Hello! As you can see, i'm pretty new 'round here. I've checked the forums and i am amazed at the level of professionalism of the people here.
Now enuff ass kissing
Time to ask a few questions...

1) Is LightScribe ready for primetime ??

I recently purchased a laptop, an Acer Aspire 3000. Pretty good but the only thing ruining it is the DVD-RW it has :\ So i was thinking to buy an external usb one.
If i would make a choice for a BenQ LightScribe enabled one, would i spend my money on shit ?
Are the printed discs reliable ? I would also have a problem with media availability. The country i live in is poor and we get lots of bad media ( no known brands, only Budget and other lame brand discs )

2) Would a Plextor DVD Writer for my desktop computer be a better choice compared to my LITEON DVDRW SOHW 1653S ?

I never owned a Plextor, nor do i have any real life persons to check and see if Plextor is good. Untill now my Liteon hasn't failed me, the only bad moments were caused by bad media to burn on :\

-A little offtopic- How do i change the firmware and/or drivers of my particular burner ?? The liteon.com site points me to liteonit.com at which when i click on the firmware .zip, it does nothing.

3) -Not related to CD Hardware but will ask anyway- Is an Creative X-Fi Music Edition a good soundcard ??

Thanks for taking the time to read till here

I don't see the need for it, to be honest. Custom labels can be done much faster and in color with a good printer like the Canon Pixma iP3xxx/iP4xxx, and the printable media is cheap and widely available. Lightscribe is only a solution if you don't have such a printer and don't want to do it so often.



The Lite-On is average. Don't burn faster than 8x, otherwise you may get bad burns with it.




I tried it and i see what you mean. Use this link: http://www.liteonit.com/ODD/WebFW/SOHW-1653S/DR16CS0T.zip

Bookmark this: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=148989&page=2

They supply direct links.




Yes, but a bit pricey.

Thanks alot for all the answers man.

I suggest going for a BenQ DW1640 DVD-Writer: highly recommended by CDFreaks (same experts site mentioned by CiTay for the LITE-ON firmwares), excellent audio extraction and burning quality, great media compatibility, very reliable, feature rich (no rip-lock, complete bitsetting, etc.) and doesn't even cost half a genuine (not their rebranded series) Plextor.

Thanks alot for your info also. Would you mind posting a link to the review ?? I like to read alot.

The link for the review of BenQ Dw1640:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/226
Can't go wrong with that one.

BTW you like to read? Well, you'll have plenty to read in the review.

Does the Pixma print direct to CD? The only reasonably-priced CD printers I could find were the Epson R220/320 etc. I can't find printing to CDs in the specs on the Canon website - can you provide a link?

I was debating getting one of the Epsons for exactly this purpose, since they're $50 AR at Best Buy this week. I don't want to chance adhesive labels on my discs, since many folks have reported that the adhesive corrupts the media over time.

Yes. I have an iP3000 myself, and it comes with a special tray for CDs: http://www.canon.com.au/ftp/ip3000_left%20with%20cd_rgb.jpg

The iP4200, for instance, has the same tray: http://www.canon.com.au/ftp/ip4200_l_cd_de_hr_rgb.jpg

In fact, the whole Pixma iP3xxx/4xxx/5xxx line seems to be able to print on printable CDs/DVDs.

I'm very interested in that printer CiTay. How does it print the cd faces ??
Do you need to use glue to stick the cover to the disc or are there special cd's ( like in lightscribe's case ) that have the paper directly glued to them and you just print...

EDiT: Yes, i never printed a cd cover untill now... It's sad, i know :\

Yup, my iP5000 too.

No, there is no printable "sticker" or anything glued to the top! That would be very bad for reliability, since the media, the glue and the sticker all have different thermal expansion rates and therefore the disc would become warped over time.

You print directly to the surface of special "printable" media, like this one sold by Verbatim: http://www.verbatim.com/products/product_d...EC22264981AF2ED

Beats Lightscribe in any aspect.

On the Canon USA website, I've been unable to find any reference to the Pixma printing to CD/DVD media! Can someone find a link to it? I'm beginning to wonder if the tray only comes with printers in the UK/Australia.

Canon aren't allowed to sell CD/DVD printers in the US. Only Epson are. In the US Canon sells nuertered versions.

Good lord. What a waste. Well, I guess it's an R220 for me, then. Patent issues or something like that?

I'm convinced over that Canon Pixma printer
*adds another object to the must-buy list*

If only money would come as fast as the things i want to buy :\

Thanks once again for all your answers guys