LG GMA-4020B DVD Writer
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LG GMA-4020B OEM:Hitachi-LG Chipset:N/A |
12xCDR CLV 8xCDRW CLV 2xDVD-R CLV 1xDVD-RW CLV 2xDVD-RAM ZCLV |
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32xCD 10xDVD |
EIDE, 2MB
More info |
$150 | 8.4/10 53 votes Read 60 comments (65854 views) Post comment |
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| DVD Media
comments for this DVD Writer (click on the link to
read the comments): 1 Bulkpaq 2xDVD-R (TDKG02000000) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 CompUSA 1xDVD-R (PRINCO......) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 4 E3Works 4xDVD-R (LEADDATA01..) comments, 4 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 E3Works 2xDVD-RW (OPTODISCK001) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 EMTEC 1xDVD-R (OPTODISCK001) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Esperanza 4xDVD-R (GSC001......) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Fujifilm 2xDVD-R (PVC001001) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Generic/Unbranded 4xDVD-R (AN32........) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 2 Generic/Unbranded 1xDVD-R (GSC001) comments, 2 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 2 Generic/Unbranded 4xDVD-R (LONGTEN 001.) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Go Tech 4xDVD-R (AN30........) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Hypermedia 4xDVD-R (LONGTEN 001.) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Imation 1xDVD-R (CMC00RG200..) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Imation 1xDVD-R (RITEKG03....) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Infiniti 2xDVD-R (SONY........) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Intenso 2xDVD-R (PRODISCG02..) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Laser 2xDVD-R (TDKG02000000) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 2 LG 4xDVD-R (LGE04.......) comments, 2 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Magnex 1xDVD-R (OPTODISCK001) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Master G 1xDVD-R (CMC00RG300..) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Maxell 1xDVD-RW (JVC/VictorT7) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Maxell 2xDVD-RAM (M01J0005) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Maxell 1xDVD-RW (MCC 00RW11N9) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Maxell 2xDVD-R (MXL RG01....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Maxell 4xDVD-R (MXL RG02....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Maxell 8xDVD-R (MXL RG03....) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Maxell 8xDVD-R (RITEKG05....) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Maxell 2xDVD-RW (TDK502sakuM3) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Memorex 1xDVD-RW (ProdiscDVDRW) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Mirror Platinum 4xDVD-R (AN31........) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 MMore 1xDVD-R (EuroDig-Disc) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Octron 2xDVD-R (RITEKG03....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 8 Optodisc 1xDVD-R (OPTODISCK001) comments, 5 good, 0 mixed, 3 poor. 1 Panasonic 2xDVD-RAM (M01J0005) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Philips 8xDVD-R (FUJIFILM03..) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Pine 2xDVD-R (MXL RG01....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 6 Princo 1xDVD-R (PRINCO......) comments, 3 good, 0 mixed, 3 poor. 2 Princo 1xDVD-RW (PRINCO......) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 1 poor. 3 Princo 4xDVD-R (PRINCO......) comments, 3 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Princo 2xDVD-RW (PRINCO......) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 ProMedia 1xDVD-R (UTJG01001...) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 4 Ritek 1xDVD-R (RITEKG03....) comments, 4 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Ritek 4xDVD-R (RITEKG04....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Shintaro 1xDVD-R (TDKG02000000) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Sky 4xDVD-R (AN32........) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Sony 4xDVD-R (TYG01.......) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 StarLogic 1xDVD-R (PRINCO......) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 StarMedia 2xDVD-R (MXL RG01....) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 2 Supermedia 2xDVD-R (MXL RG01....) comments, 1 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 2 TDK 2xDVD-R (TDKG02000000) comments, 2 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 2 Verbatim (DataLifePlus) 2xDVD-R (MCC 00RG200) comments, 2 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Verbatim (DataLifePlus) 1xDVD-RW (MCC 00RW11N9) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Verbatim (DataLifePlus) 4xDVD-R (MCC 01RG20) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. Post your DVD Media comments here |
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| To Ron Cahill. Try another media... or computer ... I have this drive, and works very fine with all supported formats.\\ For data-handling with DVD-RAM is excelent drive. Comments posted by Pedro from Other, July 09, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| Where can i find the firmware A108 for the Dvd writers mod.GMA-4020B? Thanks Comments posted by Piripacco from Other, July 09, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| I've had this DVD burner for seven days and it reminds me of the early 90's when you had to leave the room when burning (CD's) because even the slightest vibration would breed a coaster! Those of you who are old enough will remember this. Apparently with this burner you don't have to leave the room to breed a coaster - it will anyway! Certainly with RW's. My rating would be at this stage... DVD-RAM: 10 out of ten (Yeah, it works fine). DVD-RW: 0 out of ten (Programs freeze & other wonderfull things) DVD-R: Almost unknown at this stage due to the price of the media in regional Australia $8-$15. I've had two attempts with different programs and both have failed. __________________ What I'd like to see is a list of DVD authoring programs that will clearly work with this burner, and those that will clearly not. But that would be a daydream! Comments posted by Ron Cahill from Other, July 08, 2003. Rated this writer 1 of 10. |
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| Have this drive for a week now, buyed for 149$ cdn, pretty good price, made LOTS of testing, drive works MARVELOUSLY (is that how you write it??) with branded dvd-r(w), maxell dvd-ram coming with it is a dream too, now for the real testing: princo 1x dvd-r burned at 1x= works great, little 10 sec of hesitation when first reading but goes well after, same princo burned at 2x= forget it :-) ain't made for 2x, dvd-r princo 4x burned at 2x= same as 1x compatibility, they both work great on my pioneer dvd-rom and on my samsung home dvdplayer, also tried: princo 1x dvd-rw= 50% works.. maybe ritek works better.. can't have an hand on it in montreal.., maxell dvd-rw works excellent, the cd-writer is just as great as my old one (I had a 12-8-32) it's basically the same. Well.. what else.. for the price it's great! Comments posted by WildParadise from Other, July 05, 2003. Rated this writer 8 of 10. |
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| Hey, My name is Josh. Im think bout buying one of these! Ive read all the commentz and made a decison to buy 1. If there are n e problems with connecting to an XP system plez comment back! Id really be thankful. Hope this works good! Itz priced at 199 canadian at Best Buy! (mail in rebate of $80 and $20 instant)price is 299!!!!!! HOT DEAL....will comment after a week of monster burning! Thxs alot to the ppl that put their tyme into commenting!!!! Comments posted by Josh from Other, June 26, 2003. Rated this writer No rating. |
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| great value from ebuyer at only £107+vat!!!!! still finding my way burning dvd but so far one week and two movies later i'm more than impressed. I'm using infiniti dvd-r from ebuyer also and they seem fine. more news as and when... Comments posted by bellamoid from Other, June 13, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| Great value for the money ($280 cdn) and DVD+R(W) read compatibility..... Quality Hitachi drive mechanism that's the quietest that I've heard yet.....japanese built, always a plus. Maxell DVD-R's have worked the best so far, tried Memorex with mixed results using Nero 5.5.10.15..... Supplied software is of iffy quality and the DVD authoring software is buggy.... Comments posted by Dave F. from Other, June 11, 2003. Rated this writer 8 of 10. |
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| Forgot to rate the writer. Rate a 10 and will update after dvd-ram testing Comments posted by James from Other, June 02, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| Bought writer for $215 canadian, special weekend sale. Using Maxell 2x dvd-r media, so far no problems. Copied a DVD movie to the media, and it played in both 4 yr old Denon 2500 and 1 yr old Daewoo DVD-5800. Using DVDxCopy for copy, Nero for other buring needs. Will try dvd-ram this week. System LG 4020B w a108 firmware, manufactured March 2003 Asus a7v8x-x 512 mb ram ATI (Sapphire) 9100 video Fresh install of XP Pro DVDxCopy 1.5.2 Nero 5.5.10.28 upgrade from earlier version Comments posted by James Rehman from Other, June 02, 2003. Rated this writer No rating. |
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| Hi, I was looking for a DVD writer that could handle both DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM and of course CDR and CD-RW. No one could sell me that. Some resellers even said "you're looking for a cow with 5 legs". I decided to try the LG GMA-4020B (made by Goldstar) because it was the sheapest in it's category. I was realy affraid because I'm a Mac user and the latest IDE DVD drive I bought would not work in my G3/300 (boosted with a Sonnet G4/500 processor upgrade). In addition, I feared of the new OS/x operating system that I had just installed; would I be blocked by some missing driver ? Anyway, I replaced the original Apple CD drive with my new DVD writer and... it worked without doing anything else! I opened Roxio Toast and was surprised to be able to write any format of CD and DVD, amazing isn't it. In addition, this drive is perfectly silent even when writing or reading at full speed. Now I'm sure that drive were made for the Mac because the open/close button is at the same place as the original Apple drive. Well, I'm still asking myself if I'm not dreaming because it's incredible when you know that even in the notice they never mention that this drive works perfectly on the Macintosh. Go and buy it! Comments posted by M. Bauwens from Other, May 31, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| Well. I will update my cote. I have this drive for more than 1 month now and No coster out of 50 burn (Ritek G03). Some princo skip in my player, but the Burner did burn them ok (readable in a DVD-ROM, so it's more a Media Problem) Price are droping on this one (239$CND) it's a must have for the price ! Comments posted by Vric from Other, May 24, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| This is an excellent drive not one coaster or lockup when burning. It rips fast and burns just the same . I use the cheap princo 1x and they work every time. It came in the retail box with software that prevents coping copyright discs, You should get DVDXCOPY and DVDcrypter and latest Nero with mpeg 2 plugin. I used Nero to make ps2 backups on the princo and they worked on my mod ps2. they have them on kazaa, The drive burns dvd's with out and flaws using this software. I got the drive for $259 CND at www.canadacomputers.com Comments posted by pcosta from Other, May 23, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| DVD-RAM disk may be formated to NTFS (or any other format) with standard format tool included in win2k/xp (e.g. disk managment), and without any instalation special utility or program from bunded CD. Bunded format tool supports only FAT32 and UDF formats :(. Formated DVD-RAM disk works very well or many machines, without any software instalation (on win2k/xp/2k3 systems, with dvd-ram, dvd multi, or reading with dvd-rom(w/ dvd-ram reading enabled) drive). (tested on Panasonic LF-D321) Comments posted by mig from Other, May 14, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| Just a quick update to my post below. I have now installed the DVD-RAM driver and am extremely impressed with the results. It creates a new 'removable disc' drive, in addition to the normal DVD writer drive, and is active and accessable whenever a DVD-RAM disc is inserted. I did read somewhere that someone was able to format the disc to NTFS, but I was only able to format FAT32 or a choice of two UDF formats. I used FAT and it formatted the disc in about 20 seconds. Writing is swift, reading and erasing is also very fast. Obviously it's not a substitute for a physical hard drive, but is most impressive. With this in mind I raise my original rating to nine! Comments posted by Andy from Other, May 14, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| Very good writer. I was undecided between this and the Panasonic 9581, which was £20 cheaper. I chose the right one as the Panasonic was a bare OEM drive but the LG came retail boxed, with cables, software and FREE DVD-RW AND DVD-RAM discs!!! You should ask yourself whether the DVD-RAM feature is of great use to you. I bought it so I could use the RAM as a sort of extra hard drive. But, using a RW disc and packet writing software sort of does the same thing. In hindsight, for just a few pounds more I could have got a Pioneer drive which didn't have DVD-RAM but was 4x speed. I can't comment on the bundled BHA recording software, as I use Nero and InCD, but I believe you do have to use it to make use of the DVD-RAM capability. I purchased mine from Micro Direct, a company in Manchester. My model came with firmware version 107. Comments posted by Andy from Other, May 13, 2003. Rated this writer 7 of 10. |
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| This is a good writer, brought it home, and within five minutes I was burning DVD's, writes every dvd-r I throw at 2x. It DEFINATELY does not like DATASAFE DVD-RW, and I have still to try DVD-RAM. Comments posted by alfitz from Other, May 11, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| I forgot to say before: it does read DVD-Audio, I just tested Stone Temple Pilots and few other discs on it, all did play ok. Comments posted by DereX888 from Other, May 09, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| good stuff Comments posted by robbo from Other, May 09, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| the comment of Groiner at May 05 2003 is idiot.. DOn't blame the drive for your ignorance.. now I have this drive for 1 month, not a single coaster, use Ritek G03 disk and it work perfect at 2X.. There is no need to spend more money for an other drive since this one make the job preaty great.. Comments posted by Vric from Other, May 08, 2003. Rated this writer No rating. |
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| Don't listen to morons who prolly can't operate even a bicycle, not mentioning any burners... This *IS* very good burner for very low price. I had before Pioneer a04, 105 (died on me within a week! beware of their refund policy, it takes forever to get your $ back), and shitty sony dru (bleh what a piece of crap); from all of them this LG is actually the best, to my own surprise! I had no problems whatsoever with this drive in few month so far. The only complaint - it is relativly slow, 2x compared to 4x is really hard to accept at first, but once when you get used to it - its OK. Not that I used lots of 4x DVD-Rs before with other drives (still way too expensive), but just in case of "emergency" ability of 4x burning is always good to have... Hopefully LG will make 4x version soon, I will certainly buy it. And BTW: DVD-RAM feature is pretty good and so handy, I am sure everyone of you can find a way to use almost 5GB of extra removable storage, personally: I cant imagine live without DVD-RAM anymore (really!). Comments posted by DereX888 from Other, May 06, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| Hello Everyone... I have just bought this LG GMA-4020B mostly based on comments found here. After 5 days with it, i have to say that it is an excellent DVD burner and i would recommend it anytime. I was able to back-up my child most prefered movie within 60 minutes (Monster inc) with DVDxCopy!!! I had to do it because kids don't know to handle fragile stuff like CD & DVD disks. It is backing-up movies at 2x on very cheap PRINCO disks without a hitch. These DVD-R works perfectly on my 2 years old JVC 523-GD home DVD Player. DVD-RW woould not burn using supplied B's software, but does work with the latest version of Nero Burning rom. I also used TMPg Authoring program with success, although it is not the best program of this kind in town. Do not forget that this drive is a MULTI-RECORDER one, meaning it also works with DVD-RAM disks at 2x. I bought the retail box that came with 1 DVD-RW and 1 DVD-RAM, both from Maxell. $309.99 can was the price i have paid. Comments posted by GreatBerny from Other, May 04, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| I bought this at bestbuy in toronto canada for 390.99 CDN tax included with a mail in rebate for 40 CDN, so final price is 350.99 CDN i like the burner, it seems to burn all 1x media at 2x speeds for some reason, DVDInfo says all my loaded media speed is 2.0x nero loads it up and lets me burn at 2.0x thing is though, in DVDInfo, if you click on the drive information itself it shows HL-DT -STDVDRAM GMA-4020B but then it shows PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-105 Firmware Revision A107 is the LG a rebadged oem pioneer 105 with support for dvd-ram and some speed adjustments? so that would be the pioneer 105/A05 would be able to burn dvd-ram later on with firmware updates? can anyone clarify with DVDInfo on thier LG burner if thiers show a PIONEER 105 as well? other than the info i need above, this is a great burner for the price Comments posted by D-Sisive from Other, April 24, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| I got this drive for 1 week now and i'm very suprised. I got it for 293$Can (which is about 190$US) I didn't burn much so far, only 4 DVD backup and so far no problem. I burn on cheap princo at 2X, but I also got a 50 pack of Ritek G03 that burn also at 2X. The only down side is the -RW speed. 1X is very slow and 57 minutes to burn, 57 minutes to erase, it's very long.. Beside that, -R is very good and for me, 25 Minutes to burn a DVD is perfect. Didn't manage to work with the -RAM part yet. If you want a cheap drive, get it ! Comments posted by Vric from Other, April 24, 2003. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| Ok bought the drive as it was the shops last -R drive in stock. Had problems at the start. Basically Recordnow wouldn't record correctly to the drive, kept taking 400mins+. Found the problem was that the drive wasn't supposed to be connected to a DMA 66 Cable. Dropped it down to a 33 Cable, that is supplied. NO PROBLEMS NOW. Best thing is that it burns to 1x Media, no problem. I have tested 20 Bulkpaq Gen 3(r2), all fine 10/10 For this drive. Comments posted by Win2000b from Other, April 18, 2003. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| I have used the LG 4020B for a couple of months. It has many positive qualities and functions. Price is right. Cover just about all media types such as DVD-+R,-+RW and RAM single sided. I have used this recorder with VOB 6.0 and B's Gold 5 recording software and it has worked well with both. Sometimes it locks up after completing a recording function, usually w/ DVDecrypter finalizing an ISO image. Stops at 99%, then I have to soft or hard boot to eject the media. This is a known SW issue however. I found that this recorder makes excellent DVD backups with Sony DVD-R and DVD-RW media. Maxell DVD-RW media worked well also. TDK and Verbatium turned out coasters. Downside- it's a bit slow compared to newer DVD writers. 28 min. for 2x speed and 48 min. for 1x speeds. Comments posted by Vince from Other, April 17, 2003. Rated this writer No rating. |
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Column Explanation:  Click on this for
more technical information.New comments= New comments since your last visit. New Writer = New DVD Writer since your last vist. OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer. Chipset The manufacturer of the main chipset the DVD writer/recorder is based on. Write support / Read support DVD-R = Works DVD-R? = Not tested Single Layer(4.7GB) write speeds 1x (CLV) = about 58 minutes 2x (CLV) = about 29 minutes 2.4x (CLV) = about 24 minutes 4x (CLV) = about 14.5 minutes 6x (CLV/ZCLV) = about 10-12 minutes 8x (PCAV/ZCLV) = about 8-10 minutes 12x (PCAV/ZCLV) = about 6.5-7.5 minutes 16x (CAV/ZCLV) = about 6-7 minutes Dual/Double Layer(8.5GB) write speeds 1x CLV = about 105 minutes 2.4x CLV = about 44 minutes 4x CLV = about 27 minutes Single Layer (4.7GB) read speeds 1x read speed is 1.321MB/s = ~56 minutes 6x CAV (avg. ~4x) read speed is max 7.93MB/s = ~14 minutes 8x CAV (avg. ~6x) read speed is max 10.57MB/s = ~10 minutes 12x CAV (avg. ~8x) read speed is max 15.85MB/s = ~7 minutes 16x CAV (avg. ~12x) read speed is max 21.13MB/s = ~5 minutes DVD Write types CAV = Constant Angular Velocity, the DVD is written at a constantly increasing speed. CLV = Constant Linear Velocity, the DVD is written at a constant speed. ZCLV = Zone Constant Linear Velocity, the DVD is divided into zones. After each zone the write speed is increased. PCAV = Partial Constant Angular Velocity, the DVD is being written at an increasing speed until a certain speed. After this speed it will not increase anymore. Connection Desktop = Standalone desktop DVD Recorder EIDE = Computer DVD Writer with EIDE/IDE connection SCSI = Computer DVD Writer with SCSI connection USB = Computer desktop DVD Writer with USB 2.0 or/and 1.1 connection FireWire = Computer desktop DVD Writer with IEEE 1394/FireWire/i.Link connection (some standalone desktop dvd recorder supports this also but then it is usually to connect your DV camera to the recorder) Rating The first rating is based on a weighted rank (the true Bayesian), it requires at least 5 votes to get a weighted rating. The second rating between the ( ) is a normal average rating. |
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