16X Dual Layer Roundup

I found this to be a very good review and confirms my choice of the NEC3500a :

http://anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2260

Great review!
Thanks!

i believe i got this one from newegg also, glad to hear a good review

Ive got the NEc3500a as well.

Doesn't seem that fast to me.

Wow. That was a great read.

Looks like the Pioneer DVR-A08, LG GSA-4160B & NEC 3500A are the drives to beat.

I got mu MSI DR16-B 3 weeks ago and I'm pleased with it. I didn't try a DL media till now and this review made me curios. As soon as I get my hands on a DL disc I'll put it to work.
I just updated my firmware today because of this roundup.

How do you update firmwhere? what does it do? etc.

I purchased the NEC for my company for archiving data and I can say that it works VERY well so far...

Updating the firmware on your CD/DVD drive is very similar to upgrading the BIOS on you MB. You get a ROM file from the manufacturer, boot into clean DOS, run the update, pray! , and reboot.

The updates usually clear up read/write problems with certain media, speed up read/write speeds, correct errors in write processes, and occasionally add extra support features to your CD/DVD drive.

CD/DVD firmwares tend to be much more difficult to find on the web than MB BIOS updates. Most manufacturers hide the updates deep in the recesses of their WEB/FTP servers so if you find a good link (like Anandtech does ) then bookmark them in case if there are more updates or links for future use.

Enjoy!

Foxy

Hehe!Have you noticed that Anandtech is selling those drives,NEC3500A I mean?
It's on the very first page of the review.
I bet if it was any other drive in their store,it would have been the first in their round-up.Don't you think?

I didn't even realise that Anand had a retail channel .

Correction ........... it doesn't appear that Anand has a retail store but actually has a Price Watch type feature on his site .

Tom's Hardware pretty much agrees :

http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20041102/index.html

I suspect that thanks to these articles the price of the NEC drive has now gone up at Newegg .