Customer Reviews

LG Electronics GSA-4163B 16X Super-Multi Triple Format DVD Writer

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I heard so much about Pioneer DVD burners that the first drive I bought was Pioneer 1x drive DVR-104. I never liked it, because it would give me discs with errors from time to time. And it made horrible noise while reading CDs!

So, a few weeks ago I wanted to upgrade and I got.. well Pioneer again! I thought that was just one problematic drive. I got DVR-109 this time. Stay AWAY from that drive! I had 3 types of media and it would only burn them at 1x! So I got rid of the Pioneer DVR-109. And finally bought this LG SGA 4153B drive, I read many good things about it, but after the Pioneer experience was somewhat skeptical. This drive is GREAT! So far I only had 2x media to test it with: TDK, and two no-name brands. All were labeled as 2x and I was able to burn them as such. After burning each I set the Nero to verify and all passed. Movie was tested on Apex and Sony standalone DVD players without any glitches. This drive actually carries its logo proudly on the front, unlike the Pioneer which didn't specify the brand anywhere on the drive at all.

Also couple of words on operation of the LG GSA 4163B. When reading DVDs it is very quiet, so it is perfectly suitable for watching movies. Eject/close operation is very smooth and the drive bay doesn't slap like in the cheaply-made drives. I think this says something about this drive's overall construction. Reading CDs is also smooth. You can hear them spinning but not in an intruding way.

I am probably the minority here, but I live 100% MS free, and run all my stuff on Linux. Specifically, I am using Mandrake (now Mandriva) version 10.1 on this machine. This drive worked right out of the box, recognized as a standard IDE drive, and k3b (my cd/dvd burning app of choice) recognized and setup for this drive with no hitch. Have burned a number of CD's and DVDs (write once, Data only) without any problems.

have not tried any r/w media or burned any multimedia stuff (movies, audio cds etc), but am quite happy so far with the drive.

This is one great little DVD Writer. It does everything... and does it well. It is so quiet that you don't even know it's running and I have had no problems whatsoever with it. The actual burn time is usually less than 5 minutes. Super speedy and dependable. I highly recommend it!

Selected it because of its very reasonable price, Excellent writing quality, support for almost all formats including DVD-RAM, very good software bundle including PowerDVD, and that it is an Editor's choice at cdfreaks.com

(I recommend to read an excellent review of it, several pages long, at cdfreaks.com 's review section on January 13th 2005)

I bought this burner when it was released in January 2005. Friends of mine in Japan sent me DVD-RAM disc with some of my favourite tv shows and i found that my (then new) dvd player could not play it. I also wanted to burn my home movies to DVD's. Those were the main reasons i bought it. Im pleased to report that this burner plays the aforementioned DVD-RAM disc perfectly and it has never given me a drink coaster when i needed to burn something fast. Its still operating as good as the day i installed it. Another great point is that its the quietest cd/dvd drive that i have used even when it is at its maximum speed. If your computer case has limited space then this drive will help a great deal because its about 4cm shorter than most other drives available.

I really can't say anything bad about this product. It plays and records every current format (not blu ray and HD dvd but they won't matter for a long time). It was also very reasonably priced. If you the chance to buy one of these drives or any of the later models co-produced by Hitachi and LG then take it. I wouldn't bother considering any other brands because this one does everything so well.

I bought one of these LG DVD burners a year ago for my computer and liked it so much I bought another one for my son's computer this year. It does every format under the sun (including DVD-RAM which works great with a DVD-RAM camcorder). It is quite compared to all other CD/DVD drives I've heard and an incredible value.

I purchased this drive because it supports the DVD-RAM format and it is less expensive than many other internal DVD writers. Everything required for installation and use is included 'in the box' (except, of course, for media). The product includes the drive, a complete Nero software suite (Windows only), mounting screws, and an IDE cable to connect the drive to the motherboard. Also included are clear instructions about how to set the jumpers to use the drive as a 'slave'. The drive ships with jumpers set to 'master' mode.

The software installed flawlessly on WinXP (SP2) and integrates well with the desktop. No printed documentation of the software is included, but none is required for users experienced with writing to removable media. Software includes tools for writing data, music, and video to DVD media.

I've had the drive for fewer than 30 days. I've used it to write data to -RAM and +RW media. So far, it has performed flawlessly.

I know people would say that the NEC drives are the best drives for burning dvds but this drive is quieter and uses less CPU utilization. I have not burned any coasters yet since owning the drive. This drive also uses all dvd media including DVD RAM which I don't use but hey the others don't offer it and you never know. So if you want a good drive this is it. I was a little scared by purchasing it myself cause I always hear everyone rant and rave over the NEC's but this drive is just as good if not better.

So far, this device has burned everything I have thrown at it with no problems whatsoever. The only thing I have not tried yet is a DVD-RAM. One thing slightly annoying about it is that when you are burning, the LED on the front does not change from green to red as in some other burners I have used. It would be helpful to have a visual indicator that it is actually doing something other than just spinning. All in all a great burner at a great price.

It reads well, writes well and it's quiet. I've had some other brands that sound like they're going to spin up and take off through the roof. This is a quality drive.

Thanks for the great deal and speedy delivery!