Is avlogic.com a reputable site?

[vice86]

After buying my retail NEC ND-1100A for 179.99 after rebate...i see this site has the same but drive only for 148.00...plus the 105 for 180.00....anyone order from there?

[nanz1]

I just recently purchased my NEC 1100A from them and got it in two days. Seems to be working fine and would order from them again.

[vice86]

Nice...do you konw what firmware you have? I just wanna make sure they aren't selling the bad NEC1100A drives.

I've read that 1.7 and 1.9 firmware CAN'T be upgraded to the newer 1.0A and that if you have a drive with "GEF" on the info on the drive, that its not a great drive and prone to problems....it should have GNX and prod. date of Jan 03 or newer.

I just wanna make sure they aren't selling the crappier drives. This is what I read

(Disc4You/ Friday, 25 April 2003) - as already one week ago reported,
some grey imported goods of the NEC burner Nd-1100A are in the
circulation and to very low prices, under 200 are euro partly now, sold.
The manufacturer of the devices, NEC, warns however for a purchase.
The drive assemblies were intended not for the sales in Europe and are all
together equipped with an outdated firmware.


How the devices found their way to Europe, is not well-known. All
obviously originate from dark channels and are to have to be recognized
by the marking "GEF" on the vehicle identification plate - that is
nevertheless more, than formerly fears. One week ago it meant still that
only the firmware version differentiates the inferior devices with respect
to combination with the manufacture date from the in this country
approved. Validity has however still the statement NECs that one does not
take over any guarantees for these burners.


According to NEC Germany the devices are equipped with the outdated
firmware 1.9. They don't seem to be updateable to the current version
1.A0. The unsatisfactory firmware is among other things responsible for
high error rates when burning DVD blanks.


Same applies to a series of DVD burners with the firmware design 1.6
(marking: " VOB "). Of it end last yearly about 1000 pieces is to have
come into circulation. An update of the firmware is not possible also here.
Furthermore are to good the latter still a few OEM drive assemblies of the
Nd-1000a , the predecessor of the Nd-1100a , on the market. This is only
half so fast.


Good conscience recommends NEC therefore only the DVD burners with
the current firmware version 1.A0, identifiable by the print "GNX " and the
noted production date starting from January 2003. Guarantee is taken
over also only for these and those with the marking " VOB". Burners with
the label " GEF " should be returned and exchanged immediately to the
dealer.

[BlizzofOZ]

Vice86,

I too have ordered my NEC 1100A from them recently. I had it shipped under in 3 days and it came promptly! No problems at all!

I remember reading about the "bad drives" and not being able update the firmware. I was not too concerned about this.

How do you check what firmware you have on this drive? Post back if you can... I'll look for you when I get home!

Or, can anybody reply as to how to find out the firmware version for this drive?

[nanz1]

I have the 1.A0 version. I looked it up under the device manager in My Computer under that specific drive.

[vice86]

Cool...im gonna order it from there tomorrow too then....save myself 30.00 over Staples burner...plus if I end up getting anything less then the 1.0A firmware drive...i can just stick in the Cendyne box when I return...same drive anyway.

[BlizzofOZ]

Nanz1,

Could you explain with a little more detail on how you find out what firmware version you are using?

I went into Device Mgr, selected the drive properties and looked under Driver. I see version numbers, but close to what you have.

[BlizzofOZ]

No need to explain, I found out how.

I too have firmware version 1.A0 on my NEC 1100A, which I bought from AVGlogic. You should get the same...

[nanz1]

I'm having problems trying to erase a dvd+rw using Record Now DX that it came with. It will go through the process of erasing but when you check to see the space available it says 1.99g. Any hint why it does that? Does yours erase completely?

[BlizzofOZ]

I use Nero (latest ver) and have Memorex +RW.

With Nero, I have done a "quick erase" multiple times, where there was a full movie on them. I have erased and burned a few times with no problems.

I really never checked what the size was after erasing, but I assumed it fully erased since I have burned over it successfully. I am talking full movies here, meaning the disc is pretty full... well over 3g.

[nanz1]

This is fustrating, I can't reuse a dvd+rw cause it tells me no space free everytime I erase.

[BlizzofOZ]

Do you have just one +RW? If you have others, try them.

What brand is it?

Do you have other buring programs loaded? Can you try them?

I did not install RecordMax as I already had Nero and it never gave me problems.

[Bob W]

Windows will tell you there is no space available of a new DVD+RW disc so it's just a windows problem. I get that all the time yet when I go to use the same disc it works fine in RecordNow or MovieFactory2 or even neoDVD Plus. In fact WindowsXP tells me there is no disc space and Windows2000 pro won't even recognize the disc as being in a drive but again the disc works fine when I burn to it using any of three different programs.

I bought the NEC drive from avlogic.com also for around $173. It was delivered in two days and works very well.

[nanz1]

I've tried Memorex and Verbatim and the same results. I only have Record Now DX. I will try to record again and see if tells me I can't because of lack of space. It will tell me that I have only 1.99g in Record Now as well.