Pioneer a07 vs Nec 2500 ... did the tide turn to NEC2500?

[rgtaa]

We all know that after a few months after the Fixes and Hacks appear ... ONE drive stands out as the BEST (for a few months at least)!

Which do you think is the best for the month of April/May 2004!

And list reasons and experience if you so desire!

[porphyra]

With Herries latest 1.07 firmware (beta 6) this drive is amazing.

It now offers Bitsetting, is Ripspeed unlocked, RPC1, and great 8x burning on a LOT of media.

Hard to beat. Its not a great reader, but I have other drives for that.

[edit] I am talking about the NEC ND-2500A of course.

[Kamran]

The pioneer 107 is the most stable of the drives with the official firmware 1.13. However with the hacked firmware rip speed of 12x and burning on any media at 8x u cant go wrong. Also it has the potential to burn dual layers in the future what else can you ask for?

[freak_in_cage_10k]

Also it has the potential to burn dual layers in the future what else can you ask for?

i wouldn;t garantee that man! there are many sources which say that this wont be possible on anything below the 109 Pioneer (yet to be made!) without a physical modification to the drive.

if you are basing your facts on "Pioneer firmware modded a 106 to burn dual layer"- Pioneer later admitted they have physically upgraded the unit also!

the NEC still provides superiour burn quality, although takes slightly longer. however, many NEC users have reported compatibility issues with Ritek media (big prob as ritek has by far the best price/quality ratio!)

NECs bitsetting support isn;t really that useful!

i went for the Pioneer, it MAY be able to be firmware upgraded to dual layer (i seriously doubt it though!)- it works perfectly with Rietk media etc, and has a superiour brand name!

[Kamran]

Thats a very good point totally forgot about, sorry my mistake but still i feel the pioneer is superior btu also in the uk the nec is 20 quid cheaper well it was where i got it from, but i had the choice of the 1300 or 106 and i went for the 1300 since it was cheaper and nothing burned at 4x so i took it back and then had the choice of 2500 or 107 and i chose the 107 and i feel i made the right choice because so far i have had maybe 1 or 2 coasters and that was with crappy mirror media it burns anything that you throw at and as i said burning any 4x media at 8x with the haced firmware is a must

[Vanderlow]

>>many NEC users have reported compatibility issues with Ritek media <<

I think Herrie hacked firmware for the 2500A has fixed that. Although I think he has limited to 4x due to Ritek's variable quality issues.

[RabidDog]

Full stops are NOT a crime.