No, I wouldn't say pointless as you'll know what works for you. I don't reccomend IMGBurn (not that Lighting UK's app is bad) I just reccomend Nero or an app that utilizes certain protections built into your firmware.

CD-R: The best are Taiyo Yuden, the music industry has used them for years and turns out they were right. Top quality results, next to those I also like Verbatim. I hate Memorex, always had problems w/ them.

Software: Nero, because it will utilize special technology built into firmware, though there are plenty of other good apps. Also be sure to use Nero's Tool that will give you a general look at the C1/C2 errors & beta Jitter (if there are any) as you don't want to guess when doing this type of testing. Not as extentive as plextools but should give you an idea.

Writers: Without a doubt Plextor is top dog, best technology, etc. Pioneer is OK too.

Speed: Well if you have a Plextor, use Nero and the Taiyo Tuden discs max speed is fine. What I like about Plextor is the abvility to use Plextools and do a media quality check for C1/C2/CU errors this will tell you if it's a bad burn.

Anyway this really isn't the website for this, the burning experts hang out at: www.CDfreaks.com they have done heaps of tests, as I said opinions and results do vary.

Yep those types which vary from firmware to firmware, though generally do the samething.


I'm certainly not trying to be a Nero sales agent here, nor did I ever pay a dime for it (if you want to pay that's up to you) but I was talking about doing writing tests, I guess I should have clarified that huh? Nero is better for that since you can use Nero Tool etc.

Yes it has more features, Nero 9 is too heavy for me...I still use Nero 7 for burning and recode (which was DVDshrink) and Vision for DVDs. I never had any version of Nero act unstable and crash on me (been using it since 3 back in 1998) so not sure what the issue was for you?

If you want support for Nextgen media (BR and if you care about HDDVD), full DTS PAL/NTSC conversion etc. then yeah...as a stand alone burner, I like Nero but cannot say it writes better then any other app, except possibly? for some firmware technology support which varies from writer to writer.

I support and love freeware, just don't use IMGburn as I don't have a need for it but won't say for general burning it's any better...not one to support any corps 

Okay, that's what I wanted to know.  Those are supported in IMGBurn and many other applications, since you pretty much need them to burn DVDs or CDs at a fast speed.  It used to be a big deal if those features were supported, but nowadays it's pretty standard for a burning application.

I've always kept rather a rather customized system, with nonstandard paths for system folders (program files, profile directories and the like), nonstandard settings, unusual software and drivers, multiple burning applications, etc.  Nero just didn't seem to take very well to not being the only burning application installed on a standard windows installation.  Also, it didn't take kindly to me declawing it periodically.  I do imagine that it worked for somebody, though, since it's up to version 9 now.  I'm glad you had a positive experience out of it.  Most of what I found useful out of Nero were the free applications that aren't part of the suite.

ImgBurn on the other hand can run entirely from any arbitrary directory or USB drive.  Perfect for people like me, who run multiple OSes and reinstall periodically.

I used to care about this until I saw the exorbitant and mandatory licensing fees involved in Blu-Ray movies.  I'm hoping China's new HD format (CBHD, I think) picks up steam.  Although it's not likely.

That's very similar to my experiences with the software.  I also recall having problems with CD burning after they introduced DVD support.  I don't remember what the exact errors were, though.

Sorry for the thread detour, slowbeef.  Just had a bit of curiosity, there. I'm done now, but please feel free to have any mods split the topic if you like.

No need to apologize.  This info is pretty helpful to me, insofar as knowing it's most likely the burn and not the build.  Plus I'm sure I'll get blamed for it when we release anyway, so it's nice to know for the FAQ.