Best Replacement DVD Drive for XBOX

[riku]

My original one, the one that came with the first XBOXs, probably the thompson one, is half dead, as in it plays CDs but not DVDs well at all. now, i could get the same model as a replacement, but perhaps there is a better one I could get instead? Also where would I find one the cheapest? ebay?

[nonny]

It generally goes:

- Thomson - Average
- Philips - Good
- Samsung - Great

Though I have two xboxes and my Thomson (launch Xbox still going strong) and reads everything I throw at it, whereas my newer Samsung drive tends to load quicker but only reads DVD-R and not DVD+R.

Hope that helps.

[Yod@]

whereas my newer Samsung drive tends to load quicker but only reads DVD-R and not DVD+R.

You'll probably find that your burner isn't bitsetting the +R discs. Google for it if you care (you probably don't!).

[zeroboo]

does anyone know if the thompson will read dvd-dl?

[nonny]

You'll probably find that your burner isn't bitsetting the +R discs. Google for it if you care (you probably don't!).

Yeh cheers for that. I read somewhere about some burners not setting the booktype for DVD+R properly. My burner is the new Pioneer 110D model which I believe sets everything to DVD-ROM.

Anyway DVD-R work perfect in both so I've switched over to using them instead, no big issue really.

[fahrenheit]

There are multiple versions of the Philips and Samsung drives. The 2003 Samsungs are regarded as the most coverted, but the 2004 Samsungs are considered one of the worst drives. There are also Hitachi drives out there also. For me, (have had Thomson, Philips 2002, Samsung 2003, Philips 2003) the 2003 Philips has been the most reliable and read friendly drive. Though it suffers from an annoying high-pitched whine.