The Best Lightscribe Burner

[cineapple]

Does anyone have recommendations for the best lightscribe dvd external burner? I am debating between the LG and the Lacie. The LG is much cheaper, but runs through USB 2.0 while the Lacie has firewire. How big of a factor is this for DVD burning? I am in video production, and need the burner to write disc images of my videos. Is firewire that much faster for DVD burning. I compared the stats but they just list the read times.
Also would one have better lightscribing quality then the other? Any other Lightscribe burners to consider?

Any help would be much appreciated, as I am looking to buy soon.
Thanks

 

[motulist]

My recommendation is to forget about lightscribe. I have the lacie and I burned an image using the sample lightscribe disc that came in the box. It took a really long time to burn the image, the result was very low contrast and unusable, it can only work on special lightscribe media discs, and those discs are relatively very expensive.

Just use a sharpie or a printed sticker label and you'll do better than using lightscribe.

 

[Roy Hobbs]

My recommendation is to forget about lightscribe. I have the lacie and I burned an image using the sample lightscribe disc that came in the box. It took a really long time to burn the image, the result was very low contrast and unusable, it can only work on special lightscribe media discs, and those discs are relatively very expensive.

Just use a sharpie or a printed sticker label and you'll do better than using lightscribe.

I disagree with is motulist, with the right images and the Lightscribe contrast enhancer tool installed you can make some stunning discs.

Clients LOVE the lightscribed discs, no way would I ever hand over CD with a sharpie written label

 

[desenso]

Lightscribe is crap.

 

[cineapple]

That's exactly why I want to get a lightscribe, to stop handing my clients labels written with a sharpie! So, are you able to get good quality with the Lacie drive? How does it compare to the LG or other drives? Do they all have the same quality in labeling?

 

[ceres]

That's exactly why I want to get a lightscribe, to stop handing my clients labels written with a sharpie! So, are you able to get good quality with the Lacie drive? How does it compare to the LG or other drives? Do they all have the same quality in labeling?

I use the latest Samsung burner Samsung SH-S203 SATA in my pc rig for ls purposed. You can get great results with this drive. It usually takes 15 mins for the highest quality setting. There is also a usb version available. Also note that this drive offers 12*dvd ram write speeds which is very good for archiving purposes.

 

[motulist]

are you able to get good quality with the Lacie drive?

I already clearly answered that question. The answer was no. The one test sample disc I lightscribed produced a worthless very low contrast monochrome image. So I didn't even bother with the expense of buying more to see if I could improve the results because even a 50% improvement over the results I saw would still be not worth it. There are color printers that can print color images directly on white top disc media. I'd investigate those if I were you.

 

[cineapple]

Of course I know what you were saying, just other people had different opinions on the quality, and was wondering if the LG prints better. As far as the desktop inkjet printers, I have seen some horrible results where the ink just smears right off. My other questions is still unanswered, whether the firwire vs usb 2.0 makes a significant difference

 

[desenso]

Of course I know what you were saying, just other people had different opinions on the quality, and was wondering if the LG prints better. As far as the desktop inkjet printers, I have seen some horrible results where the ink just smears right off. My other questions is still unanswered, whether the firwire vs usb 2.0 makes a significant difference

This was my problem with lightscribe though... it would literally fade right off when placed in a sleeve for any period of time.

 

[MacForMeOneDay]

Another Option

Does anyone have recommendations for the best lightscribe dvd external burner? I am debating between the LG and the Lacie. The LG is much cheaper, but runs through USB 2.0 while the Lacie has firewire. How big of a factor is this for DVD burning? I am in video production, and need the burner to write disc images of my videos. Is firewire that much faster for DVD burning. I compared the stats but they just list the read times.
Also would one have better lightscribing quality then the other? Any other Lightscribe burners to consider?

Any help would be much appreciated, as I am looking to buy soon.
Thanks

I have a lightscribe burner on my PC, and never even used it(to burn the image) because the DVD's were just that much more expensive.
I ended up buying an Epson R340 which allows you to print directly to a DVD that is "printable". These are not as expensive as the lightscribe disks, and you get full color. They look great.
I'm not sure how well this printer works with the Mac, but I'll find out in a few weeks when mine arrives.

 

[motulist]

I have a lightscribe burner on my PC, and never even used it(to burn the image) because the DVD's were just that much more expensive.
I ended up buying an Epson R340 which allows you to print directly to a DVD that is "printable". These are not as expensive as the lightscribe disks, and you get full color. They look great.
I'm not sure how well this printer works with the Mac, but I'll find out in a few weeks when mine arrives.

That's exactly the type of device I was talking about in my above comment. That sounds like far and away the best solution if you're looking for professional looking discs for your business.

As long as the printer will work at all with the Mac and doesn't require special proprietary software to prepare the image, then the quality you get printing from the Mac should be identical to the quality you get when printing from ms windows.

 

[blipstutter]

I got one of the Samsung's in a USB 2.0 case, and have had trouble getting the OSX finder to recognize it. I've tried on three of the exact same set up and 2 out of 3 could read it...but it was frusterating that they didn't all see the external. I have to use one of those turn it on, then plug it in before inserting a blank disc recipes... so the moral of that story is to be careful with Samsungs and externals.

 

[scotthayes]

Just received a LG E60L lightscribe drive. Yes it takes a while to burn the image, yes it's only monochrome and yes the discs costs more (£6.99 for 5) but it looks so much better than a printed label and to me that alone makes it worth while. So I'm pretty impressed with it.

Will be spending the weekend creating discs of my Wedding to send out to friends.

 

[Mal]

Why can't anyone around here simply answer a guy's question without telling how stupid he is to be considering it?

Actually, I can't answer the LightScribe question myself (though I do like the results I've seen from other people's burners), but I can answer the FW vs. USB question: if you're burning DVD's, you will notice a significant difference between the two. FireWire will be less likely to cause errors, and will probably speed up the burning process by being able to fill the buffer constantly (especially look for burners with a large buffer). CD burning less so, but still possibly a difference.

jW

 

[velocityg4]

Of course I know what you were saying, just other people had different opinions on the quality, and was wondering if the LG prints better. As far as the desktop inkjet printers, I have seen some horrible results where the ink just smears right off. My other questions is still unanswered, whether the firwire vs usb 2.0 makes a significant difference

To address your question of USB 2.0 v Firewire. There really should not be any noticeable difference since both standards are far faster than any DVD Drive.

As for print quality, I have had several different brands of lightscribe burners LG, Samsung and ASUS. With these drives I have noticed little appreciable difference in print quality. Rather the brand of media has been the deciding factor in quality.

With the disks I have found Verbatim to be garbage. They have poor contrast, images come and texts are blurry, and I got a lot of coasters. Philips, on the other hand, are excellent discs I can get high constrasts, sharp images, and have not had a coaster yet.

For my favorite drive I have to go with ASUS most burners seem to have short lifespans for me but this ASUS has kept on chugging after 50+ burns all with lightscribe labels have printed. The DRW-1814BL is what I use in my PC and is listed in the customer reviews as Mac compatible. You can then simply install it in an external enclosure.

 

[sinbushar]

I have the Lacie. And I love it. With the new software update burns go pretty quickly (relatively). As long as you aren't expecting them to be outputted in 2 minutes, you'll be happy with the Lacie.

 

[littlewaywelt]

Lightscribe is very nice. Used it for several years in my pc. Everyone that gets a cd comments about how cool/nice/professional they are. With the right software you can do photo quality images (think sepia).

 

[N2thevoyd]

Lightscribe

 

[halledise]

I have the Lacie. And I love it. With the new software update burns go pretty quickly (relatively). As long as you aren't expecting them to be outputted in 2 minutes, you'll be happy with the Lacie.

fully agree and would add buy quality media like verbatim or similar for the best results.

I've had one of these for years and it's been great.
You can still pick them up on ebay and the like
http://goo.gl/36J4l

 

[seamuskrat]

I second the Epson R340 printer. The blank DVDs are cheap in spindles of 50 and print very nice images.

As for FW vs USB, on a free and unused bus I have noticed NO difference. Since I typically have far more USB devices in real world my FireWire burner is faster but not by much.

I have used Lightscribe and it has its place. It is a distinct look but it also limits you to halftone and line art, etc. I prefer printable DVDs. When done well they look completely professional and clients love them.

That's exactly the type of device I was talking about in my above comment. That sounds like far and away the best solution if you're looking for professional looking discs for your business.

As long as the printer will work at all with the Mac and doesn't require special proprietary software to prepare the image, then the quality you get printing from the Mac should be identical to the quality you get when printing from ms windows.