Replacement DVD+/- RW Dilema

[jonathan_phang]

Hi all!

I recently bought a new load of hardware and all if fine, except for the DVD writer. It was a Plextor 712a and to be honest I bought it off of the good name and generally good reviews. However I also bought a NF7-S (to go with my XP-m 2500) and I cannot burn a DVD, even in simulation. Searched for and answer, usually to do with the nvidia ide driver, but no luck really. I'm going to try and RMA it back to ebuyer.com (I only got it on the 14th, so I guess its still ok to do this right?). So I need replacements. This is where you lot come in!!

Just want a decent/fast CD and DVD burner. This is my shortlist:

NEC 3500a
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=65825

Sony DW-D22a
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=74019

Sony DRU 700a
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=72466

What do you all think? I hear lite-on drives are good but i dont know what really to get. I just want one that will actually burn DVDs and has no problems with an NF7-s board! There are so many I dont know where to look.

Help Me!!!

[Swafe]

1 vote for the NEC 3500

[skattrd]

another vote for NEC - I've got a 2500a flashed to 2510 and its great, I assume the 3500 is the faster version

edit: Just a thought mate, have you got the latest aspi drivers intalled? I'm not sure if that would help, but worth a shot before RMA'ing your drive.

[Rave]

Another happy 3500 user here. Working fine on an Epox 8RDA+.

Rich :¬)

[jonathan_phang]

Seems quite popular. Ive heard good things about that drive. Are there any comaptabilty issues that I should know about? Gonna do some research. just requested an RMA number. Hope they accept my reason!

[jonathan_phang]

Dammit!

Check this out (Point 6):
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=92320

Is there ANY drive that will work with Nvidia drivers???

[Rave]

Pretty sure I'm using the NVidia drivers. I'll check when I get home tonight.

Rich :¬)

[Firelord]

Just change em back to the standard microsoft IDE drivers. Thats what I do and works well...

[petrefax]

for an extra few quid you can get the pioneer 108 - dual layer writing capabilities & 16x writing (even tho theres no dual or 16x media yet) and is in no way fussy about the media you use

afaik the sony drives can get a bit fussy about which brand of disks you use - my old sony DRU500a was a nightmare, it would only write to disks that had been hand crafted by guatemailian elves on a wednesday at 3pm (or something equally ridiculous), so i've long since ebayed some sense into it

[Swafe]

www.spv.co.uk

join the buyers club

49.98 + 99p postage

shud really be in bargain hunt less than 51inc for a 16x dual, and 4XDL

bargain, lub mine

[GAteKeeper]

I vote for the pioneer 108.

Burning ritek G04 (4speed) at 12x speed with no problems and good results.

GAteKeeper

[Swafe]

NEC 3500 and 108 both use NEC firmware

there identical, apart from the NEC , as its made by them is tweaked, writes full dvds quicker, faster cdr speeds

its also cheaper - with the pioneer your paying for style and a brand name

[Agent]

Ive had no issues with NEC drives and the Nvidia driver

[Rave]

To confirm- me too, no problems.

Rich :¬)

[jonathan_phang]

Well, I think that the general concensus is for the NEC drive. I might give that a shot and order one now. Another thing, will it matter about the IDE cable that I'm using? I know that there are 40-pin and 80-pin cables though I'm not sure what I have, I just got some nice cheap rounded ones when buying my stuff from ebuyer. Will they in anyway affect my performance?

[Rave]

Rounded ones are likely to be 80 pin, but it doesn't matter, the drives are UDMA-33, only UDMA 66 or faster needs an 80 pin cable. Mine's hooked up (as slave to my Yamaha CRW-F1) with a 40 pin cable and it works fine.

Rich :¬)