quote:

Originally posted by BackThePack:

http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php?page=1

I love the Firmware Page. For those of you that are interested, You can get updated firmware for your drive(s) here. The reason for this is to "upgrade" your drive to be able to burn at faster speeds with greater compatibility with more types of media, etc. The companies that make the drives (NEC/Sony/Plextor/Pioneer, etc.) have a cute little marketing scheme they use. They sell you a drive that writes at say 8x, then 3-6 months later they come out with a "new" drive that can write at 12x-16x and of course charge more money for it. They catch is, the "new" drive is the EXACT same hardware only with the updated firmware on it.

quote:

Originally posted by BackThePack:
from my expercience when running two internal drives is that it's always smart to have the DVD burner as your main drive. Less run error's while burning DVD's.

I was told that by someone and it's does seem to make a difference.

That is accurate. Also if you begin to have a lot of errors and are creating more "drink coasters" than good discs, try lowering your write speed or changing to a better type media. The better type media (I use Verbatim religiously) will make a difference in your burning experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Hauser:

quote:

Originally posted by FRZ:
Look at the back of your DVD burner and be sure the jumper is set to "Cable Select". Then look at your ribbon cable and the connector(s) should be labeled "Master" or "Slave". Insert the "Master" connector with the DVD burner.

PackerHawk was saying you may need to re-arrange your drives depending on where/how your connectors are labeled/located.

Oh, ok. So there will be two connectors on the ribbon and I use the "Master" one?

The connectors are usually labeled master and slave or drive 0 and drive 1. Drive 0 would be the same as master and drive 1 is slave.

I use RiDATA:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817132389

I recently ran into a major problem when using SONY DVD+R major skipping, when re-done with RiDATA no problems. I won't be using any SONY Disc anytime soon.

Weird stuff Tim. Your drive may not be compatible w/Sony Media and more compatible with Ridata.

I've had drives that read media rated at 16x as only 8x. Its generally related to the drive itself and possibly a firmware update would help.

I never had this problem until this recent batch of disc and I found another person who was having the same problem with the same SONY Brand.

Does anyone have any experience/advice/concerns about a DVD burner made by I/O Magic?

Staples has one on sale for $20 that is regularly priced at $80. Just wondering why they are selling them so cheap. Maybe because they are white and not black to match my Dell? Do I give a crap as long as the thing works???

I don't think I/O Magic actually makes the drive. I think it's made by BenQ. As far as I know, they are decent drives, but I've never owned one myself. As for caring about the color, only your opinion (or should I say your wife's opinion?) matters there.

I've gone through several burners, and I've burned over 250 discs using Ridata media and never had a compatibility problem with them. I'm routinely giving out dvds to all sorts of family members who of course have all different dvd players and not one problem.

I highly recommend Ridata.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmypop:
I've gone through several burners, and I've burned over 250 discs using Ridata media and never had a compatibility problem with them. I'm routinely giving out dvds to all sorts of family members who of course have all different dvd players and not one problem.

I highly recommend Ridata.

I agree. I have had excellent experience using Ridata. Zero drink coasters. My one "beef" with them is their discs write at the exact speed they are rated. I'm referring to the Dual Layer discs rated at 2.4x. I kind of expected them to write at no worse than 4x. This is the reason I use the Verbatim's which are rated at 2.4x - 6x for the dual layer discs, yet I can actually write them at 8x with the Pioneer writer with excellent reliability. Nothing like writing 8GB+ of data in 16-17 minutes as opposed to 45 minutes at 2.4x.

good article on true DVD-R speeds.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/30/the_latest_dvd_writers_true_speeds/

I keep hoping a Dual Layer Re-writable is in the future but probably not with Blu-Ray on the horizon.

I've read that DL RW just isn't possible with the media that is currently available. It sucks because we are using DVD backups at my part time gig and I'd like to be able to cut the media down from 4 or 5 to 2 or 3 per backup.

Well, I ordered a Pioneer R100B5PK from buy.com. According to Best Buy, who has them on sale this week (but are sold out in stores near me), they are a discontinued model. I don't care, I won't be using it that much. Best Buy was pushing it for $49.99 after rebates. I got it for $46.99 after rebate, plus it is tax free and shipping is free, so I saved about 10 bucks.

Now I just have to hope it fits in my Dell and I'm able to hook it up.

You shouldn't have any trouble, just make sure the jumper settings on the old drive match the new one. All the cables go in the same slots.