8x +R Media and slower (older) burners

[BobBad]

I know it's an obvious comment, but thanks much for taking the time to review this question. I spend a lot of time getting nowhere most of the time and these types of forums are really the only reliable sources I have found.

I currently have a NEC nd1100-a (I know, bad drive) which burns (plus)+RW DVDs. The drive is Dell (I still hate them for this) OEM and is running the latest supported Dell driver (10GE).

No doubt it can burn slower format (x2.4) DVD blanks, but is there any reason to believe it will not still burn, albeit slower, to a 8x blank DVD disk?

[jdizzy40]

No it will not. Time to spend, just a little money these days and get you a new state of the art Dual Format Dual Layer Burner. My first generation Sony 120A and HP 200i, do not and will not burn to 8x media, nor is there a firmware upgrade to enable the hardware to perform the correct "write strategy" with the new media, the speed dosen't matter as these drives topped out at 2.4x speed. My Sony 500A and AX models, with a firmware upgrade at times refuse certain media (like a bad hair day). My 1 year old Plextor 708A needed a firmware upgrade to handle 8x Memorex recently. And finally my new LG and Memorex dual layer 16x burners handle anything I throw at them, TDK, Memorex, Fuji, Verbatim, Maxell etc. So there is my 2 cents. Hope it explains why you should not spend a lot of time trying to make the 54 Studbaker look and drive like that new Caddy at your local dealership. I have a new Plextor and Pioneer still in the box. The verdict is still out on them.

[Anonymous65]

I also have the ND-1100 and had problems burning the new 8x media. I found a firmware upgrade that made the ND-1100 drive a ND-1300 drive, and will now burn the 8x media at 4x and also burn DVD-RW disks! But, I guess it's a question of time until the new media codes will no longer work with the current ND-1300 firmware. It's shame that the "old" burners cannot be used simply because the firmware doesn't have the new media codes listed.

[BobBad]

Appreciate the feedback -- nice to get an honest answer. I just needed a reason to buy. I have it.

Looking at BenQ DW1620A and Memorex 16x DL Dual Format drives, but that's for anohter forum. Enjoy the Holidays!