NEC ND-1300A 4X Dual Format Drive $57 at Staples!

[Timoleon]

Just picked this drive up this noon time at Staples. I thought the price was a misprint! It was clearance --- Staples is making room for the 8X drives. It is badged under the name of "Pacific Digital".

Don't know what troubles I'll have with it (if any) --- I may have to upgrade the firmware. I've got a couple of TDK DVD burners as backups if this thing fails...

But for Fifty-Seven dollars?!!! Hell, I paid $330 for my first burner a year and a half ago :P

[Barnabas]

Take it back and get something that will burn most media, as that burner will not be able to burn most blank DVD's on the market. The firmware in the NEC's has to be the WORST of ANY burner out there. Without firmware that supports most DVD's a cheap price on that drive will be offset by the MUCH higher cost of the media that will work with it.

Get a Pioneer or Lite-On!

[andkiich]

There should be nothing wrong with the NEC drive. Maybe a firmware upgrade, but other than that NECs are good.

[DeleriumMDK]

yeah Riteks under $1 are killing my wallet

still using firmware 1.06...0 coasters, 200 good discs so far.

[code65536]

Well, the 1300A isn't the 2500A. If it weren't for the 2500A (and Herrie ) and all that NEC had was the 1300A, I think they'd be a bigger laughing stock than even LiteOn.

The problem is that NEC has this habit of just leaving you out to dry once the drive comes out. No new media support is added. The official 2500A firmware won't recognize most 8x discs. You feel it a Ritek 8x +R, and it'll burn it only at 4x. Of course, this problem is solved by people like Herrie hacking the firmware. If it wasn't for Herrie, people using the official 1.06 FW will be out of luck with most 8x media. What's worse is that older-generation 1x/2x -R and 2.4x +R media are fading out of existence, and in time, 4x media will fade out, too (though it would still be a while before that happens). If NEC is so negligent that it doesn't update its FW, then a year or two down the line, you might not find compatible media for your 1300A. Of course, one could also hope that NEC isn't that negligent...

(the other extreme would be LiteOn, pushing out so many new firmwares that keeping track of them would give someone a headache)

[Vanderlow]

Yeah I think I'd spend the $25-$30 more and get a BenQ Dw800A or a NEC 2500 w/o any rebates involved, even lower, with rebates, OM has those two rebadged for $70 this weekend and have the broader media support and higher speeds.

[Zechnubis]

Hmm, i think NEC is rather good at updating their firmware. With the latest 1.0a, almost all media work. So i dont agree with some of you other guys opinions.

As for getting media a few years from now, with the new burners coming out and price dropping, i doubt people will still use burners like nd1300 and pioneer 106.

So for now, its a good buy at 57 dollars. Sure, it takes a while to burn discs, but hey, take a chill pill, everything doesnt have to go on ultra-turbo-super-duper-speed

[tekkieman]

Had my 1300 since Christmas. Only produced 3 coasters. Two were my fault, and one was the generic piece of crap sample media that came with the drive. Still using 1.oa FW, but would love to see firmware with just the ripping speed limit removed.

Other than that, a great drive. I generally use Maxell, TDK, or FujiFilm.

Too bad I paid twice what you did, and only four months ago!

[Timoleon]

Update ---

No coasters yet!

[LSchafroth]

Take it back and get something that will burn most media, as that burner will not be able to burn most blank DVD's on the market. The firmware in the NEC's has to be the WORST of ANY burner out there. Without firmware that supports most DVD's a cheap price on that drive will be offset by the MUCH higher cost of the media that will work with it.

Get a Pioneer or Lite-On!

Actually if you use the hacked 1.08 firmware that allows bitsettings, it burns anything I throw at it. Even with the original 1.06 firmware it has never failed a single disc. I got a bunch of el cheapo CompUSA disk's a while back and every one of them worked fine. Tried some Sony brand this last week, all of them worked fine.

Would higly recommend this drive.

LS

[smearbrick1]

"Well, the 1300A isn't the 2500A. If it weren't for the 2500A (and Herrie ) and all that NEC had was the 1300A, I think they'd be a bigger laughing stock than even LiteOn. "

Really? I wasn't aware that LiteOn was a laughing stock. Hmm? I must have misinterpreted all those positive reviews on their hardware. I have a 451s flashed to 851s... burns dvd+r at 8x flawlessly (4x media of course). Burns 1x dvd-r media at 2x flawlessly... not one coaster since I bought in January... I have burnt over 75 discs with it.

Anyone else having serious issues with LiteOn, or think they are a laughing stock?

[noki]

Vanderlow

Yeah I think I'd spend the $25-$30 more and get a BenQ Dw800A or a NEC 2500 w/o any rebates involved, even lower, with rebates, OM has those two rebadged for $70 this weekend and have the broader media support and higher speeds.

FYI this unit is (was) a BTC drive, NOT BenQ or NEC.

[aero]

Take it back and get something that will burn most media, as that burner will not be able to burn most blank DVD's on the market. The firmware in the NEC's has to be the WORST of ANY burner out there. Without firmware that supports most DVD's a cheap price on that drive will be offset by the MUCH higher cost of the media that will work with it.

Get a Pioneer or Lite-On!

Just doing a search on various firmware for my nec 1300a (I have the original firmware) and came across your comment. I don't think you won this burner or have used it. There isn't a media I have used that hasn't burned 99% coaster free with my nec 1300a, and I have owned it for a year and burned over 1000 dvds.

[jay zee]

But for Fifty-Seven dollars?!!! Hell, I paid $330 for my first burner a year and a half ago :P

9 more bucks would've netted you a nec 2500a with free shipping http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=27-152-011&DEPA=0

[qpskfec]

I have the Iomega branded version of the nec1300. No problems burning lots of different media, including discs most people consider to be cheap such as princo and cmc.

[lordsmurf]

But for Fifty-Seven dollars?!!! Hell, I paid $330 for my first burner a year and a half ago :P

9 more bucks would've netted you a nec 2500a with free shipping http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=27-152-011&DEPA=0

This piost was made in April. You responded in July.

[LSchafroth]

Take it back and get something that will burn most media, as that burner will not be able to burn most blank DVD's on the market. The firmware in the NEC's has to be the WORST of ANY burner out there. Without firmware that supports most DVD's a cheap price on that drive will be offset by the MUCH higher cost of the media that will work with it.

Get a Pioneer or Lite-On!

My NEC has burned eveything I throw at it. I have not made a coaster yet. I use teh Bitsetting hacked firmware. I highley recommend this drive to anyone.

LS