Reliable drives

[Ansgar]

I've had two DVD/RW/CD/RW drives, which I bought within the last year, go bad. The first was a Samsung, which stopped reading CDs after about six months of mild usage. The 2nd was an LG drive which periodically would grind the drive gears when a disk of any type was inserted. The LG began malfunctioning after only 4 mos. of extremely lite usage. Neither drive was mistreated in any form or fashion. Since both make a gazillions models, I won't mention the model numbers, as it seems somewhat irrelevant.

Basically, I'm beginning to have serious doubts about the reliability of optical drives, currently. I've got an older Memorex drive I bought about six yrs. ago. It took up the slack for the Samsung after it stopped reading CDs. It's still working like a champ. I've also had several computers go out the door of obsolescense and all had optical drives that never broke after years of service.

I just can't get over the statistical improbability of these two drives going bad so soon, and under extremely lite usage. I can't help but wonder about the manufacturing of the parts for these drives in the current market. Is this cost cutting to the point of disfunction? Based upon my recent experiences I'm thinking that I'll have to begin seeing optical drives as disposable items, with high operational cost factors due to a miserable MTBF.

So, I guess I should ask, is there any manufacturer, today, who hasn't cut costs to the point of disfunction and, therefore, still makes a reliable optical drive? Because if there is, I'd sure like to know from whom to buy, next.

 

[croc]

I've had two DVD/RW/CD/RW drives, which I bought within the last year, go bad. The first was a Samsung, which stopped reading CDs after about six months of mild usage. The 2nd was an LG drive which periodically would grind the drive gears when a disk of any type was inserted. The LG began malfunctioning after only 4 mos. of extremely lite usage. Neither drive was mistreated in any form or fashion. Since both make a gazillions models, I won't mention the model numbers, as it seems somewhat irrelevant.

Basically, I'm beginning to have serious doubts about the reliability of optical drives, currently. I've got an older Memorex drive I bought about six yrs. ago. It took up the slack for the Samsung after it stopped reading CDs. It's still working like a champ. I've also had several computers go out the door of obsolescense and all had optical drives that never broke after years of service.

I just can't get over the statistical improbability of these two drives going bad so soon, and under extremely lite usage. I can't help but wonder about the manufacturing of the parts for these drives in the current market. Is this cost cutting to the point of disfunction? Based upon my recent experiences I'm thinking that I'll have to begin seeing optical drives as disposable items, with high operational cost factors due to a miserable MTBF.

So, I guess I should ask, is there any manufacturer, today, who hasn't cut costs to the point of disfunction and, therefore, still makes a reliable optical drive? Because if there is, I'd sure like to know from whom to buy, next.

Nope... Check the MTBF that's published, and then check the warranty. Read the fine print on the warranty, as a 1 year warranty on a $30 drive that requires shipping charges back to the factory at a cost of $50 isn't 'good value'.

 

[Ansgar]

Nope... Check the MTBF that's published, and then check the warranty. Read the fine print on the warranty, as a 1 year warranty on a $30 drive that requires shipping charges back to the factory at a cost of $50 isn't 'good value'.

S.O.P., here. BTW, my LG drive is at LG's repair center in Austin, right now, as they returned it to me without fixing it. I guess an intermittent problem was too hard to trouble shoot. How efficient and cost effective is that? It isn't.

I still seek a reliable manufacturer. I'd like to see HD manuf. perfect the optical drive like they have the HD.