Price Guides, May 2005: Storage

DVDR Drives

According to our discussions with the product managers, the ninth generation DVDR drives are about to start phasing out in favor of the 10th generation units. BenQ actually already began to phase out their 16X DW160 [RTPE: BenQ DW1620] in favor of the dual layer, dual format 16X DW165 [RTPE: BenQ DW1625], although the only real performance boost is 4X dual layer burning opposed to 2.4X (something that the Pioneer DVR-109 [RTPE: Pioneer DVR-109] and the NEC 3520A [RTPE: NEC 3520A] have done for some time). The next generation drives will really only improve in media support and will probably be the equivalent of releasing new BIOS.

So, buy now? Of course. With prices so ridiculously cheap, it's really a "no brainer" at this point. When merchants are fighting over every last penny on a sub $50 drive, you know that the technology has hit the maturity stage. Let's take a look at the pricing on our personal favorite, the NEC 3520A:

NEC 16X ND-3520A

We also like the LG GSA-416 [RTPE: GSA-4163B] and the Pioneer DVR-109 [RTPE: DVR-109], but now, when we start seeing cost differences upwards of $10 (20%), it becomes easier and easier to recommend the NEC unit.



The ninth generation LiteOn also dropped in price over the last few weeks, but at this point, all of the units are so similar (with the exception of the DVD-RAM capable LG) that choosing one over another becomes less important. When these were $200 burners, there were several small differences that we could analyze between the drives and thus, pick a winner; but now with most of the drives based on the same build specifications, right down to the servo, with costs all within a buck or two, pretty much choosing any unit guarantees you a winner. Stay tuned next week for more guides including a demystifying "how to buy an AMD processor and get what you want" guide!