My NEC 3550a drive is starting to have problems and so I need to find a
replacement. This drive was the best I've ever had and I'd love to
replace it with the same model, but unfortunately, it's no longer made.
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what drive might be as good as
the NEC? I'm not sure I trust the new Sony-NEC models because of the
issues I've seen with Sony and DVDs.

--
A Handicapped parking sign does not signify that this spot is for
handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot
belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.

On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:29:03 -0700, Vernon Balbert
<vbalbert (AT) gmail (DOT) nospam.com> wrote:

I tried the latest Sony-NEC A170A and decided not to sell these.

The latest Pioneer DVR-112D or 212 Pioneer drives are the best since
the old 109's from Pioneer. I own the 112D and have firmware 1.15 and
the PIE/PIF are the lowest out of all the current new 18X burners I
have tested.

The new 112D can also scan for PIE/PIF which is the first Pioneer
drive to do this.

I've very happy with this new Pioneer 112D as unlike the previous 2
models it burns most 16X at 16X.

If you do get the Pioneer 112D or the 212 SATA model then install
firmware 1.15 as it drops the PIE but about half which is a very good
thing.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************

On 4/29/2007 1:19 AM, SalesMart.com.au went clickity clack on the
keyboard and produced this interesting bit of text:
What media is considered the best for this? I currently use Taiyo-Yuden
with fantastic results (I think out of 200 discs I've had a couple of
coasters) which is better than other media. I have another machine with
a Pioneer 109 drive but it didn't perform nearly as well as the NEC
that's dying.

--
When Chuck Norris goes to donate blood, he declines the syringe, and
instead requests a hand gun and a bucket.

"SalesMart.com.au" <sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site> wrote

In the US I can buy almost 3 Pioneer 112D's for what your selling 1 for. I
don't think the exchange rate is 3 to 1, why are your prices so high?

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:36:17 GMT, Vernon Balbert
<vbalbert (AT) gmail (DOT) nospam.com> wrote:

The Pioneer DVR-109's worked best with firmware 1.57
Firmware 1.58 for this drive wasn't as good in my opinion.

I have two 109's with firmware 1.57 and the drives are still going
well today. I also have the Sony-NEC 170A and the Pioneer DVR-112D
on my computer. I'll keep the Sony-NEC there until the next firmware
and if that doesn't improve things then that drive will be removed.

For testing I use Nero Speed CD 4.7.0.0 which scans the media for PIE
and PIF.

For testing video burns I use Nero 6.6.0.18 Burning ROM which I prefer
over the Express versions. With Burning ROM I can burn all the drives
at the same time using the multiple burn in Nero. This really gives
the media a good work out. I also test one drive at a time and test
playback of the video in an old PS2, Xbox and the Panasonic recorders
in the E30, EH60 and EX75 models.

I also have an older BenQ 1640A which tests for jitter rates and other
Sony drives for testing using Krobe2, Speed CD and DVD-Info.

The best test of all though is if the video plays in the old PS2 it
will generally play in anything.

I've also tested Sony, RiDATA, Ricoh DVD media along with CDR media.
Impossible to post the results as each picture is over 110K and there
are hundreds of scans. Some brands don't work to well while others do
go well.

Most brands of media are mainly only doing 16X speed DVD media and
some are moving into Blu-Ray media with the very odd one doing HD-DVD.

As with all drives things can go wrong with the best of them. I bought
a Pioneer DVR-112D and with then firmware 1.06 and 1.09 it refused to
see Verbatim DVD-R 16X (95079) but when burnt in the 109 it could see
the burn in the 112D drive. The 112D would burn my Orion DVD-R 16X but
not the Verbatim so that told me the drive had a problem. Had it
replaced and its been smooth sailing. Its the first Pioneer drive
I've ever seen fail in its warranty period. Quite a few of my
customers have only recently moved up from their 108's that they
bought from me to the new 112D as their old 108 drives are starting to
play up on some CD media.

Anyway happy with the latest Pioneer DVR-112D drive.
Pioneer also has the DVR-212 and DVR-212D model which are the SATA
models. The "D" models do NOT burn to DVD-RAM media.

These latest Pioneer drives burn most 16X media at 16X where the
previous two models in the 111D and the 110 burnt most 16X at 12X or
lower speeds.

I'm one fo rburning at 16X. I know a few prefer to burn at 4X or 8X.
Some hav eto burn lower du eto their PC or limiations on duplicator
towers which on some tower duplicators have to be slowed down to 8X.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:30:51 -0400, "Jerry" <Hello (AT) spam (DOT) com> wrote:

I believe my prices are quite low as they are now.

Pioneer DVR-212 SATA 18x DVD±RW - LOW STOCK
Beige OEM -
BONUS Nero 7 Essentials OEM CD + 2 ORiON DVD-R 16X in Slim Cases +
Firmware 1.15 CD
Includes: Nero Home, Nero Start Smart, Nero Express 7, Nero Show Time
3, NeroVision 4, Nero Media, Nero Cover Designer 2, Nero Toolkit, Nero
InCD 5, Nero Photo Snap and Nero Scout.
ONLY $55 Inc GST.

GST is a goods and service tax of 10% on everything except food and
some other health things. It used to be a wholesale tax of 22% back in
the bad days

I also give firmware 1.15 on a CD plus Nero 7 OEM plus 2 DVD-R 16X
Photo white ink jet printables.

As for US prices your suppliers may not have to pay all the taxes we
do in Australia and with your population being over 300 million and
ours just over 20 million the US suppliers may give lower bulk savings
on much larger orders than what Australian suppliers buy them in at.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************

"SalesMart.com.au" <sales@___Email_Address_on_Web_site> wrote

I didn't look that far down your website page, just seen the ide pioneer for
89. 55au isn't too bad, I can get the same OEM drive for $34us which I
think is close to 45au. There typically isn't any tax when you order via
the internet unless you happen to live in the same State that the site is.

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:54:59 -0400, "Jerry" <Hello (AT) spam (DOT) com> wrote:

$55 AUS for the Pioneer DVR-212 also comes with Nero 7 and 2 DVD-R 16X
hub printable media and firmware 1.15 on CD.

The drives that are $89 AUS come with a spindle of 50 ORiON DVD-R 16X
Photo full face white ink jet printables 4.7Gb media, 3 month access
to the popular SalesMart Support pages and the SalesMart DVD which has
all the latest authoring tools and patch updates for various programs.

My support pages have tutorials on various authoring programs with
step by steo set of instructions with pictures and arrows on what to
click on in the programs. I also have step by step instructions on the
use of Canon and Epson CD Printers so people can start to design fancy
images on the printable side of the media.

Customers that are new to DVD burning and come around I often show how
to use Nero which can take a while at no extra charge. I'm all about
support. Customers that buy through me can email me and I'll reply
quite quickly via email.

As for ordering vis the net, yes there are taxes and something called
freight. Freight from the US on the drive would put it to more than
double what the drive is here in Australia.

I've had one Pioneer drive fail and if I had of imported it then it
would have to go all the way back to the US which isn't cheap.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:30:51 -0400, "Jerry" <Hello (AT) spam (DOT) com> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

I just bought a Pioneer DVR-112D with Nero for AU$55 from a local
Internet cafe. At the next local computer market the same drive will
probably be $5 to $10 cheaper.

The cafe also offered me a DVR-212 for AU$55.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

On Wed, 02 May 2007 08:03:01 +1000, Franc Zabkar
<fzabkar (AT) iinternode (DOT) on.net> wrote:

Down to $45 Inc GST for the Pioneer DVR-212 now with one Bonus DVD-R
16X disc. This is in Australian Dollars and the drives are backed by
Pioneer Australia warranty support.

More info and other prices with and without media and Nero etc at:
http://www.salesmart.com.au/dvd_burners/

As for the Pioneer DVR-112D they have dropped down again as well so at
some stage will have to update my pages. I'll do a specials for those
next Monday as I expect a further price drop by then anyway.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
*******************************************
Email Contact info on the above site.
*******************************************