We seem to be in a transition period for DVD Burners. Duel Layer burners are nearing wide-spread availability, but the current crop only burn in duel layer mode at a reduced speed (2.4x or so).
The best single-layer DVD burners can top 8x speed. As pointed out, media can be an issue too, with DL discs costing much more (prices are uncertain at this piont).
Make sure you get one that can burn both -R and +R - as was pointed out earlier, the -R format seems more compatible with set-top DVD players.
If you are purchasing one NOW, I’d stick with a single-layer burner Plextor, Pioneer, and Sony. They are tried-and-true.
Anybody else have experience with this drive? I’m seeing it in the $125 range (newegg) and I’m feeling tempted. I need a dvd-burner anyway, and while I don’t truly need dual-layer, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get that as a capability.
the NEC ND-3500A (also branded by TDK as the “AID+1616N” or just “1616N”) is a pretty nice drive. i haven’t had any problems with mine thus far. runner-up and/or alternate choice would probably be the Pioneer drive (DVR-108). both are solid drives… i know the NEC is from first-hand usage, and the Pioneer drive has a lot of good word going for it, too.
both these drives are in the $81-88 range from newegg (price including shipping).
Anybody else have experience with this drive? I’m seeing it in the $125 range (newegg) and I’m feeling tempted. I need a dvd-burner anyway, and while I don’t truly need dual-layer, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get that as a capability.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
-Amanpour[/quote]
I think I’d look at the NEC 3500 or the newest Pioneer myself. From what I’ve heard the sony isn’t that great but check out www.cdrlabs.com or www.cdfreaks.com for reveiws/forum posts on it.
Sorry for being slightly OT: I got a NEC-2500 and can´t find anything about dual layers. Can somebody help me? Not like I would likely burn dual layers anytime soon, but hey ;)
With all this recent discussion, isn´t BLU-RAY already on its way to the consumer market?
the NEC ND-2500A doesn’t do dual layer without a (non-official) firmware update. the ND-2510A is essentially the same drive with official firmware for dual layer.
there’s a lot of information about it on the rpc1.org website, but none of it is official. finding the firmware you need shouldn’t be difficult, but getting quality information is going to require some forum searches.
Thanks Ranulf and mlatin for the replies and advice. One of the sites you linked to, Ranulf, gave the sony a pretty good rating. But the NEC just seems faster.
The only thing holding me back is software. The Sony comes with Nero Burning Rom (I think) which seems like a pretty good package. Considering the software, I think price is pretty close. Not sure it’s worth it for what I’d give up in speed, though.
Newegg, and several other vendors, sell the NEC ND-3500A with an OEM copy of Nero, usually for only a few dollars more (in Newegg’s case, $75 for bare drive, $82 for drive+Nero).
while i don’t imagine flashing the firmware to be a big deal, writing DL discs isn’t just going to happen unless you buy some Dual Layer media… which has been hovering around US $13 a disc for a little bit now. :(
Can’t actually find the NEC+Nero deal on Newegg, but some digging at cdrlabs gave me the idea of getting Nero on ebay or searching for the OEM on pricewatch.com, which means I’ll probably get Nero for around twenty bucks.
FWIW, I went ahead and ordered the NEC ND-3500A. Ordered it from newegg–my first purchase from that site.
First off, newegg rocks. It got to me super quick.
Install a little bumpy, because the drive wouldn’t play nice with my current CDrom drive and other software oddities. Ditched most of them and things seemed fine.
The burning has gone smashingly well so far. CD burns go quickly. The DVD burns I’ve done so far have gone off without a hitch–they’re just data backups though, nothing overly taxing. But the drive hasn’t made a coaster yet…knock wood.
Only problem is with XP. Since the install I’m getting a LOT of freezes. Arg. The only problem I found was a duplicate of COM1; removed that and all seemed better for a few days. But now the crashes have returned with a vengence. System just randomly freezes.
I guess I’m looking at a fresh XP install, just to get the NEC and XP to play nice. Grrrrr.
Hmm. I bought the very same DVD burner two months ago and it installed without a hitch. I removed my old DVD/CDRW-drives when I installed it, so I never had any issues with the older drives, and I’ve had no software issues at all, not with XP nor with any other programs. Nero does what I want, and does it quickly. I have no real advice to give though I’m afraid, I haven’t had any need to do any problemsolving, but I do hope you can work out these issues.
Kalle, thanks for the well-wishes. I disconnected my CDrom drive in the hopes that it was some weird conflict. Indeed, that seemed to be the case as the system was freeze-free for several hours.
Then it just randomly froze again. Happened while browsing. I guess I’ve got more troubleshooting to do.
Not sure if I want to keep troubleshooting or just go through the scut work of reinstalling XP. Arg.
Again, though, thanks.
“The name is Freeze. Remember it well. For it is the icy cold sound of your doom.”*
-Amanpour
*paraphrase…but I swear the voice is right in my head
I bought the Plextor DVD writer from Newegg this weekend as my CDR crapped out and they had a decent rebate offer. I am guessing Nero does DVD copies now? I used it in the past for CDR, so not sure if I can upgrade to a newer version to do DVD’s as well.
My only complaint with Newegg, more so with Fedex really, is that their warehouse is in Edison, where I live, as is the Fedex sorting facility. So it goes to this sorting facility, then it goes to the Newark sorting facility and finally comes back to the Edison sorting facility to get to my door. Three days of travel from someplace that is no more than 10 minutes from my door. :P
Heh, I picked up a 3500A the other day from newegg as well. No problems and I’m using Fuji 8x +r media that burns at 16x. 6:30min burn time for data.
Nero 5 didnt work for me. They have a Nero 6 demo. The nero 6 ultra is 60-90 bucks in stores. Buycheapsoftware.com has the OEM for $13, havent ordered it yet though.
