recommend dvd burner

[skip]

I'm using Premiere Elements 3.0 to burn DVDs. My OS is windows XP and I'm typically burning to Verbatim archival grade DVD-R 8x disks. Does anyone have a recommendation for an external DVD burner that would work well with my system and minimize coasters?

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Skip, what model burner are you using now? Are you getting a lot of coasters with that one?
Using that brand of discs I wouldn't think you should get any coasters at all.

[Steve Grisetti]

You might also find more success burning your discs at 4x -- even if they are 8x rated.

[George Tyndall]

Does anyone have a recommendation for an external DVD burner that would work well with my system and minimize coasters?

I'm very happy with the following, construction, functionality, etc. I believe Chuck also acquired a Pioneer with Lightscribe not long ago.

http://muvipix.com/cpg/albums/userpics/11056/Picture_002_%28Large%29.jpg

[Chuck Engels]

I believe Chuck also acquired a Pioneer with Lightscribe not long ago.

I did George, but it was not an external burner but an internal one.

[skip]

My current DVD burner, internal to a Dell laptop, is a TSST Corp DVD+RW TS-L632D. It's worked well and I haven't had too many issues with coasters, although you're correct, when burning the archival DVDs there shouldn't be any. Also, since I'm burning directly out of Premiere Elements, I can't control the speed and assume I'm burning at 8X. I guess my thoughts were that the DVD burner on-board my laptop is getting older and just wondered if there was an external high quality DVD burner out there that would be superior to the burner I have. Also, the external burner would still be available when I get around to replacing the laptop. I'll check out the Pioneer. Thanks for your help folks.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

It will be cheaper to replace or, if a slot is available, add an extra internal burner.

External burners are between two and three times more expensive than the equivalent internal burner (well here in the UK anyway).

[Chuck Engels]

Same thing here John, externals are more expensive than internals. I've been very happy with my Pioneer burner and my older Toshiba burner, both internal.

[Chuck Engels]

You might want to look at something that will allow you to set the burn speed. It's getting harder and harder to find 8x discs but if you can select the burn speed it won't matter.
For burning DVD and CD data discs I don't think the speed really matters that much, just if you are burning a movie DVD.

Take a look at imgburn and Sony DVD Architect, both are good choices and imgburn is free