Which DVD burner is best: A03/A04/A05 or others?

Which external burner is the best value? I've heard that the Pioneer A03 and A04 are the old standbys for performance and reliability. And I've also heard that the new A05 is due out this month. Is it worth waiting for?

Also where in the Los Angeles area is a good source for buying one of the above?

Noah,

I need to buy a burner now, so here's the rest of the info.
My system:
PC/PIII/Win98SE/256MB RAM/20GB 7200RPM/40GB 7200RPM
/PinnacleDV500+
Premier 6.0

As I understand it the AO3/A04 often get bundled with MyDVD by Sonic Soutions.

If I start out with using MyDVD or Dazzle DVD Complete and then graduate to more sophisticated software--like DVDit or Ulead Media Studio Pro,which would produce the most compatable DVD-R's, the A03 or A04?

Noah,

Is the A03/A04 available both as internal and external?

I'd like to get an external unit.

Thanks,

Dave

Noah,

Earlier you mentioned Best Buy. I checked their web site and called my local Ventura, CA store, but they don't carry it.

I'll check out Yahoo shopping.
Thanks for your time.

Dave

It is odd, I have never seen the Pioneer burners for sale at any of the major (or minor) retail electronics stores i.e. Best Buy, Circuit City, Comp USA etc...whats the deal?? I prefer to buy things in person even if it means paying a bit more. I was considering buying the Pioneer myself because of the reported compatibility advantage but went with HP instead since it was/is locally and widely available.

I've checked with Best Buy, Fry's, CompUSA, Good Guys,and Circuit City. None of them had the Pioneer.

I just spoke with the Pioneer sales rep.,John Cormikin, and asked him if Pioneer marketed the A04 as an external unit. He said no. That means that the only A04's available as external units are after market or "other branded" units. I asked him what brand to ask for to get the A04 inside. He said "If it says DVD-R/DVD-RW on it, then it is an A04". I'm researching the "LaCie" brand to see if they use the A04. I have seen a brand called "Playwrite" that has an A04 in it, but they want $554 for it.

Does anyone have a list of which manufacturers' drives go in which branded units?

Dave

Noah,
I re-looked at this month's (October) issue of Videomaker at their DVD Burners guide, but I don't see where it says what the OEM of a particular brand is.

Do you know if I'm going to have any compatability issues between authoring software like myDVD, used in conjunction with a Pinnacle DV500+ capture card and an External A04/104 burner?

Thanks,

Dave