Customer Reviews

LG Electronics GSA-5163D External 16X Super-Multi Triple Format DVD Writer

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

having used this wonderful external drive for a few months, i would buy it again. not only is there a nice software bundle with it, but the drive is external USB, you can take it most anywhere and use it, and it handles virtually every medium and format you might encounter including the RAM DVD formats.

i am very pleased with this drive.
the price is astoundingly low.
i may get one for my home.
the external finish is appealing and the drive
has been exceptionally quiet when in use.

i give it 5 stars.

I've burned two dozen DVDs with this device, principally using Verbatim DVD+Rs. Works like a charm. In addition to the bundled Nero trial software, I've used Pinnacle to burn directly to this writer. So far, they all run even in older standalone DVD players. While this device claims to burn up to 16x, I've been running it at 8x with the media I've been using. If you end up disconnecting and reconnecting this DVD(-/+)RW/RAM drive, I'd recommend rebooting before burning an important project for guaranteed interactivity between the computer and the drive.

This hasn't just worked well, it looks great. The tray mechanism sounds smooth and not "rattly" like less impressive units. It feels substantive and has "heft." While a rather subjective aspect of the drive, it works for me.

This thing is absolutely amazing!!! I've owned it for almost half a year now; use it (or I should say abuse it) almost every day to the point when I make 10 various format DVD's/CD's one after another; and this little gadget has not given me a problem even once! It just keeps on going! Here is what I like about it:

Setup - I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop with Windows XP SP2 on it, and once I plugged in this device into one of the USB ports on it, it was instantly recognized and installed. I didn't have to do a thing. Truly Plug and Play!

Format Support - It supports everything from a regular CD-R to a Dual Layer DVD-R's and DVD-RW's. I haven't had a single problem using any of the media that I've tried.

Overall Functionality - This thing is fast and quiet. When it starts, it's a bit noisy, but only for about 10 seconds or so. Same thing at the end of the job - it makes a bit more noise as well. But during the burning process, you wouldn't even know that it's doing something, that's how quiet it is. Also, when plugged into USB 2.0 port, it is ridiculously fast! Just as an example, it takes approximately 10 minutes to burn a full 4.7GB DVD (It does work with USB 1.1 connection, but I strongly recommend using it with 2.0 to take advantage of its' speed capabilities. I had to get a PCMCIA USB 2.0 card adapter, since my laptop only had USB 1.1 ports. It dramatically increased the burning speed - before that it took over an hour to burn one DVD).

Features - It has both USB and Firewire IEEE 1394 connection ports!!! Also, unlike other DVD writers on the market, this one is very well built, meaning that it looks and feels great. It also comes with a nice software bundle, including Nero Express and BackItUp.

Price - I got it for about $80 (after $10 rebate) from NewEgg. Amazon used to sell it for just under $100. I think TigerDirect carries it also for about $90. In any case, it's only a $10-20 difference, and this product is worth much more in my opinion. It's money well spent and I'm extremely happy with this purchase.

Summary:
I love it, I love it, I love it!!! I strongly recommend it to anyone who's looking for an external DVD writer (especially if you are a laptop owner, like myself). Excellent buy!

This drive is great, trouble free right out of the box, great performance, and totally compatible with OSX 10.4 and iLife.

Recomended for any mac user.

I have to agree with all the reviewers who have praised the solidity and performance of this burner. The only reason I'm adding a review is that one person said it worked with a USB 1.1 port. I found the opposite -- it wouldn't work at all until I added a USB 2 port to both my systems (cost about $16 each) and after that it was fat and happy.

After about a month of ownership, swapping it back and forth between my Windows ME and Windows XP systems, I haven't encountered any problems either writing or reading. I can recommend this burner without reservation, and the price was certainly right.

Well let me say I didn't buy this LG model. I bought the GSA-2166D model, which is an external with LightScribe. But I just wanted to make a comment about the LG dvd writer.

The writer itself actually deserves 5 stars. Because when it begins to write, it writes confidently and constantly. There is very little whirring and struggling and down-speeding and up-speeding. The LG writer just writes consistently, never leaving doubt that it is taking care of the task. Once it shortly reaches "cruising" speed, there is barely a sound. Finally a writer I have complete confidence in. I first bought a MadDog. Gorgeous case, not so confident writer. Then a Sony. Nice case, good software package, not so confident writer, a few data dvd's not successful, some dvd's had streaks. The LG always, whether it be data or movies, beautifully written dvd's. And when seeking data from a dvd, there is the usual spin-up time, then reliable access. Confidence is the key word here. The LG gives me confidence.

So why only three stars overall? The case is the least attractive out of the burners mentioned. Just simple and functional. Although the open close button should be on top of the tray for easier access when the tray is open. No LED light to indicate what's going on. But you just have confidence, with the software's progess bar, that stuff is being written. And finally, the software they provide is horrendous. The Nero bundle is suffice to write data onto dvd's. But the Cyberhome dvd movie burner is hell awful. Who wrote that crap? I just bought Nero 7 Ultra Edition. That makes Cyberhome's software look like software from the 80's. Please provide better software bundling.

My objective is consistent, successful written dvd's, with very little waste. And the LG writer excels at it. Went through a spindle of 25. No failures so far. That is confidence.

All over the world people are raving about this thing. Its nice fast and does the job flawlessly. I used it for burning over 50 movies- not one mistake. Try to get it for even cheaper.

What a nice product. Works very well, delivering all that I needed.
Thanks;
Larry

Tech support for NERO is horrible but tech support for the actual product is great. It wouldn't work on my desktop but it works beautifully on my lap top. Go figure...

The speed is great and the software bundle is also useful. It also functions as a reader, but I have primarily used it as a writer.