Puzzled

[Siji]

http://store.yahoo.com/livewarehouse/necnd8xdvdud.html

I'm puzzled. If you were to go to pretty much any computer store or store that sells computer items, and looked for DVD burners, they're anywhere from $100-300. Yet, the above drive which does dual layer (brand new feature) and -r/+r dvd's is less than a hundred bucks.. I guess I'm just wondering what the catch is and whether anyone's heard anything about or has one of these drives. Granted I know DL media isn't very available yet, but that's nothing to do with the drive itself.

More details:

NEC ND-2510A 9-in-1 Double Layer DVD±RW Dual Driver (Beige)

Nec introduced its first dual 8x DVD recording drive ND-2510A, that supports beside 8x write speed for DVD-R and for DVD +R media as well as 4x write or rewrite with DVD-RW and DVD +RW media to write up to 8.5GB on the new double layer DVD+R9 media. Besides DVD recording, the drive writes CD-R media with 32x speed as well as Ultra-Speed CD-RW discs at 16x. The read speed of 12x for DVD-ROM and 40x for CD-ROM in combination with the access time of 140 ms for DVD and 120ms for CD comprise the most important 9 optical storage functions in 1 drive – the ideal all in one optical device.

As for the main features that differ the device from competitive solutions, they are NEC’s "high resolution writing strategy" and an improved version of NEC’s "Active Optimized Power Control" (Active OPC). The "high resolution writing strategy" uses advanced laser modulation to enhance the accuracy of the written data. Active OPC dynamically monitors writing power and reflection of the media in use, calculating the optimum laser power and adjusting it in real-time. Not only a media type itself is written in the optimum way – but even local anomaly on the used media can be handled in the optimum way by NEC technology. Besides, NEC implemented its own developed buffer under run error prevention technology.

Besides the support for writing DVD+R DL the specifications for the ND-2510A are the same as for the ND-2500A and as we reported yesterday some ND-2500A owners have already tried to flash their drives with a leaked ND-2510A firmware.

Here are some specifications of the drive:

Data transfer rate:

Write Speed
DVD-R: 8x (max. 11,040 Kbyte/s)
DVD-RW: 4x (max. 5,520 Kbyte/s)
DVD +R: 8x (max. 11,040 Kbyte/s)
DVD +R9: 2.4x (3,300 Kbyte/s)
DVD +RW: 4x (max. 5,520 Kbyte/s)
CD-R: 32x (max. 4,800 Kbyte/s)

Read speed
DVD: 12x CAV (max. 16,200 Kbyte/s)
CD: 40x CAV (max. 6,000 Kbyte/s)

Access time
CD/DVD-ROM 120/140 ms

Buffer size
2 MB

Interface:
ATAPI Ultra DMA 33 mode 2

PIO mode:
Mode 4

Audio connections:
Headphone, volume control, analog- and digital output

Media supported:
DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW with 80mm and 120mm diameter

Modes supported:
DVD-ROM, DVD Video, CD-DA, CD Extra, CD Text, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-I Ready, CD-Bridge, Photo-CD, Video CD

Writing methods
DVD: Random Access Writing (DVD±RW), Sequential Writing (DVD±R/DVD±RW)
CD: DAO (disc at once), SAO (session at once), TAO (track at once) with zero gap, variable or fixed packet, multisession

Special features:
Vertical operation possible
Anti-dust seal

[XunilTlatoani]

I don't think there is any catch. I bought a DVD +/- RW over a year ago for $120. Just checked out newegg, and they have a similar one to mine for $70 now.

Plus, I think the DL technology is largely in the firmware...somewhere I remembered seeing that you could get a non-DL NEC drive and flash the firmware to get the DL, but I wasn't really paying attention so don't take my word for it.

Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. are all ripoffs for computer hardware. I personally get all my hardware at newegg.com.

**edit**
guess I should have read your whole post...so yea, if the hardware is basically the same as their non-DL model, I wouldn't expect it to be much more expensive than a regular DVD RW/

[Mort]

I just bought the newegg one myself, seems to be kicking ass. Although, for that price, I got no cables/software/manuals/drivers. Just the burner in a box =p.


Bit Torrent is your friend...

[Siji]

Thanks for the responses.

And sorry for the wrong forum. Thought I was in the computer one when I posted this.

[Arborealus]

The price difference is in overhead...Online sellers have much lower overhead...No sales staff, no service department, low floor space to market size ratio etc etc..

[Kylere]

Newegg.com has that specific drive for $95.00 at this moment

Always check pricewatch.com for computer stuff FIRST, then check the companies with the best prices and up versus their standings at resellerratings.com

Never gone wrong that way yet in over 20k in comp purchases

[Aslanna]

Lame because I just bought a Plextor burner a few months ago... Now they release the Dual Layer burners! Although I'm guessing it will be awhile on affordable media.

Unfortunately, even though the drives and software support are here, media certainly is not. We have heard from manufacturers that without decent media support, DVD DL will take a long road to adoption. Some drive manufacturers such as NuTech and MSI, claim that they will have DVD+R9 support in before July, but other manufacturers sound like they will not have reliable support or plentiful media until October.

[Winnow]

Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. are all ripoffs for computer hardware. I personally get all my hardware at newegg.com.

Newegg.com is king. They usually have very close to the best prices but even better, they have excellent service and customer service. I buy from them whenever I can. YOu may find slightly cheaper if you search the net but I'll settle for Newegg and know I will get what I ordered the next day and be able to return it easy.

As for the dual layer DVDs, the media is way too expensive atm. Use DVD Shrink (free) to take out the extras or shrink your entire DVD to a single DVD+-R with usually excellent results.

DVD Shrink 3.1.7.6 is the win. It's the only program that will take a copywritten DVD, decrypt it and shrink it or reauthor it all at once and then Burn with Nero or whatever DVD burning SW you have...and it's free! You don't even have to crack it : )


PS: Siji has the worst titles for his posts! Need more clues to wtf the thread is about!

[Siji]

Although I'm guessing it will be awhile on affordable media.

I believe they're around $5 a disc.. if you can find them.

I'm more interested in the speed increase and the dual format (+r/-r) ability over my current burner which I bought awhile ago. The DL feature is just one more bonus. I'd guess that the movie industry will really start getting heated about DL burning since that makes copying movies that much easier.

[Sylvus]

As for the dual layer DVDs, the media is way too expensive atm. Use DVD Shrink (free) to take out the extras or shrink your entire DVD to a single DVD+-R with usually excellent results.

I actually just ordered a DVD burner, and someone was telling me last night that while you can burn movies with most of their menus and special features and such, that usually you can't get the dolby digital information on there. Is that true? I'd hate to not have the good audio.

[Winnow]

As for the dual layer DVDs, the media is way too expensive atm. Use DVD Shrink (free) to take out the extras or shrink your entire DVD to a single DVD+-R with usually excellent results.

I actually just ordered a DVD burner, and someone was telling me last night that while you can burn movies with most of their menus and special features and such, that usually you can't get the dolby digital information on there. Is that true? I'd hate to not have the good audio.

Not true at all Sylvus. In fact, you can pick and choose which audio tracks you want to keep. For example, if there was a french audio track or subtitles, those would be deleted right away to save space to improve the quality of the main movie...the less extras you keep, the less DVD Shrink needs to compress.

Check this link and you will see a SS of the window where you select audio/subtitle tracks to include:

http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/dv ... 1-main.htm

[Kelshara]

I've been in the market for a DVD burner for a while.. any good buys atm? And anyone ever burned PS2 games?

[Winnow]

I've been in the market for a DVD burner for a while.. any good buys atm? And anyone ever burned PS2 games?

Yep. I have about 30 copied PS2 games. all you need is something like Alcohol 120% or Nero Burning SW to copy the original DVD (you can also download PS2 DVD images from newsgroups if you ahve the know how and bandwidth to download 4gb+ files) and then use Swap Magic disks to play the copy in your PS2. (or mod your PS2...check info on below thread after the x-box hype! : )

http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8808

[Aslanna]

Although I'm guessing it will be awhile on affordable media.

I believe they're around $5 a disc.. if you can find them.

I'm more interested in the speed increase and the dual format (+r/-r) ability over my current burner which I bought awhile ago. The DL feature is just one more bonus. I'd guess that the movie industry will really start getting heated about DL burning since that makes copying movies that much easier.

As far as I know they weren't being sold just yet. I think Verbatim was the first to come out with them and they'd be in June.. Which I guess it is now. Price I saw was $13 in Japan but not sure how that equates to US.

That's just a guess though and something I thought I read. I was not able to find them in the few media places I visited yesterday while doing research.