

Keep em coming, with thanks so far,
S.

[rmaciag]

I am not an expert by any means. Just for the record.
I have recently paired OEM NEC 3520 with Sony CRX320.
As OEM drives you do not even see the manufacturer's label on them.
They both have black bezels which look quite similar.
The ony diff is that Sony has some tiny labels on it in white,
while NEC is completely black. Re: Sony's performance, I do not know yet as
I hardly had time to play with my new system (built it last Friday).

[BlueMagician]

Thanks for the suggestions guys..

Just got my tracking number for my XFX 6800GT PCIe twins , so a DVD drive definitely needs to be chosen ASAP, as the time of assembly draws ever closer...

Throw me some more ideas here please - open to suggestions for both the DVD-RW and DVD-ROM - a region free(able) DVD-ROMer would be nice too....

S.